Stop watch mandatory for all white ball games

The International Cricket Council (ICC) made stop watch mandatory for T20i and ODI cricket, which was finalized in the ICC Board meeting in Dubai, confirmed an ICC media release on Friday.

The results of the stop clock trial were presented to the Chief Executives Committee, which demonstrated that around 20 minutes per ODI match had been saved in time.

The playing conditions for the ICC Mens T20 World Cup 2024 were also approved, as was the qualification process for the 2026 edition of the event.
Given the clear improvement to the flow of the game, the CEC approved that the stop clock be introduced as a mandatory playing condition in all mens ODI and T20i matches between Full Members from June 1, 2024, including the ICC Mens T20 World Cup 2024.

The ICC Mens T20 World Cup will have reserve days scheduled for the semi-finals and final and in the group stage and Super Eight series, a minimum of five overs have to be bowled to the team batting second to constitute a game, whilst in the knock-out stages, a minimum of ten overs will need to be bowled.

The ICC Board also approved the qualification process for the ICC Mens T20 World Cup 2026. The event, which will be held in India and Sri Lanka, will see 12 automatic qualifiers. These will include the joint hosts along with the top eight teams from the ICC Mens T20 World Cup 2024 with the remaining spots (between 2-4 depending on host finishing positions) to be filled from the next highest ranked teams on the ICC Mens T20I rankings table as at June 30, 2024.

The remaining eight teams will be identified through Regional Qualifiers.

The Board and the Chief Executives Committee both had extensive discussions on the future structure of the game, considering issues such as greater context for international white ball matches, the feasibility of scheduling windows as well as the principles of the commercial arrangements underpinning the FTP.