Information - MCC Law Changes From 2011 Season
The laws committee of the MCC made a few changes to the laws of cricket in October 2010 which will be in force for the first time in 2011 season.
Full details of all laws can be found on www.lords.org/laws-and-spirit the introduction page contains links to the changes in the 2010 update.
Bad light. Umpires will no longer offer the light and will now be the sole arbiters of whether play should continue in poor light. The batting side will no longer have any say in the decision, which was often made for tactical reasons.
The toss. At least one umpire will also now be required to attend the toss and the winning captain must notify his counterpart of his decision to bat or field immediately.
Front foot no ball. An extra clause has been added to say that the front foot must land with some part of the foot, whether grounded or raised, on the same side of an imaginary line joining the two middle stumps as the back foot. This prevents a bowler from, for example, bowling over the wicket but stepping across the stumps and delivering the ball from what is effectively a round the wicket position.
Practice on the field. The pitch and one strip either side of it can never be used for practice. Bowlers may not deliberately bowl the match ball into the ground in practice.
Run out. A batsman who has been running to make his ground will be considered to be in his ground if, having grounded some part of his foot behind the popping crease, his continuing forward momentum causes him to lose contact with the ground. This protects a batsman who is well in his ground - for example a sprinting batsman who has run past his stumps - but whose feet and bat happen to be in the air as the bails are removed. He will now be deemed to be in.
Fielding athleticism. A fielder’s first contact with the ball must be within the boundary or, if he is airborne, when his last contact with the ground was within the field of play. This means that a fielder, seeing that a ball will fly over his head and over the boundary, cannot step outside the boundary and then jump to parry the ball back towards the field of play. He is allowed to start his jump from within the boundary, parry the ball, land outside the boundary and then return inside the boundary before next touching the ball.
Full details of all laws can be found on www.lords.org/laws-and-spirit the introduction page contains links to the changes in the 2010 update.
Bad light. Umpires will no longer offer the light and will now be the sole arbiters of whether play should continue in poor light. The batting side will no longer have any say in the decision, which was often made for tactical reasons.
The toss. At least one umpire will also now be required to attend the toss and the winning captain must notify his counterpart of his decision to bat or field immediately.
Front foot no ball. An extra clause has been added to say that the front foot must land with some part of the foot, whether grounded or raised, on the same side of an imaginary line joining the two middle stumps as the back foot. This prevents a bowler from, for example, bowling over the wicket but stepping across the stumps and delivering the ball from what is effectively a round the wicket position.
Practice on the field. The pitch and one strip either side of it can never be used for practice. Bowlers may not deliberately bowl the match ball into the ground in practice.
Run out. A batsman who has been running to make his ground will be considered to be in his ground if, having grounded some part of his foot behind the popping crease, his continuing forward momentum causes him to lose contact with the ground. This protects a batsman who is well in his ground - for example a sprinting batsman who has run past his stumps - but whose feet and bat happen to be in the air as the bails are removed. He will now be deemed to be in.
Fielding athleticism. A fielder’s first contact with the ball must be within the boundary or, if he is airborne, when his last contact with the ground was within the field of play. This means that a fielder, seeing that a ball will fly over his head and over the boundary, cannot step outside the boundary and then jump to parry the ball back towards the field of play. He is allowed to start his jump from within the boundary, parry the ball, land outside the boundary and then return inside the boundary before next touching the ball.
