From ban on saliva to COVID-19 substitution: ICC approves interim regulation changes as international cricket gears up for resumption

The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Tuesday confirmed interim changes to its playing regulations, which includes a ban on the usage of saliva and scrapping of neutral umpires. The ICC Chief Executive Committee (CEC) ratified the recommendations from the Anil Kumble-led Cricket Committee in a bid to protect the safety of players and officials when cricket resumes.

Apart from the ban on usage of saliva, the ICC also allowed COVID-19 replacements as teams will now be allowed to substitute players displaying symptoms of COVID-19 during a Test match. The Match Referee will approve the nearest like-for-like replacement in like with the concussion substitution. 

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COVID-19 Replacements: Teams will be allowed to replace players displaying symptoms of COVID-19 during a Test match. In line with concussion replacements, the Match Referee will approve the nearest like-for-like replacement. However, COVID-19 replacement won’t be applicable in ODI and T20I cricket. 

Players will not be permitted to use saliva on the ball and if a player mistakenly applied saliva then the umpires will show some leniency in the initial phase but subsequent instances will result in the team receiving an official warning. A total of two warnings are allowed per innings and will be followed by a five-run penalty to the batting side. The umpires will clean the ball before play resumes whenever saliva is applied to the ball.

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Neutral match officials will be scrapped for all international formats owning to logistical challenges due to COVID-19 pandemic. The ICC will appoint officials from the ICC Elite Panel of Match Officials and International Panel of Match Officials.

The CEC also announced an additional unsuccessful DRS for each team in each innings of the match keeping in mind that the less experienced umpires. 

Meanwhile, additional apparel logos have also been approved by the CEC for the next 12 months. As of now, logos on chests are only allowed in ODIs and T20Is.