ICC to start ‘stop clock’ trial in T20I series to speed up pace of play

"The trial will start with the first T20I match between the West Indies and England on December 12 in Barbados," ICC said in a statement.

Dubai: The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday introduced a ‘stop clock’, on a trial basis, in full-member men’s ODI and T20I matches between December 2023 and April 2024 to speed up the pace of play in international cricket.

“The trial will start with the first T20I match between the West Indies and England on December 12 in Barbados,” ICC said in a statement.

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The new rule will be evaluated on a “trial basis” for six months, from December current year until April 2024.

The stop clock will restrict the amount of time taken between overs, meaning that the bowling team will need to be ready to bowl the first ball of their next over within 60 seconds of the previous over being completed. Failure to do so for the third time in an innings (following two warnings) will result in a five-run penalty being imposed against the fielding team.

“We are continually looking at ways to speed up the pace of play across international cricket,” Wasim Khan, ICC General Manager – Cricket said, according to ICC.

“The stop clock trial in white-ball international cricket follows the introduction of a successful new playing condition in 2022, which resulted in the fielding team only being allowed four fielders outside of the inner circle if they were not in a position to bowl the first ball of their final over in the stipulated time,” he added.

“The outcomes of the stop clock trial will be assessed at the end of the trial period,” Khan further added.