Bat-ball balance is essential to cricket as the latest laws reward the playing side: MCC

Maintaining balance between bat and ball remains crucial to cricket, Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) chief executive Fraser Stewart said on Wednesday, pointing to changes in the latest edition of the Laws of Cricket aimed at giving fielders more reward.

Speaking at the Laws of Cricket 2026 Umpires Workshop organized by the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA), Stewart said the MCC continues to monitor the balance of play as batting becomes more dominant.

“Balance of play is absolutely fundamental to cricket and in 2017 we reduced the sizes of the bats to try to limit the power of the bat, the dominance of the bat over the ball,” Stewart was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

“That helped the effect but we still see the balls fly a long way. We can’t stop the batsmen getting stronger, working out in the gym and they are playing a completely different brand of attacking cricket than they used to years ago,” he added.

The latest edition of the Laws of Cricket, which will come into effect on October 1, includes 73 changes. One of the key changes in multi-day cricket will be that the incoming batsman will have a wicket even if a wicket falls during the final over of the day.

Under the new law, the new batsman will have to face the remaining deliveries of the over instead of the game ending immediately after being dismissed. Stewart said the change would give fielders more reward for wickets late in the day.

“The fielding side has taken a wicket, they will be rewarded by getting a new batter. The batting side will have to decide whether we send a night watchman,” he said.

“We felt it was another thing that we were giving back to the bowlers to try and get an even balance between the bat and the ball,” he added.

MCC WORKS WITH ICC ON LAWS

Stewart said the MCC works closely with the International Cricket Council (ICC) on the rules governing the game, while matters such as the number of balls used in ODIs and other playing conditions are primarily decided by the ICC.

He admitted that the laws of cricket can be complicated, especially as the game continues to expand globally, and said the MCC was working to make them more understandable and accessible.

As part of this effort, the MCC collaborated with the ICC for the first time to translate the Laws of Cricket into multiple languages.

The new Laws of Cricket app was launched in English, Hindi and Urdu on Wednesday, while the Bangla and Kannada versions will be launched later this week.

DDCA director Shyam Sharma said such initiatives will help umpires and officials stay abreast of the changing laws of the game.

“We are really grateful to him for choosing Delhi and our referees will do so, their knowledge will expand and they all need to be improved according to the law,” Sharma said.

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