ICC changes playing conditions: Now, a player can be sent off

Bengaluru, September 26: The International Cricket Council (ICC) has introduced a swag of changes to the playing conditions which will be effective in all series starting from September 28 or later.

The significant changes include a restriction on the dimensions of the bat, the introduction of player send-offs for misconduct and changes to the Decision Review System.

All of these changes will commence from the two upcoming Test series - when South Africa hosts Bangladesh and in the series between Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the UAE.

New playing conditions set to be introduced https://t.co/39ZlulgnPz #cricket @icc

— ICC Media (@ICCMediaComms) September 26, 2017

LAWS IN DETAIL

1 PLAYER SENT-OFF: A player can now be sent off the field for the rest of the match for any serious misconduct, meaning it will apply to Level 4 offences. The Level 1 to 3 offences will continue to be dealt with under the ICC Code of Conduct.

Threatening to assault an umpire, making inappropriate and deliberate physical contact with an umpire, physically assaulting a player or any other person and committing any other act of violence will constitute Level 4 offences.

2 BAT SIZE: To maintain the balance between bat and ball, the playing conditions now restrict the size of the edges of the bats and their thickness.

The restriction on the length and width of bats remain unchanged but the thickness of the edges can't be more than 40mm and the overall depth can be 67 mm at the most.

Umpires will be issued with a new bat gauge, which they can use to check a bat's legality.

3 DRS: In Test matches, there will be no more top-up reviews after 80 overs of an innings, meaning there can only be two unsuccessful reviews in each innings, while the DRS will now also be allowed to be used in T20Is.

4 RUN OUTS: If a batsman is running or diving towards the crease with forward momentum, and has grounded his/her bat behind the popping crease but subsequently has lost contact with the ground at the time of the wickets being put down, the batsman will not be run out.

The same interpretation will also apply for a batsman trying to regain his/her ground to avoid being stumped.

5 BOUNDARY CATCHES: Airborne fielders making their first contact with the ball will need to have taken off from within the boundary, otherwise a boundary will be scored.

6 BOUNCE OFF HELMET: A batsman can now be out caught, stumped or run out even if the ball bounces off the helmet worn by a fielder or wicket-keeper.