The ICC's new playing conditions apply from 1 October 2026: batters who dawdle face five penalty runs on the third offence, women's cricket gets its own ball specification, and pink balls can now be used in daytime Tests.
Time-wasting batters have a new problem. The ICC's updated playing conditions take effect today, 1 October 2026, and they put real teeth behind the old request to hurry up: three time-wasting offences and the fielding side gets five penalty runs. The changes apply to every international series starting today or later; series already underway finish under the old rules.
What changes
| Change | Detail |
|---|---|
| Batter time-wasting (men's cricket) | Warning for the first offence, a final warning for the second, five penalty runs to the fielding side for the third and every offence after that |
| 80-over reset | In multi-day cricket the warning count resets after each 80-over block |
| Women's ball specification | Three distinct size and weight specifications for men's, women's and junior cricket (previously one ball often covered women and juniors) |
| Pink balls | Pink balls can now be used in daytime Tests, on a trial basis |
| Late-day wickets | A wicket falling in the final over of a day no longer automatically calls stumps in multi-day matches |
| Ball control | A fielder or wicketkeeper must have complete control of the ball for a run-out or stumping to count; umpires get more leeway on when a ball is finally settled |
| MCC Laws | The new edition of the Laws of Cricket, effective today, is incorporated into the playing conditions |
What it means for batters
The prescribed time is straightforward: the striker should be ready to face when the bowler is at the top of his run-up. After a dismissal, the incoming batter gets two minutes to be ready or risks being timed out. Umpires can also refer repeated or deliberate time-wasting to the ICC Code of Conduct, so a repeat offender can be charged rather than just penalised on the scoreboard.
Until now, the time-wasting clause ended in a single first-and-final warning and then five penalty runs on the next offence. The new structure gives batters two warnings before the runs kick in, but the five-run penalty now repeats for every further offence instead of being a one-off threat.
Why it matters
These are the kinds of rules that rarely get used and then decide a game the one time they do. Five penalty runs for dawdling sounds theoretical until a batter keeps leaving the strike in the middle of a tense chase. Expect the first big controversy by the end of the month: someone will test the two-minute rule, and umpires will be under pressure to call it exactly as written.