The International Cricket Council (ICC) has said it will experiment with having a stop clock between overs.
Key points
- If the bowling team is not ready to bowl the next over within 60 seconds of the previous over being completed, a 5-run penalty will be imposed the third time it happens in an innings.
- The move will be restricted to men’s ODIs and T20Is, and will be tested on a “trial basis” for six months between this December and April 2024.
- The first instance where this will be used will be in the upcoming three-match ODI series between West Indies and England, which begins on December 3.
- In 2022, the ICC had introduced an in-match penalty in ODIs and T20Is – in both men’s and women’s cricket – to combat slow over rates.
- Currently, as per the playing conditions, the sanction for both formats is: if the fielding team fails to start the final over by the stipulated time, they are docked one fielder from outside the 30-yard circle.
