DUBAI: Sent off for misbehaving in cricket? You can be now.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has introduced new rules and rule changes for the centuries-old game that will come into effect on Thursday. One of them is to give umpires the power to send a player off for the rest of the match for serious misconduct.
Players can be sent off for level four offenses, the most serious under the ICC’s code of conduct. Those offenses include assaulting or threatening to assault another player, an umpire, the match referee or a spectator, or any act of violence on the field of play. Any act that is “contrary to the spirit of the game” or “brings the game into disrepute” can also be labelled a level four offense.
Previously, all misconduct was dealt with by umpires and the match referee after the game with fines and bans. Less serious offenses will still be dealt with in this way.
The new rules also say a bowler who bowls a deliberate front-foot no ball is guilty of “unfair play” and is not allowed to bowl again for the rest of the innings.
The ICC has introduced new limits to the size of bats, will allow the decision review system to be used in Twenty20 games, and changed a law so that batsmen will be given out if they are caught after the ball strikes a wicketkeeper’s or fielder’s helmet.
The new rules will be in use for the first time on Thursday in the first Test between South Africa and Bangladesh, the first Test between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and the fourth One-Day International between India and Australia.
Some of the important rule changes are:
— The thickness of bats has now been restricted. The edge of the bat can be no thicker than 40 millimeters (1.5 inches) and the overall depth of the bat no more than 67mm (2.6 inches). Restrictions on the length and width of bats were already in force and remain unchanged. Umpires will be given a “new bat gauge” to check if a bat is legal, the ICC said.
— “Tethered bails.” The bails can now be tethered to the stumps, restricting how far they fly off the stumps. The ICC said this is in response to injuries sustained by wicketkeepers. In 2012, South Africa wicketkeeper Mark Boucher’s career was ended by a serious eye injury when a bail flew off the stumps and hit him in the eye. Host countries have been left with the decision whether or not to use tethered bails.
— If a ball bowled bounces more than once before it gets to the batsman, it will be called a no ball. It used to be a no ball if it bounced more than twice.
— “Bouncing bats” in run outs and stumpings: If a batsman makes contact with the ground with his bat beyond the crease, and it then bounces up when the wickets are broken, he is not out. Previously, batsmen could be out if the bat was in the air — even if in his crease. The same change applies to stumpings.
— A batsman is now out if he hits the ball and it is caught after it strikes the helmet of a wicketkeeper or fielder. Previously he couldn’t be caught off a wicketkeeper’s or fielder’s helmet. A batsman can also be stumped or run out after the ball hits a helmet worn by a member of the fielding side.
— Changes to the DRS system:
The DRS system can now be used in Twenty20 internationals. Each team gets one review per innings.
In all formats, a team will not lose a review if the review is struck down because of “umpire’s call.” Umpire’s call refers to a marginal or very close decision.
In Tests, teams no longer get reviews back after 80 overs. A team can have only two unsuccessful reviews for an entire innings now.
New rules in cricket: Players can be sent off
New rules in cricket: Players can be sent off
Smylie wins on LIV Golf debut, leads Ripper GC to team title in Riyadh
- Jon Rahm and Torque GC finish second in the individual and team competitions respectively
RIYADH: Ripper GC captain Cameron Smith believes his new teammate Elvis Smylie can one day become the best golfer in the world. After the 23-year-old Australian produced four sizzling rounds to win on his LIV Golf debut, the rest of the league may very well share the same sentiment.
Smylie capped off an impressive first week under the lights at Roshn Group LIV Golf Riyadh, shooting a final-round bogey-free 8-under 64 on Saturday to hold off a hard-charging Jon Rahm by one stroke. He also led the Rippers to the team title, as the Aussies swept both trophies going into their biggest tournament of the season at LIV Golf Adelaide next week.
“It’s a dream come true,” said Smylie, who officially joined the team last month. “I really didn’t know what to expect this week. Playing at night is obviously a whole different ballgame out here. I wanted to come out here and make a statement. I wanted to prove that I’m one of the best out here, and I feel like I’ve done that. It’s only up from here.”
Smith agreed. “The crazy thing is I still think he’s got a lot of improving to go, which is pretty scary, really, for the rest of us, because he waxed us this week. I genuinely think he can be the best golfer in the world. He’s got all the tools of the trade. He just needs to keep doing what he’s doing and knuckle down.”
With the win, Smylie earns the projected points allotted by the Official World Golf Ranking to the winner of this week’s LIV Golf tournament. The OWGR announced earlier this week that points will be awarded for LIV Golf tournaments this season to the top 10 and ties. Smylie entered the week ranked 134th and is expected to move up significantly with the victory.
Smylie’s winning score of 24 under is the lowest in league history, a byproduct perhaps of the league’s adjusted format from 54 to 72 holes. He also beat the biggest field in LIV Golf history after an increase from 54 to 57 players this season.
But more impressive than the raw numbers was Smylie’s sublime play, especially with a new blade putter. “Everything looked like a bucket for me, which is nice,” said Smylie, who ranked third in the field in strokes gained putting.
He needed a hot putter down the stretch to create some separation from the field, then withstand the last-ditch rally by Rahm, the Legion XIII captain and two-time LIV Golf individual champion.
Rahm started the day two shots behind co-leaders Smylie and Peter Uihlein and was three strokes behind when Smylie birdied the par-4 12th. But the Spaniard closed fast with birdies on five of his last six holes, including the last four.
He drove the green at the 396-yard par-4 18th but could not convert the eagle putt. Still, his final birdie put the finishing touches on a 9-under bogey-free 63, the lowest round of the week, and reduced Smylie’s lead to one.
Smylie, however, was not aware of the slim margin until hitting his approach shot at the 18th that left him on the edge of the green.
“I actually didn’t know that I had to two-putt the last green,” he said. “I thought I would have had a two-shot lead going into 18. But as soon as I was walking up the green, I saw that I only had one, so I’m like, I’ve got to clutch up here and make sure to get this up-and-down.”
Rahm, who shot a final-round 11-under 60 in his last regular-season LIV Golf tournament in Indianapolis last year to clinch his second consecutive season-long title, pointed to his failure to make birdie at the par-5 sixth and a poor approach shot at the par-4 11th as missed opportunities. Even so, he was pleased with making a run to earn his fifth runner-up finish and 25th top-10 result in 27 regular-season LIV Golf appearances.
“It was a fantastic round of golf, shot 9-under,” he said. “Elvis had a great day and a two-shot lead. If anything, if there’s one or two shots to look at, I’ve got to go to earlier in the week.”
RangeGoats GC’s Uihlein finished third after shooting a 67 for 21 under, while Fireballs GC’s David Puig and 4Aces GC’s Thomas Pieters shot 65s to share fourth place with Torque GC’s Abraham Ancer.
The team competition turned into a battle between Ripper and Torque. The Australians started off fast, with Marc Leishman beginning his round with four straight birdies; the team collectively was 11 under through their first six holes.
Torque responded with Ancer, making his first start for his new team after four years with Fireballs GC, and Sebastian Munoz each shooting 66.
But the 64s by Smylie and Lucas Herbert were supported by Smith’s 65 and Leishman’s 69 to produce a fourth-round team score of 26 under, the third-best single round team score in league history. Ripper’s tournament total of 69 under is a league record as they won their fifth regular-season team title by three shots.
