The International Cricket Council (ICC) has brought about a significant change to the playing conditions with effect from June 1st, 2023. Among the few changes announced by the apex body of the sport, the on-field umpires will no longer give a soft signal when referring decisions to the third umpire.
The ICC announced the changes to the playing conditions following the Chief Executives’ Committee's approval of the recommendations from the Men’s Cricket Committee, led by former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly, and the Women's Cricket panel.
Ganguly claimed that soft signal has been a topic of debate over the last two years and they have now decided to scrap it to avoid confusions. As quoted by the ICC, he said:
"Soft signals have been discussed at previous cricket committee meetings over the last couple of years. The committee deliberated this at length and concluded that soft signals were unnecessary and at times confusing since referrals of catches may seem inconclusive in replays."
The Prince of Kolkata further stated that players' safety is critical and announced the use of helmets as mandatory in high-risk positions. The compulsion of helmets is compulsory in the following cases:
when batters are facing fast bowlers
when wicketkeepers are standing up to the stumps
when fielders are close to the batter in front of the wicket.
"We also discussed player safety, which is very important for us. The committee decided that it was best to make the use of helmets mandatory in certain positions to ensure the safety of players."
Additionally, any runs scored off a free hit delivery, even when the ball hits the stumps will be counted moving forward. Hence, the batters can now be bowled during a free hit and try to run on the same.
Ben Stokes called for the removal of the soft signal rule:
Earlier this year, England's red-ball skipper Ben Stokes called for the removal of the soft signal rule following a contentious decision during the Sydney Test between Australia and South Africa. He had tweeted:
"ICC should get rid off the soft signal and let the 3rd umpire who has all the technology to make the decision when the on field umpires send it upstairs,all the controversy is always around the soft signal given."
The new rules will come into effect from the Lord's Test between England and Ireland on June 1st. The World Test Championship (WTC) final between India and Australia will also have the updated rules.
