(Cricket News) In an effort to prevent players from abusing loopholes, the International Cricket Council (ICC) tightened its control over incidents involving caught behinds. Specifically, the TV umpire will no longer check for caught behinds when he is checking for stumping.

The previous loophole allowed the fielding side to review the incident without using a Decision Review System (DRS), so the ICC tightened its grip on such incidents. Teams will now have to use DRS to challenge for the caught behind and can no longer use the ‘fake appeal’ to challenge the on-field umpire’s call.

“The new amendment from the ICC states that a stumping review can only be used to check for stumped, which prevents the fielding team from having a free review for other modes of dismissal (like being caught behind) without selecting a player review.”

Australian wicketkeeper Alex Carey exploited a loophole in 2023 that allowed him to challenge the caught-behind call without using the DRS; he appealed for stumping, which required the leg umpire to follow protocols designed for such incidents. Previously, umpires could check for those caught behind even if the appeal was for stumping; however, this will no longer be the case, and teams will need to use the DRS to challenge such calls.

The umpires will only be provided with the necessary camera frames for stumping reviews. The new rules go into effect on December 12, 2023, and teams seeking to review a caught-behind appeal will need to use the DRS.

Another amendment to the rules states that a player substituted for after a concussion cannot bowl if the player was suspended at the time of the injury. The International Cricket Council (ICC) has now restricted the amount of time allotted for on-field injury assessment and treatment to four minutes.

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