'Mankading' no longer unfair play; saliva to shine the ball banned: MCC

The Marylebone Cricket Club MCC on Wednesday approved new laws which will remove the Mankad method of dismissing batters from those listed under unfair play The MCC also banned the use of saliva to shine the cricket ballThe farreaching rules will come into effect from October 2022The MCC said in a statement that the game had evolved and the MCC Laws subcommittee had suggested changes for the 2022 Code which were subsequently approved at the Clubs Main Committee meeting last weekAccording to MCC the law on running out the nonstriker commonly called the Mankad dismissal which involves a bowler choosing to whip off the bails when a nonstriker steps out of the crease instead of completing his delivery to the batter on strike will now not be termed unfair playLaw 4116 running out the nonstriker has been moved from Law 41 Unfair play to Law 38 Run out The wording of the Law remains the same said the MCC in a statementIt also said that applying saliva to the ball was no longer permitted as research had found that itapplying saliva had little or no impact on the amount of swing the bowlers were gettingLaw 413 No saliva When cricket resumed following the onset of Covid19 playing conditions were written in most forms of the game stating that applying saliva to the ball was no longer permitted MCCs research found that this had little or no impact on the amount of swing the bowlers were getting Players were using sweat to polish the ball and this was equally effectiveThe new Laws will not permit the use of saliva on the ball which also removes any grey areas of fielders eating sugary sweets to alter their saliva to apply to the ball Using saliva will be treated the same way as any other unfair methods of changing the condition of the ball said the MCC statementThe MCC said that while the amendments are being announced now they will not come into force until OctoberIn the intervening time the relevant materials will be updated by MCC to assist with umpire and official training on a global basis The changes are intended to shape the game of cricket as it should be played it addedMCC Laws Manager Fraser Stewart said Since the publication of the 2017 Code of the Laws of Cricket the game has changed in numerous ways The second edition of that Code published in 2019 was mostly clarification and minor amendments but the 2022 Code makes some rather bigger changes from the way we talk about cricket to the way its playedIt is important that we announce these changes now as part of the Clubs global commitment to the game giving officials from all over the world the chance to learn under the new Code ahead of the Laws coming into force in October he saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for the dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the contents in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever