MCC says latest Laws of Cricket will reward fielding side as batting grows dominant
Marylebone Cricket Club Head of Cricket Fraser Stewart said on Wednesday at the Laws of Cricket 2026 Umpire's Workshop organised by the Delhi and District Cricket Association that maintaining a balance between bat and ball remains crucial to cricket. He pointed to changes in the latest edition of the Laws of Cricket that are intended to give the fielding side greater reward.
Stewart said MCC continues to monitor the balance of the game as batting has become increasingly dominant. "Absolutely, the balance of the game is crucial to cricket and in 2017 we reduced the sizes of bats to try to limit the power of the bat, the dominance of the bat over ball," Stewart was quoted as saying by news agency PTI. "That's helped to have an effect but we still see balls flying a long way. We can't stop batters getting stronger, working out in the gym and they're playing a very different brand of attacking cricket than perhaps was the day years ago," he added.
The latest edition of the Laws of Cricket contains 73 changes. One of the key amendments in multi-day cricket concerns the final over of the day's play: if a wicket falls during that over the incoming batter will take the crease and face the remaining deliveries rather than play ending immediately after the dismissal.
Stewart said that change is designed to give the fielding side a clearer reward for a late wicket. "The fielding side have taken a wicket, they will be rewarded with having a new batter coming out. The batting side will have to decide are we going to send in a night watchman," he said. "We felt that's again another thing that we're giving back to the bowlers to try to make sure that there is an even balance between bat and ball," he added.
Stewart also noted MCC's relationship with the International Cricket Council on rules and regulations while distinguishing that certain playing conditions are primarily determined by the ICC. He said matters such as the number of balls used in an ODI and other playing conditions fall principally under the ICC's remit and acknowledged that the Laws of Cricket can be complicated as the game expands globally, adding that MCC is working to make them easier to understand and access.
As part of that accessibility effort, MCC has collaborated with the ICC to translate the Laws of Cricket into multiple languages for the first time and launched a new Laws of Cricket app in English, Hindi and Urdu on Wednesday; Bangla and Kannada versions are set to be launched later this week.
DDCA director Shyam Sharma welcomed the initiatives as a way to help umpires and officials stay updated with the changing laws. "We are really grateful to him that they have chosen Delhi and our umpires will, their knowledge will be enhanced and everybody needs to be upgraded with the law," Sharma said.
The new edition of the Laws of Cricket comes into effect on October 1, and the Bangla and Kannada versions of the app are scheduled for release later this week.