Welcome to the NEW playing laws for 2011 season

MCC LAWS OF CRICKET CHANGES FOR 2011

(Or if you can not be bothered to read this watch the video at the bottom instead)

1. LAW 2 - The Innings	Normal pre-laws apply. Team sheets exchanged Captains Identified Within 30 to 15 minute of play Law still applies Law change You MUST make your decision immediately at the toss IN FRONT of the opposing team Captain AND UMPIRE(S)
2. LAW 3 - The Umpires	Guess what chaps - yep you now have NO say in the playing conditions It is solely the responsibility of the UMPIRES to decide whether play goes ahead No offering anymore so forget that. If the Umpire says NO then NO it is
3. LAW 17 - Practice on the Field	No practice on a distance of 2 STRIPS either side of the playing pitch Look DO NOT practice on the square on the day of the match You can practice on the rest of the playing surface
4. LAW 17 - Practice on the Field	Bowlers DO NOT under any circumstances when you are about to start an over, change of bowler or any other circumstance bowl the ball INTO THE GROUND as this is now considered DELIBERATE DAMAGE TO THE BALL therefore: (i) change the ball forthwith. It shall be for the umpires to decide on the replacement ball. It shall, in their opinion, have had wear comparable to that which the previous ball had received immediately prior to the contravention Additionally the bowler’s end umpire shall (ii) award 5 penalty runs to the batting side (iii) inform the batsmen that the ball has been changed (iv) inform the captain of the fielding side that the reason for the action was the unfair interference with the ball (v) inform the captain of the batting side as soon as practicable of what has occurred (vi) together with the other umpire report the occurrence as soon as possible after the match to the Executive of the fielding side and to any Governing Body responsible for the match, who shall take such action as is considered appropriate against the captain and team concerned If it happens again, the bowler will be removed (Don't care even if it is a new bowler) and he will not be allowed to bowl again in the match and lots of other nasty stuff will happen as well
5. LAW 19 - Boundaries	A ball may be caught, subject to the provisions of Law 32, or fielded after it has crossed the boundary, provided that (i) the FIRST CONTACT with the ball is by a fielder either with some part of his person GROUNDED within the boundary, or those final contact with the ground before touching the ball was within the boundary (ii) neither the ball, nor any fielder in contact with the ball, touches or is grounded beyond,the boundary at any time during the act of making the catch or of fielding the ball. The act of making the catch, or of fielding the ball, shall start from the time when the ball first comes into contact with some part of a fielder’s person and shall end when a fielder obtains complete control both over the ball and over his own movement and has no part of his person touching or grounded beyond the boundary In other words; if you are built like Olga Korbett and leap like a demented idiot over the rope and pat it back to a god like creature such as Tim, tough it will be 6 Runs.(The ball has already crossed the rope) However if you are as agile as Coops and bat it back with a bit of you grounded (belly or or other parts) and Cooky (or some other god like creature) catches it then you are okay
6. LAW 24.5 - No Ball	The bowler’s front foot must land with some part of the foot, whether grounded or raised on the same side of the imaginary line joining the two middle stumps as the return crease. Basically (mainly for slow bowlers who have acute angle run ups) DO NOT put your FRONT foot across the wickets
7. LAW 24.6 - No Ball (ECB LAW CHANGE)	(I type this in as I have received it) The Umpire at the Bowlers' end shall call and signal NO BALL if a ball which he considers to have been delivered, without having previously touched bat or person of the striker, either: (i) Bounces more than TWICE or (ii) Rolls along the ground before it reached the popping crease
8. LAW 28 - The Wicket is Down	The striker’s bat in falling if he has let go of it, or by ANY PART of his bat becoming detached is deemed out Tough luck chaps, lets say the ball hits your hand and you go ouchy and drop it onto the the wicket you are out. More importantly, lets say you bowl a ball (vice versa) and your bat breaks and a chip hits the wicket. Sorry back to the pavillion with you
9. LAW 29 - Batsman Out of his Ground	Little change here in support of the batsman. If a batsman makes his ground by either bat or body then for whatever reason (Running or bat bounces) the wicket is broken while airborne the batsman is still IN. (Really only applies to televised games but the law is the law)
10. LAW 42 - Fair and Unfair Play	If as a batsman you damage the pitch you will only get ONE warning now and will apply throughout the innings to ALL batsman Any further warnings, all runs cancelled (except penalties: wides, leg byes etc) batsman get returned to original ends, fielding team awarded 5 penalty runs and you will be reported to someone with a big pen who will write to Andy (yes i did say pen)