LONDON, June 26: Substitutions are to be allowed in One-day Internationals from next month, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced. New rules on fielding restrictions will also be introduced on a 10-month trial to try and improve the game as a spectacle following a meeting of the ICC chief executives’ committee in London.

The measures are to start on July 30 but England and Australia may opt to experiment with them during their three-match one-day series which begins on July 7.

Teams will be allowed to replace a player at any stage of a match. The replaced player will be ruled out of the rest of the game while the replacement will be allowed to assume any remaining batting or bowling duties.

Both the original player and the substitute will earn caps for the match.

Currently, fielding sides are also allowed just two players in the deep for the first 15 overs. Those rules will now apply for the first 10 overs but must also be reintroduced for 10 more overs during the innings, in two blocks of five, at the fielding captain’s discretion.

Substitutions will strengthen teams while the fielding changes are designed to combat the tendency of 50-over matches to follow a format during the middle overs, when bowling sides often go on the defensive, allowing batsmen to accumulate singles almost at will.

The trial will be reviewed by the ICC’s cricket committee next year.—Reuters