Explainer: What are the playing conditions in the World Test Championship Final?

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced the playing conditions for the ICC World Test Championship Final. The game will be played between India and New Zealand at the Hampshire Bowl in Southampton next month. Both the teams will be named as joint winners in the case of a draw or a tie. There is a reserve day that has been taken into account while finalising the schedule. The reserve day will help make up for the loss of playing time, in case rain plays truant.

The final is scheduled to be played from 18 to 22 June, with 23 June set aside as the Reserve Day. The decision making for the same was done in June 2018, before the commencement of the ICC World Test Championship. The Reserve Day will help ensure five full days of play. It will only be utilised in case the lost playing time cannot be recovered through the normal means of making up lost time each day. The measures with regard to lost time mainly centre around an early start to the day’s play or an extension in the game time. There will be no additional day’s play in case a positive result is not achieved after five full days of play. The match will be declared a draw in such a scenario.

Modification in international playing conditions

The ICC Match Referee will provide concrete information about the way in which the Reserve Day may be used to the teams and media, in the event of time being lost during the game. The final hour on the fifth day will mark the announcement of the final decision on whether the Reserve Day needs to be used. The game will be played using Grade 1 Dukes cricket balls, with the implementation of numerous changes to international playing conditions, that were brought into effect in the ongoing ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League series between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

The first is Short Runs, in which the Third Umpire will automatically review any call of a ‘short run’ by the on-field umpire, going on to communicate the decision to the on-field umpire before the next ball is bowled.

The second is with regard to player reviews. The fielding captain or the dismissed batsman may confirm with the Umpire whether a genuine attempt has been made to play the ball before deciding whether to initiate a player review for LBW.

The final change is in the case of DRS reviews. For LBW reviews, the height margin of the Wicket Zone has been lifted to the top of the stumps. This is to ensure the same Umpire’s Call margin around the stumps for both height and width.