On the 1st of October, 2017 a number of cricket law changes came into effect. These include:

• giving umpires the power to send off players from the field in response to the most serious incidents of player misconduct.
• restriction on bat dimensions (the thickness of edges and depth of bat) which will be an edge limit of 40mm and bat depth of 67mm (60mm for the depth plus an allowance of 7mm for a possible curve on the face of the bat).
• a batsman will have made his or her ground when a bat bounces after being grounded behind the crease by a running or diving batsman.
• The Handled the ball Law has been deleted, with its contents merged into Obstructing the field.
• The Lost ball Law has been deleted and is now covered under Dead ball.
• Injuries hoped to be prevented in a new Law which allow mechanisms tethering the bails to the stumps.
• Bowling of deliberate front foot No balls to be treated in same way as deliberate full-tosses.
• The Law regarding running out the non-striker has been altered.
• A new Law of the game, Players’ conduct, is introduced, giving an in-match consequence for poor on-field behaviour.

Fraser Stewart, MCC’s Laws Manager, explained the guiding principles behind all the changes.

He said: “”MCC has left no stone unturned in researching and redrafting the new Laws of Cricket and has done so in order to make the Laws work in a way that makes sense to players, umpires and spectators.

“The Laws are applicable worldwide so they need to be as simple as possible to understand and inclusive to all. The Club hopes to encourage interest in the game at all levels and believes these new Laws are reflective of the present time and easier for cricketers and umpires to interpret.”