Umpire's call won't cost a review

The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Friday approved a number of proposed changes to rules of the game at its meeting in London.

The changes, including the new run-out rule, restrictions on bat sizes and red cards to send players off for on-field misconduct, were approved by the game's governing body's chief executives' committee.

There was also a big change to the Decision Review System (DRS). From October 1, if an LBW decision is decided by the 'umpire's call', then it will not cost teams a review. However, this also led to another decision that reviews should not be topped-up after 80 overs in Test matches. It was also decided that DRS would now be used in the T20I format as well.

The committee also agreed on minimum standards for the use of DRS in international cricket, with mandatory use of ball-tracking and edge-detection technology.

In order to restore the balance between bat and ball, the ICC approved recommendations relating to bat sizes. The MCC's cricket committee, which met in Mumbai last December, had set the limits to 108mm in width, 67mm in depth and 40mm at the edge.

Umpires will also now have a significant role to play as they can now, as in football, send players off the field for serious incidents of misconduct.

"All Members," the ICC said, "have agreed to implement this in full."

The new run-out rule means that batsmen will be ruled to have made their ground if their bat bounces after being grounded behind the crease.