RULES OF CRICKET

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26354, 8 January 1947, Page 5

RULES OF CRICKET

PROPOSALS FOR REVISION FINAL DRAFT COMPLETED (Kec. 7 p.m.) LONDON. Jan. 7. The M.C.C. Committee has prepared the final draft of the proposals for the revision of the laws of cricket, after spending two years on its immense task, says the Daily Telegraph. Revisions Tested The proposed revisions, which were first published in September, 1945, have been circulated for comment among the governing bodies of all cricket playing countries. Some have already been adopted as in the case of the law governing the use and size of balls. Others have been on trial. The M.C.C. has been experimenting with a rule covering a declaration if 300 is scored on the first day of a three-day match, and the introduction of a new ball after 55 overs The M.C.C. at present proposes to give these rules further test during the coming season The final draft shows that the 1945 proposals are little altered. The draft will be submitted to a M.C.C. special meeting at Lord’s on May 7. Important Alterations

The new code will not operate until the 1948 English season The.. Times says that in the main the proposals have not changed much from 1945 but there are two important alterations in the new draft.

No longer will a wicket be held to be “ down ” if a bail has merely been dislodged. The new law stipulates that the bail must be removed completely from the tops of the stumps, and a note has been added to cover the 1 possibility of a bail falling and lodging between two of the stumps. In this case the wicket also will be considered broken. To avoid any danger of the bails jamming together over the centre stump, each is to be shorter by an eighth of an inch, and except for the grooves the tops of the stumps are to be dome-shaped. There is also a new law on the last over of a match. The M.C.C. proposes that this shall be played right out at the request of either captain, even if a wicket falls after “time” has been reached