New Delhi: A year after introducing the stop clock in white-ball cricket, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has extended the measure to Test matches in a bid to address the issue of slow over rates. The rule has already come into effect with the start of the 2025–27 World Test Championship cycle that kicked off with Sri Lanka’s two-Test series at home against Bangladesh, which began on June 17.

The mechanism involves an on-ground electronic clock, operated by the third umpire, that counts up from 0 to 60 seconds between overs. The fielding side must be ready to bowl the next over within that time frame. If they fail to comply, they will first receive two warnings. On the third instance, a five-run penalty will be imposed on the bowling side.

The introduction of the clock in Test cricket comes after positive results from its use in limited-overs formats. Results presented to the ICC’s Chief Executives’ Committee showed that stop clocks saved roughly 20 minutes per ODI match since their implementation.

The success of the white-ball trial mandated in ODIs and T20Is and featured in the playing conditions for the 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup has encouraged ICC to now tighten the screws in Tests also.

In addition to the stop clock, the ICC has rolled out several other rule changes. The Decision Review System (DRS) protocols have been refined and over-rate penalties in Tests have been reworked.

In another significant tweak, umpires are no longer obligated to change the ball immediately if it is found to have saliva on it. The umpires will only change the ball if its condition has been drastically changed – such as if it appears too wet or shiny.

Further, a new penalty has been introduced. If a batter is found guilty of intentionally running short to gain an advantage, the umpires will ask the fielding team which batter they want on strike. Additionally, the batting side will continue to have five runs docked.