The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced the playing conditions for the World Test Championship (WTC) final between India and New Zealand, which begins in Southampton on June 18 .
The ICC has reserved one extra day — June 23 — to make up for any time lost during the regular playing days. In case, the match ends in a draw or a tie both teams will be crowned as joint winners of the inaugural World Test Championship.
“The playing conditions confirm that a draw or a tie will see both teams crowned as joint winners as well as the allocation of a Reserve Day to make up for any lost time during the regular days of the Final – scheduled to be played from 18 to 22 June, with 23 June set aside as the Reserve Day. Both of these decisions were made in June 2018, prior to the commencement of the ICC World Test Championship,” the ICC said in its media release.
The ICC clarified that the reserve day will only be used if the “lost playing time cannot be recovered through the normal provisions of making up lost time each day”.
The current provisions allow match officials to extend the play by half an hour at the end of the day and start the next day half hour early to make up for the lost time during the regular playing days.
“The Reserve Day has been scheduled to ensure five full days of play, and it will only be used if lost playing time cannot be recovered through the normal provisions of making up lost time each day. There will be no additional day’s play if a positive result is not achieved after five full days of play and the match will be declared a draw in such a scenario,” read the ICC media release.
New Zealand play with Kookaburra in their backyard while India use SG balls at home, but the WTC final will be played with Grade 1 Dukes balls.
Apart from these two, the WTC final will also see three new rules — regarding short runs, player reviews, and DRS reviews — come into play.
The TV umpire will “automatically review” the short run call by the on-field umpire and tell him about his decision before the next ball is bowled.
The players who got out or the fielding skipper may confirm with the on-field umpire whether a genuine attempt to play the ball was made or not before deciding whether to take the LBW review or not.
In case of LBW reviews, the “height margin of the Wicket Zone has been lifted to the top of the stumps to ensure the same Umpire’s Call margin around the stumps for both height and width.”
