Under New Laws, Cricketers Can be ‘Sent Off’ for Bad Behaviour

Offences include excessive appealing and showing dissent.

Virat Kohli in conversation with an umpire during a Test match. (Photo: BCCI)

Umpires will have the authority to send players off for serious breaches of behaviour under updated laws of the game which will be used from October 1, 2017, MCC has confirmed.

MCC has also laid out the restrictions on bat sizes and there will be an amendment to the run out law to protect a batsman whose bat has bounced in the air once they have crossed the popping crease.

The new laws follow the recommendations of the MCC Cricket Committee from their meeting in Mumbai last December.

We felt the time had come to introduce sanctions for poor player behaviour and research told us that a growing number of umpires at grass roots level were leaving the game because of it. Hopefully these sanctions will give them more confidence to handle disciplinary issues efficiently, whilst providing a deterrent to the players.

John Stephenson, MCC’s head of cricket