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digital desk- Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), the body that decides the rules of cricket, has announced new laws for the year 2026. Under these new rules, many important provisions of cricket have been changed, but the biggest and most talked about change is to Test cricket. MCC believes that these amendments will increase fairness as well as excitement in the game.

Rules for the last over of the day changed in test cricket

According to the new law 12.5.2 of MCC, now the game will not be stopped in Test cricket after the fall of wicket in the last over of the day. Under the new rule, if a batsman is out during the last over, the match will continue till the last ball of that day. Earlier, the practice was that as soon as the wicket fell in the last over of the day, the umpire would declare the game over and the next day batting would start with a new strategy. The bowling team is expected to get a big benefit from this change. After the fall of the wicket in the last over, the new batsman will immediately come to the crease and the fielding team will be able to apply pressure and try to take another wicket in the same over. MCC believes that this rule will increase the excitement of Test cricket and make the game more competitive.

change in women’s cricket ball

MCC has also amended the rules for the ball used in women’s cricket. Now the weight of the ball in women’s cricket will be between 140 grams to 149 grams, whereas earlier its weight was 140 to 151 grams. Along with this, the size of the ball has also been changed. The new size has been fixed at 21.5 to 22 cm, which earlier used to be between 21 to 22.5 cm. The purpose of this change is to make the ball more balanced and comfortable to play for female players, so as to improve both the quality and performance of the game.

Rules of junior cricket (under-13) also changed

The rules of the ball have also been changed in junior cricket, especially in the Under-13 category. Earlier the weight of the ball was 133 to 144 grams and size was 20.5 to 22 centimeters, now under the new rules the weight will be 140 to 144 grams and the size will be 20.5 to 21 centimeters. This is expected to help young players in better control and technical development. All these new laws announced by MCC will be effective from the year 2026. In the cricket world, these changes are being considered an important step towards the development of the game. Especially the rules to the last over of Test cricket can change the course of many matches in the future and the spectators can get to see additional thrill.