Law 1 -

At the outset, Law 1 states that a match is to be played between sides of not more than eleven players. However, the Australians are experimenting at the domestic level with teams of twelve players each, of which eleven can bat or field. The ICC Cricket Committee recently made the same recommendation for one-day internationals, explaining that the presence of a 12th player, a specialist bowler not required to bat or field, will give the fielding captain an additional bowling option.

It remains to be seen whether the ICC will implement the 'twelve' idea.
 

Any player can be added or dropped from the playing eleven until the toss is done. Thereafter, it one of the teams wishes to make a change, they will be allowed to do so only if the captain of the other side gives his consent.

There have been rare instances of a captain not being available for the toss. In this event, a deputy takes over. However, the deputy or vice-captain who walks out for the toss has to be a member of the playing eleven. In cricket, there is no room for non-playing captains, although those who saw Javed Miandad gesticulate from the dressing-room to Moin Khan during the final over of the first one-day international against India in the recent series, might tend to disagree! Once, Clive Lloyd was held up in Guyana before a domestic game against Trinidad. He had to take a helicopter, and he reached the venue after the game had begun.

Law 2 -

Before the 1980 code came into force, the permission of the opposing captain was required for allowing a substitute fielder. The opposition skipper had the power even to dictate the position in which the substitute could, or more specifically, could not field. On India's tour of Australia in 1977-78, Australian captain Bob Simpson objected to Madanlal fielding as a substitute in the long-leg region in the fifth Test. The reason for Simpson's refusal was the magnificent running catch taken by Madanlal to dismiss Peter Toohey in the same position in the previous Test. But now it is left to the umpires to decide whether a substitute can be allowed. He is allowed to stand anywhere, except keep wickets. But more of that later.

As for the 'Runner' concept, it is mandatory that the player who comes out as runner for an injured batsman to be a member of the playing eleven. The runner should be a player who has already been dismissed in the innings. However, if one of the openers gets injured, then the runner should be a lower-order batsman. This is to ensure that the substitute runner does not get the advantage of getting acclimatized to the conditions in the middle and then take over as the new batsman once the player he is running for is dismissed.

A substitute fielder is not allowed to keep wickets. In a Ranji Trophy match between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu at Coimbatore , Syed Kirmani, the Karnataka keeper-cum-skipper, was running a high temperature. Although his opposite number Krish Srikkanth agreed to allow a substitute to keep wickets, we umpires had to turn it down. So a member of the playing eleven, a non-regular wicketkeeper, donned the wicketkeeping gloves and pads, but a substitute was allowed to field.

In the Mumbai Test of the 1963-64 series between India and England, Milkha Singh, a member of the Indian team, acted as a substitute for England! He was later joined by his teammate Hanumant Singh. This happened because England had only nine fit players, as the rest had taken ill. The tourists had no option but to make a special request to the Indian dressing-room!

In a County game in 1963, Kent skipper Colin Cowdrey allowed eight of his players to field for Middlesex, as several players from the latter County had been held up in a traffic jam in London.

Whenever the member of the playing eleven returns to the field or vice-versa, the umpires are to be informed, as they keep note of the time of absence. In a Test between India and England played at Leeds in 1986, Raman Lamba came out to field as a substitute for the injured Srikkanth. Srikkanth returned a little later, but forgot to inform the umpires as well as Lamba. So, for one full over, there were 12 men on the field. If this happens today, five runs will be awarded to the batting side if the incoming fielder makes contact with the ball.

A player can be granted a substitute even if he is not ill or injured in exceptional circumstances. Gordon Greenidge was permitted to leave the Antigua Test against India in 1982-83 to attend to his ailing daughter in the hospital. Tragically, she passed away soon after.

Recently, Michael Vaughan, the England skipper, had obtained the umpires' and his New Zealand counterpart Stephen Fleming's permission in advance to attend to his wife who was to deliver a baby. This was during the first Test of the 2004 series between the two countries. Vaughan left the venue when he was intimated about the imminent birth.

A substitute runner must wear the same external protective equipment as the injured batsman. When on strike, the injured batsman should always remain within his crease after playing a stroke. If he wanders outside the crease, he can be run out at the striker's end even if his runner his well within the crease. If this happens, all the runs that might have been completed previously, will be disallowed. Many a time, the injured batsman starts running absent-mindedly after playing a shot. On most occasions, he does return to the crease after realising his folly, but there was a most bizarre exception in the third and final one-day international between Australia and England in 1989. Aussie keeper Ian Healy was batting with Dean Jones as his runner. Australia were chasing a target at a run-a-ball, and amidst all the tension, Healy stroked a ball in the deep and started running. So there was this unprecedented sight of three batsmen - Healy, the non-striker and the runner Jones - all running frantically. As it happened, two runs were comfortably completed with Healy showing no sign of discomfort. David Gower, the English skipper, was not amused and had a word with the umpires. The umpires, convinced that Healy did not quite seem to be in bad shape, asked Jones to leave the field!

A batsman who 'retires hurt' can resume batting at any stage in the innings, but only at the fall of a wicket, or if another of his teammates 'retires hurt'. The last-mentioned provision did not exist in the 50s and 60s. As a result, former India all-rounder Bapu Nadkarni, who had retired hurt earlier in the innings of a Ranji Trophy game, was unable to resume. This happened because another of his teammates also had to 'retire hurt'. Since eight wickets were down at that stage, the umpires rightly decided that the innings was complete. What a pity. Thankfully, the law was amended later.

If a bowler is off the field for more than 15 minutes, he cannot start bowling immediately after returning to the field. Say, if he leaves the field 10 minutes before the lunch/tea break and remains absent for 10 minutes after the resumption, he cannot bowl for twenty minutes. However, if he is absent for something like 45 minutes before the close of play on a given day, he can bowl straightway when play resumes the next day.

- By Piloo Reporter