The World Test Championship (WTC) 2025 Final between Australia and South Africa, starting June 11 at Lord’s, will be played under the existing ICC rules. However, big changes are coming right after this high-profile match as the ICC updates playing conditions for both Test and white-ball cricket.
What would be new replacement list?
According to Cricbuzz, the new rules will begin from the first Test of the new WTC cycle, starting June 17 in Galle between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. One major change includes stricter concussion substitute rules. Teams will now have to name five replacement players before each match. These players must cover different roles:
- 1 wicketkeeper
- 1 batter
- 1 seam bowler
- 1 spinner
- 1 all-rounder
“Under an exceptional and rare circumstance“, the ICC said in a communique to the members, “whereby a replacement concussion player gets concussed and needs to be replaced, the match referee will deal with the situation and consider a replacement outside of the five nominated replacement players. The existing like-for-like protocols will apply in this situation.”
If one of these substitutes also gets concussed, the match referee can allow another replacement in special cases, using the current like-for-like policy. Currently, teams provide no list of possible replacements. In case of a concussion, umpires allow teams to bring in a like-for-like replacement. However, the rule as of now doesn’t specify the “like-for-like” nature.
A major controversy boiled over when England toured India for a multi-format series. In one of the T20Is, Indian all-rounder Shivam Dube was concussed and had to be replaced. Fascinatingly, the umpires allowed India to replace him with Harshit Rana, a genuine pacer, who turned out to be a menace and rattled England.
Boundary Catches, DRS and U-19 World Cup also under review
The ICC has also mentioned that minor changes will be made to boundary catches and the Decision Review System (DRS), though full details are yet to be shared.
Meanwhile, a new working group will soon be formed to decide whether the Men’s U-19 World Cup should be played as a T20 event, stay as a 50-over format, or follow a hybrid structure. The decision is expected during the ICC Annual Conference in Singapore, scheduled for July 17–20.
These updates follow the recent confirmation of the one-ball rule return in ODIs, showing the ICC’s yearning to make the game more balanced for both batters and bowlers.
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