"We need to give a little bit back to the bowlers" - Former Proteas captain on ICC working on rule tweak for bowlers

Former South Africa captain and pacer Shaun Pollock has spoken about the International Cricket Council (ICC) working on a rule tweak to give bowlers a bit more leeway on wides.

Shaun Pollock is the media representative of the ICC's cricket committee. He said that with batters moving around the crease more often in limited-overs cricket, the governing body is working on something that would be more fair to the bowlers.

"If a batter jumps across [at the] last minute, it doesn't really work out for me. I think a bowler, at the start of his run-up, needs to know where he can bowl it," Pollock was quoted as saying to PTI.

Talking about the current rule by the ICC, Pollock said that he wants a slight change. He stated that changing plans last minute is difficult for a bowler and that the bowler should know where he can bowl.

"The current rule tends to suggest that if he [the batter] moves and it's that point of delivery where the batter is, and that's according to where the wide will be called, I want a little bit of a change. I want them to know exactly when they're running up why or how - how can a bowler be expected to change his game plan at the last second when he's bowling? He needs to have a clear idea where he can go," he said.

He added that discussions are going on to tweak the rule to help the bowlers a bit more.

"So it's in the pipeline, we're all discussing. We need to give a little bit back to the bowlers."

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What does the current ICC rule say?

The current ICC playing conditions state that if the ball passes wide of where the striker is standing and which would also have passed wide of the striker standing in a normal position, then that ball will be declared wide.

The rules also state that if the striker moves and cuases the ball to either pass wide or brings it sufficiently within reach to be hit by a normal cricketing stroke, it will not be called a wide.

Recently in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the Women's Premier League (WPL) in India, players have the power to review wide calls as well. The rule has come into place since 2023, where players, using the DRS, can review wide calls made by the on-field umpires.