DUBAI: The ICC has mandated the use of a stop-clock between overs in international limited-overs matches, approved the playing conditions for the 2024 FIFA Men’s World Cup and announced the qualification process for the 2026 edition.
The decisions were taken on Friday (March 15) following the ICC’s annual board meetings. The stopwatch is set to become permanent in all ODIs and T20Is from June 2024, starting with the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 in the West Indies and USA.
In December 2023, the ICC introduced trial clocks in men’s limited-overs internationals. The trial was supposed to last until April 2024, but the experiment has already yielded results in terms of completing matches on time.
The results presented to the Chief Executives’ Committee (CEC) showed that around 20 minutes were saved per ODI match.
This feature has now been added as a mandatory game condition in all Full Member ODIs and T20Is from 1 June 2024 onwards.
Under the stopwatch rule, which has been tried out in men’s white-ball cricket, the fielder is expected to start a new over within 60 seconds of the completion of the previous one.
An electronic clock will be displayed on the ground counting down from 60 to zero, with the third referee having the duty to determine the start of the clock.
A fielder’s failure to be ready to bowl the first ball of his next over within the stipulated 60 seconds after the completion of the previous over attracts two warnings. Subsequent violations would result in five times the incident penalty.
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There are a few exceptions to this rule, and the clock, if it has already started, can be canceled in certain situations. These include:
When a new batter comes to the wicket between overs
The official drinking interval has been announced
The umpires have approved the treatment of an injury to a batsman or fielder on the pitch
Loss of time is under any circumstances beyond the control of the playing party
It was also confirmed during the meeting that the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 will have reserve days scheduled for the semi-finals and final.
In addition, a minimum of five overs will be required to bowl a team’s second batting to set up a game in the group and Super Eight stages. However, in knockout matches, a minimum of 10 overs must be bowled in the second innings to make the match.
The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 qualification process was also approved.
The 20-team tournament will be jointly hosted by India and Sri Lanka and will have a total of 12 automatic qualifiers.
The top eight teams in the 2024 edition will join India and Sri Lanka as automatic qualifiers, with the remaining spots (between two and four, depending on the host’s position) occupied by the next highest-placed teams in the ICC Men’s T20I rankings. as of June 30, 2024.
