Cricket: Revamp of one-day rules allows critics a field day

Is it really cricket's brave new dawn, or is it just a frothy, Americanised backdrop designed to appease the shallow and unconverted?

Whatever it is, cricket's new one-day rule changes have met a wave of scepticism from players, officials and media alike, many of whom are already calling for the experiment to be shelved.

Introduced on a trial basis during the NatWest series between Australia and England, the new rules allow for the use of one substitute a team, and 20 (rather than 15) overs of fielding restrictions.

Fielding captains can choose when to use the second 10 overs of restrictions in blocks of five, which are being called (for some unknown reason) power-plays.

The changes have already run into some teething problems, with critics lining up to point out the flaws in the new regulations and to ask why it was thought there was such a need in the first-place.

After all, the new-fangled scheme was announced just as Bangladesh was beating Australia in the tri-series, and was introduced a game after Australia and England had shared a thrilling tie.

In terms of the substitution rule, the insistence that teams name their sub before the toss has been identified as a genuine clanger, to the extent that New Zealand coach John Bracewell wrote to the ICC to seek clarification.

The rule means a significant advantage for the team winning the toss, as they can then dictate the relevance of both their replacement player and that of the opposition's.

For example, if Australia were to win the toss, field and allow Glen McGrath to bowl his 10 overs immediately, they could then sub him for a batsman, who would field for the rest of the innings and then bolster the chase.

It happened in the Natwest match at Headingley last week, when England paceman Simon Jones bowled 10 overs and was then replaced by all-rounder Vikram Solanki, and in the next contest when Brad Haddin replaced McGrath.

A logical solution would be to allow the teams to nominate their sub from the 12 after the toss, therefore retaining the tactical relevance of the experiment, but the ICC has apparently ruled out the possibility.

Bracewell said yesterday that, as it stood, the substitute rule gave even more influence to the side that won the toss, "to the extent that it is now effectively 12 playing against 11".

England captain Michael Vaughan also had concerns.

"Not only do you win the toss, you have the extra batter to chase down the runs," he told the Australian. "I'm not too sure if that's a good rule."

As for the power-play rule, the jury remains out. Australian captain Ricky Ponting has elected on both occasions to get the 20 overs out of the way as quickly as possible, but Vaughan spread his field after 10 overs in the next match and successfully slowed the run-rate.

Former England captain Mike Atherton says to make any real difference to the tempo of the game, the decision when to employ the fielding restrictions should go to the batting team, rather than the fielding side.

However, the ICC is sticking to its guns, promising that the experiment will be allowed to run its course until next May.

An ICC spokesman confirmed "there is no plan or provision to adjust the new playing conditions before they are reviewed by the cricket committee in 10 months".