Cricket: Cricket scores century as new laws take place

The International Cricket Council has introduced a raft of changes to the laws of the game. RICHARD BOOCK takes a look.

As if the series against South Africa was not difficult enough, New Zealand's cricketers are busy familiarising themselves with more than 140 law changes and five different umpiring signals.

The tour of the republic will be the first time New Zealand have been exposed to several of the new rules, which were approved by an International Cricket Council meeting in May, and in the majority of cases, implemented at the start of this month.

The overhaul of the 1980 lawbook deals mostly with the adoption of existing experimental rules and amendments, but includes new five-run penalties for a variety of infringements, as well as strict new regulations on wicketkeeping gloves, and time-wasting.

Initially mooted as an attempt to clamp down on so-called "sledging," the five-run penalty can be applied by the umpires for at least 12 different offences, ranging from deliberate distraction of the batsman to obstructing the batsman or damaging the pitch.

In time-honoured fashion however, the ICC quickly softened its stance on the issue owing to the danger of what it termed "double-jeopardy' - that is, a player being disciplined twice for the same offence.

The governing body contends that its code-of-conduct regulations allow for the match referee to hand down fines and suspensions, which could be unfair if the penalty-runs clause had also been applied.

The other complication regarding the penalising of sledging is that the new law involves the distraction of the batsman "whilst the ball is live," which many believe is a very small and unlikely window of opportunity.

New Zealand's national umpiring manager, Brian Aldridge, doubts the new law will make much difference to the issue, since most of sledging happens when the ball is dead.

"Umpires would only invoke the five-run penalty for an attempt to distract the batsman once the bowler has begun his run-up, which happens so little it's virtually a non-event," Aldridge said. "If something unacceptable happens at some other time, then it would fall into the domain of the match-referee."

However, because the new laws were intended to apply to all levels of the game in all nations, Aldridge said match umpires would carry the power to impose immediate five-run penalties during New Zealand domestic and senior club cricket.

Aldridge, who counted 143 amendments to the old lawbook, emphasised that the white coats would be lenient during the transition and would prefer education over automatic enforcement.

"The old unofficial law 43 - Common Sense - still applies and remains the golden rule of umpiring," he said.

The relevant umpiring signals for a five-run penalty would involve the repeated tapping of one's opposite shoulder for five runs to the batting side, and the resting of the hand on the opposite shoulder for five runs to the fielding side.

The new rules have also outlawed the exaggerated webbing used between the thumb and the forefinger of the wicketkeeper's gloves, although the new stance is unlikely to be enforced in New Zealand grade cricket for at least a year.

Australia have extended a 12-month dispensation to their domestic players to allow time for the correct equipment to reach the shops.

Another area which the ICC has tried to address is the issue of time-wasting, the most dramatic initiative being the timing-out of incoming batsmen who take more than three minutes to take strike.

Under the new laws, boundary fences will be deemed not to exist, with an imaginary line drawn around the edge of the ground instead, meaning a ball hitting the fence on the full will now be six, as will a ball which is caught by a fieldsman leaning on the fence.

Rules governing a throw have been revised and now prohibitany straightening of the elbow once the arm has reached shoulder height.

And the leg-before-wicket law has also been amended.

From this month, if a bowler hits the batsman's pads on the full and appeals, the umpire can no longer take into account the likely turn of the ball after pitching. He instead, must assume it would have continued in the same direction it was travelling in the air.

THE CHANGES

Some of the new laws state:

Five-run penalties (credited to batting side unless stated). -

With no warning: Fielding ball after returning to field without permission (Law 2.6); fielding ball illegally (41.2); helmet on ground struck by ball 41.3); tampering with ball (42.3); deliberate distraction or obstruction of batsman (42.5); stealing a run (42.16, credited to fielding side innings).

After one warning: Deliberate short run (Law 18.5); deliberate attempt to distract batsman after bowler starts run-up (42.4); time- wasting in the field (42.9); batsman wasting time (42.10, credited to fielding side innings); bowler/fielder damaging pitch (42.13).

After two warnings: Batsman damaging pitch (Law 42.14, credited to fielding side innings).

New umpire signals. -

Five penalty runs to batting side: repeated tapping of one shoulder with opposite hand. Five penalty runs to fielding side: placing one hand on opposite shoulder. Revoke last signal: touching both shoulders with opposite hands.

New ball: holding ball above head. Start of last hour: pointing to raised wrist.