Major rule change to be trialled by England in upcoming international games… with risk of severe in-game punishments

A MAJOR rule change will be trialled in England’s upcoming tour of the Caribbean.

And teams that fall foul of the new legislation will be liable to dramatic in-game punishments.

GettyEngland’s ODI cricket side will be the first team to trial the ‘shot clock’[/caption]

Cricket chiefs are keen to clamp down on time-wasting by bowling teams.

And therefore the ICC have introduced a “shot clock” for men’s limited-overs internationals.

That will see fielding teams allowed 60 seconds between the end of the previous over and the new over starting.

Should a team breach the 60-second threshold three times in an innings, they will be slapped with a five-run penalty.

The concept is similar to the 25-second timer tennis players have between points, with time violation warnings and subsequent penalties added for further violations.

MCC World Cricket Committee member Ricky Ponting said: “It is the dead time in the game, so at the end of the over the fielders and the bowlers have to be back in the position and ready to bowl at a certain time. That is a non-negotiable.”

The ICC trial will run from December to April – with the view that it could be incorporated permanently.

England travel to face the West Indies in December.

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Jos Buttler’s side play three one-day internationals as well as five T20s, with all eight matches using the “shot clock” timer trial.

The first ODI – staged at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua – will be England’s first match since their dismal World Cup campaign in India and the first match of the trial.

The reigning champions won just three of their nine matches, against Bangladesh, the Netherlands and Pakistan.

That saw them finish seventh in the ten-team group stage, just scraping into the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy.

Australia were crowned World Cup winners for a sixth time as they outplayed the hosts in Sunday’s final, claiming victory by a convincing six wickets with seven overs to spare.

Elsewhere, the ICC also announced the terms of Sri Lanka’s suspension.

The country will be allowed to continue playing international matches – including the Test series against England.

But funding to the SLC board will be controlled by the ICC and the 2024 men’s Under-19 World Cup has been moved from Sri Lanka to South Africa.