– New cricket laws to be discussed and implemented
Guyana’s lone International Cricket Council (ICC) accredited cricket umpire Clyde Duncan is in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) as part of a four-member West Indies team taking part in the ICC annual umpires and match referees’ seminar.
Duncan speaking to Stabroek Sport before his departure on Sunday, said that several topics are up for discussion.
Duncan has under his belt two test matches, thirteen One Day Internationals (ODI’s) and the distinction of officiating in the first 20/20 to be played in the West Indies between WI and Australia.
The other three team members selected by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) are veteran Jamaican umpire Steve Bucknor (with 124 Test matches and 174 ODI’s) Dominican Billy Doctrove (with 19 test and 79 ODI’s) and new comer Norman Malcolm (2 ODI’s).
The three-day conference starts today and concludes on Thursday and airfares and expenses for Bucknor and Doctrove are being picked up by the ICC while Duncan and Malcolm’s expenses are being shared between the ICC and WICB.
The whole seminar is to “develop training” according to Duncan who said there was now a commitment undertaken by the ICC to train and upgrade umpires on a regular basis.
Last year’s seminar, which Duncan also attended, was hosted by South Africa (SA).
This year’s seminar was supposed to be held in Pakistan but was now being held at the ICC headquarters following the postponement of the ICC 2008 Champions Trophy tournament.
The staging of these seminars during major tournaments is to give umpires a first hand view of umpiring on the field, Duncan stated.
Last year, the seminar was held during the finals of the 20/20 Championships in SA.
According to Duncan, out of the three-day seminar should come “changes in the Test, ODI and 20/20 regulations.”
These changes, he added, will come into effect as early as October 1 2008.
Substitute fielders –subhead
Among the new laws which would be enacted is one for substitute fielders.
This new law, Duncan noted, will see substitutions “in cases of illness, injuries or wholly acceptable cases.”
There will be also be substitutions for bathroom breaks, which Duncan said was something new.
In the case of ODI’s the mandatory power plays will now take another format as after the first 10 overs power play is finished there will be two other power plays.
The new regulations will see the batsmen deciding when to take one and the fielding captain the other.
Additionally, under the old law, when the power plays were taken there was the option of a maximum of two and three fielders during the five overs power play – this will not be changed to facilitate three and three respectively during the two power plays, Duncan said.
Another regulation that will be changed is the umpire referring to the third umpire for a catch taken cleanly or a “bump” ball catch – this, the umpire can do now, as the old regulation made no provisions for the on field umpire to make any referral to the third umpire, said Duncan.
Bats classification – subhead
Duncan stated that the ICC has now made it mandatory that only grade “A” bats be allowed to be used in ICC sanctioned competitions. The new regulation clearly states that the bats should not exceed 38 inches in length from tip to toe and should not be broader than four and one half inches
at the broadest point. The length of the bat handle should not exceed 52% of the overall length of the bat. Additionally grade A and B bats should not have any covering on the bats except in the case of either protection from surface damage to the face, side or shoulder or repair to the blade after damage. Duncan said that while clubs are at liberty to use the grade B and C bats, he does not believe that this should be done as it will create problems for the batsmen when they have to adopt to the grade A bats. Additionally, he feels that all clubs and boards should follow the ICC stipulations.
