ICC makes between-overs stop clock a permanent feature in ODIs, T20Is

The stop clock which was being trialled in international cricket to deal with flagging over rates will be a permanent feature in men’s ODIs and T20Is between Full Members from June 1, 2024. The ICC announced as much after its board meetings this week in Dubai. As per the rule, a stop clock runs between overs and if a team fails to start the following over within a minute three times in an innings, a five-run penalty is imposed on the bowling team.

“The results of the stop-clock trial were presented to the Chief Executives’ Committee (CEC), which demonstrated that around 20 minutes per ODI match had been saved in time,” an ICC release said. “Given the clear improvement to the flow of the game, the CEC approved that the stop clock be introduced as a mandatory playing condition in all men’s ODI and T20I matches between Full Members from 1 June, 2024, including the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024.”

The stop-clock rule was on trial from December 2023. In the intervening period, there has been no instance of a team defaulting three times in an innings. After each default, the umpire issues a warning to the offending team, and only after two warnings are the penalty runs deducted.

This now means there are three penalties to police over rates:

The stop-clock rule

The one-fielder-docked rule

Monetary fines for the defaulting team

The penalty is laid out as follows: if the fielding side fails to begin the final over by the stipulated cut-off time, after accounting for delays, they will have to bring in an extra fielder into the 30-yard circle for however many overs are remaining in the innings. So they will be allowed only four fielders outside the circle, instead of five, for the duration of the penalty. This rule, introduced in early 2022, applies to both men’s and women’s limited-overs games.

The monetary fine includes a 5% cut in the offending team’s match fee for every over they are short of the minimum required over rate, after the umpires have taken into account time allowances for unavoidable delays. This fine is capped at 50% of the match fee. Whatever the fine given to the other members of the team is doubled for the captain.

(Cricinfo)