According to ESPNCricinfo, the ICC has made several minor changes to the game's playing conditions for 2014-15. The permitted duration of Twenty20 innings has been extended from 80 minutes to 85 minutes, rules for substitutes have been changed and so have umpire's powers. These regulations will come into effect from the Pakistan v/s Australia series, which begins in the UAE on October 5.
Duration of a T20 innings
The permitted duration of a Twenty20 match has been increased from 80 minutes to 85 minutes. This should bring some relief to captains, with fines and suspensions for over-rate offences becoming common these days. In the case of shortened innings, the minimum over rate to be achieved will be 14.11 per hour.
Snickometer for third umpire
Previously the Snickometer had not been part of the tools available to the third umpire when reviewing a decision - the only audio aid was the audio recorded by the stump mic. However, Real-Time Snickometer, which was trialled during the 2013-14 Ashes in Australia, makes the process almost instantaneous. However, it will not be compulsory to include Real-Time Snickometer in the UDRS. The regulation allowing a top-up of UDRS reviews after 80 overs has been extended for another year.
Restrictions on substitutes
In addition to the playing XI, each captain can now nominate a maximum of four substitute fielders in writing to the match referee before the toss, and only those specified can substitute. This excludes players serving match suspensions. Such players cannot cannot be named as substitutes, or enter the dressing room, dug-out or field of play - including the area between the boundary and the hoardings - from the time of the toss to the conclusion of the match; a suspended player cannot even carry drinks out to his team-mates.
Penalties for absence from the field of play
There has been a change in the time penalties levied on players who leave the field of play for more than two overs at a time for reasons other than injuries. Now the player will get a maximum time penalty of two hours, even if he was off the field for a longer period. The penalty can be carried over to subsequent innings, if not completed within the same. Earlier, the player would have to refrain from bowling for the same length of time that he was off the field after coming back on, or wait his turn to bat until the required time lapsed or his team lost five wickets, whichever happened first.
Powers of on-field umpires and match referee
The new rules have formalised the requirement for the umpires to consult the match referee before deciding on abandoning play. Also, the umpires now can "stop play and instruct the ground staff to take whatever action they can and use whatever equipment is necessary to remove as much dew as possible from the outfield when conditions become unreasonable or dangerous".
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