Bat depth, players' behaviour on ICC's agenda

ESPNcricinfo looks ahead to the important issues that are likely to be discussed by the ICC cricket committee, chaired by Anil Kumble, which will meet in Mumbai on Friday and Saturday.

With 300 eclipsed with startling frequency, the balance between bat and ball was a major point of debate during the recent World Cup. The last 18 months have seen the record for the fastest ODI hundred broken twice, the fastest ODI fifty record also broken, and the fastest Test hundred record equalled.

The cricket committee is likely to discuss imposing restrictions on the size of bats as a means of curbing the number of edged boundaries and mis-hit sixes. There is a 10.16cm limit on the width of bats, but currently no limit on depth, giving bat manufacturers scope to increase the thickness of bats while improvements in technology help make bats lighter. Past players, including Ian Chappell and Martin Crowe, have begun to advocate for restrictions on bat depth, not least because the power with which balls are hit can represent safety risks for umpires, bowlers, fielders and the non-strikers.

The balance between bat and ball appears most pressing in limited-overs cricket, rather than in Tests, where the frequency of matches ending in results suggest bowlers are not unfairly disadvantaged. The ICC had allowed bowlers two bouncers in an ODI over since 2012, and had cut one five-over Powerplay from its playing conditions, but perceived imbalances in the format remain.

The ICC has repeatedly reordered ODI cricket in attempts to check the prevalence of the "boring middle overs", where the batting and fielding teams revert to a less-engaging holding pattern in between more exciting passages of play. The current set of rules, however, seems only to have moved this holding period elsewhere in the innings. Throughout the World Cup, teams largely sought to conserve wickets until the 30th over, after which they attempted to take advantage of stringent field restrictions to double their total.

The two new-ball rule has in part been blamed for this. Batsmen are wary of losing wickets to seam-movement early in their innings, but with neither ball becoming more than 25 overs old, they remain hard enough to travel quickly to the fence in the later overs. The ICC's decision to allow no more than four fielders outside the 30-yard circle has also been panned, as batsmen become difficult to contain at the death.

Much of the opposition to these two playing conditions have come from the subcontinent nations, which feel the new balls impede spinners' influence on the match. Reverse swing has also largely left the one-day game. India's representatives at the cricket committee - including ICC chairman N Srinivasan, current player representative L Sivaramakrishnan, and media representative Ravi Shastri - are expected to support a revision of the playing conditions which may allow spin to play a greater role in games.

The BCCI's stance on DRS has not softened, which means the system is unlikely to be implemented across all international matches. The status quo - where boards mutually agree whether DRS will be implemented for a particular series or tournament, and which technologies will be available - is likely to persist, particularly as the ball-projection software was shown to have led to a wrong decision in November, during the second Test between New Zealand and Pakistan.

The ICC also trialled broadcasting the communication between the third umpire and on-field umpire during a decision review, and the merits of this move may be discussed in the meeting. The Official Review System (ORS), where the third umpire can request particular shots from a producer sitting in the same room, has now been tried for more than a year, and may also be reviewed.

The ICC's concerted effort to crack down on throwing has led to several high-profile bowlers being suspended and rehabilitated over the past year. In that time, several new testing facilities have also been accredited by the ICC.

The cricket committee is likely to review the impact of the last 12 months' suspensions and reintroductions into cricket, while they remain largely committed to maintaining clean actions. The focus seems to now have shifted from the international game onto domestic cricket. In April, the ICC board of directors approved powers to recognise a bowler's suspension due to an illegal action in a domestic competition, provided the bowler is suspended after being tested by a member country at an ICC-accredited centre, using the governing body's procedures.

Two major altercations between players has brought player conduct into the limelight. The incident between James Anderson and Ravindra Jadeja in a Trent Bridge hallway between the dressing rooms gave cause for an official review last year, before David Warner was fined in January, after using the words "speak English" to Rohit Sharma during an ODI. More effective deterrents to bad behaviour are likely to be discussed by the cricket committee.