The International Cricket Council is set to make the new Stop Clock Rule a permanent feature in the white-ball series.
ICC Set to Make Stop Clock Rule Permanent
The Stop Clock Rule was undergoing trial and will become a permanent feature in international cricket from the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in June.
The Stop Clock Rule was introduced on an experimental basis in December 2023 during the first T20I match on England’s tour of West Indies 2023.
The rule was approved on the ongoing series of meetings of the ICC in Dubai.
The rule was introduced to regulate the pace of play in the white-ball matches. The rule is set to be implemented to regulate the speed of play with the fielding team will have 60 seconds between overs and beginning next over before the countdown reaches Zero.
The rule will have penalties for every breach, as the 60-second countdown occurs between each over of the match.
A run penalty will be provided on the fielding team if they fail to follow the rule. The team at fault will receive two warnings before the 5-run penalty is imposed and every subsequent violation will have the same penalty.
The Stop clock will make sure that no time is wasted between overs and the pace of the game is maintained.
As far as the responsibility for the rule lies with the umpires and third umpire will switch on the timer. The decision to utilize the timer rests with the umpires, who also have the authority to decide whether delays are caused by batsmen, DRS calls, or any other reasons.
The ICC board and all IBC boards of the ICC will meet on Friday and will have further discussions on the rule. With no discussion made regarding the ICC champions trophy, there might be discussion regarding the tournament which is set to be hosted by Pakistan.
