[CRK]

ECB to Review Injury Replacement Rule After Criticism

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) will consider changes to its player replacement trial during the first break in the County Championship, as Lancashire added their voices to those lamenting the application of the new regulations on the opening day of the third round.

Lancashire seamer Ajeet Singh Dale became the ninth player replaced through injury after he suffered a hamstring problem on day one against Gloucestershire. However, ECB match referee Peter Such objected to Tom Bailey as a replacement, citing that he was not like-for-like. With Mitchell Stanley in the squad but unavailable with a back spasm, Lancashire were eventually able to bring in Ollie Sutton – an allrounder who bowls left-arm seam – to replace Singh Dale, a right-arm quick.

Controversy Over Replacement

Sutton spent three hours in a taxi to Bristol from Leicestershire, where he was playing for the 2nd XI, and will only come into the match on day two. It meant Bailey spent most of day one on the field as a substitute fielder.

Lancashire head coach, Steven Croft, expressed his frustration with the situation, saying: “We’ve seen across the country, it’s not been an easy process… I don’t think it’s ever going to be perfect when it’s not been laid out. Yes, it’s a bit of a pilot, but I think the whole reason for bringing this regulation in was for that sort of scenario today.

“It was Ajeet’s second over of the game. Obviously there was nothing sinister going on. We’re not bringing a fresh pair of legs in on day four. It’s not someone coming in bowling 10mph quicker… so we asked for Bails, which got denied. We had to then turn to a left-arm seaming allrounder, which did get granted to replace Ajeet. It doesn’t fit right and sit well with us, really, from the point of view he’s a different skillset… we had a literal like-for-like in Tom Bailey who is a right-arm seam bowler who opens the bowling.

Review and Potential Changes

Complaints around the new regulations will be taken on board when the Professional Game Committee – chaired by Mark McCafferty – get together to determine what tweaks should be made. Glamorgan captain, Kiran Carlson, said earlier in the week that the rule “needs to be ironed out” after Nottinghamshire were able to call upon a fresh seamer in allrounder Lyndon James to replace the injured Fergus O’Neil on the fourth morning. James duly struck twice as Notts sealed victory.

The County Championship takes a break in the middle of May for the T20 Blast. Using that gap to make amendments would be the fairest and earliest given each of the 18 counties would have played six matches and had their bye week. It is highly unlikely the ruling will be abandoned.

Upon the announcement of the replacement trial ahead of the season, ECB head of cricket operations Alan Fordham urged teams not “to start pushing right at the edges of the regulation”. While there have been some contentious substitutions, such as James for O’Neill, the refusal of Bailey to replace Singh Dale highlights another issue – a match referee’s definition of what constitutes “like-for-like”.

• The ECB will review the injury replacement rule during the break in the County Championship.
• Lancashire’s experience highlights the need for clarity on what constitutes a like-for-like replacement.
• The Professional Game Committee will consider complaints and determine potential changes to the rule.