ICC announces playing conditions for WTC final

The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Friday announced the playing conditions for WTC final between India and New Zealand. The inaugural World Test Championship concludes with a final which begins on June 18 in Southampton.

Here are the playing conditions:

In case of draw/tie:

As mentioned earlier by the ICC – 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” the ICC said in its media release.

So basically no more tie drama for New Zealand like as in the ICC World Cup 2019 finals.

Reserve Day

The ICC has scheduled June 23 to be the reserve day for the Test to be held from June 18 to June 22. The reserve day will be used to make up for any time lost during the regular days of the final.

“There will be 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 (tie scenario and reserve day) were made in June 2018, prior to the commencement of the ICC World Test Championship.”, the ICC said in a press 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.

The Ball

The WTC final shall be played with Grade 1 Dukes balls.

New Zealand play with Kookaburra at home while India use SG balls in home conditions. Thus a neutral ball in play for the finals.

Short Run

The TV umpire will play a crucial rule in adjudging the short run call which is usually taken care by the on-field umpire. The TV umpire will now automatically review and tell the on-field umpire about his decision before the next ball is bowled.

LBW Scenarios

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.”