Substitute (cricket)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A substitute in the sport of cricket is a replacement player that the umpires allow when a player has been injured or become ill after the nomination of the players at the start of the game. The rules for substitutes all appear in Law 2 of the Laws of cricket.

A substitute can act for the injured or ill player in the field, although he may not bowl, bat, or act as wicket-keeper or as captain, unless otherwise agreed by the captains. A famous example is the 1986 Test between England and New Zealand at Lords, where England used 4 different wicketkeepers due to injury to their original wicketkeeper. (But see "Tactical substitute" below.) The substitute may also act as a runner when the injured or ill player is batting, but may not bat himself. A player may bat, bowl and field even if he has had a substitute for part of the game. If a player has a runner, he may be given out if either he or his runner transgresses the rules.

[edit] Retired hurt

If a batsman gets injured or ill while batting, he may retire and resume his batting at

[edit] Retired out

See Retired out.

[edit] Tactical substitute

In 2005, the International Cricket Council announced, as part of a package of changes to the playing conditions for One-Day Internationals to be trialled over a ten-month period, that football style tactical substitutions would be permitted. Each team was to be allowed one substitute, who had to be named before the toss was made, and could be introduced at any stage of the match. The NatWest Challenge series between England and Australia in July saw the first use of these new regulations, which do not apply to other forms of cricket such as Test matches.

This change, however, has been widely criticised by players, commentators, and fans. In particular, it is said to give the team that wins the toss an even greater advantage than usual.[1]

In March 2006 players and officials started to rebel against this controversial rule and a one-day international series between South Africa and Australia saw the players agree to boycott the rule. Just a few weeks later the International Cricket Council announced that the rule was being withdrawn and is no longer used.