The 2026 Laws of Cricket: what changed on 1 October 2026.

The edition in brief

• Announced: 3 February 2026, by the MCC.
• In force: 1 October 2026, replacing the 3rd Edition (2022).
• Size: 73 material changes plus wording changes throughout, by the MCC's count. It is the first new edition since 2022.
• Aims: the MCC says it drafted the edition to keep the Laws fit for the modern game and to make them as inclusive as possible, including plainer English for readers whose first language is not English.
• Adoption: the MCC says the ICC and national boards decide whether to adopt each change in their playing conditions, and that some had already been adopted by the ICC and others before 1 October 2026.

Every Law number below is from the 2026 edition. Where the research records what the 2022 edition said, it is given.

Equipment

Ball sizes (Law 4.1)

The balls are now named Size 1, Size 2 and Size 3, replacing men's, women's and junior. Size 1 is unchanged. The MCC tightened the tolerances for Sizes 2 and 3 to a uniform margin; it says the change came from an initiative by current and former women's players at the MCC's World Cricket Connects, and that under the old ranges a small women's ball could be smaller and lighter than a large junior ball. The specifications for Sizes 2 and 3, which sat in Law 4.6 in 2022, are now in Law 4.1.

One press report (Arab News, read only as a search summary) gave the new Size 3 range as 133 to 144 g, which is the old under-13 range; the MCC's own 2026 text gives 140 g as the maximum, and that is the figure used here.

Other equipment changes

• Law 4.4: the word "scheduled" was added, so a new ball can still be taken after 80 overs if a multi-day match is shortened to one day.
• Law 5.8 and Appendix B.7: laminated Type D bats, made of up to three pieces of wood with a single piece forming the face, are allowed in open-age cricket at levels set by each national governing body. Under the 2022 edition, Type D bats were for junior players in junior cricket only, and its Appendix B.7.1 allowed up to three pieces of wood without the new requirement that one single piece form the face. The MCC says the aim is to slow rising bat costs, that its testing found no significant performance advantage, and that it expects top-level bats to stay single-piece.
• Law 41.17.6 (new): umpires must act on equipment either of them judges unfair or illegal, preventing further use where possible and reporting it in every case.
• Appendix A.12.3: the wicket-keeper's glove was removed from the definition of the hand.

Fielding and the ball in play

• Law 19.5.2, boundary catches: a fielder who jumps from outside the boundary may touch the ball only once while in the air and must then be grounded wholly inside the boundary for the rest of that delivery. This ends the so-called bunny-hop catch. The MCC says the ICC asked for it and had already adopted it; the ICC announced the playing-condition version on 27 June 2025.
• Law 19.8, overthrows: defined for the first time, as an attempt to direct the ball at the stumps to stop runs or run a batter out. A misfield is not an overthrow.
• Law 20.1.1.1, finally settled: the ball can be finally settled, and so dead, in any fielder's hands or stationary on the ground, not only with the bowler or wicket-keeper.
• Law 24.2.1 (new): fielders must be inside the field of play when the ball is released.
• Law 27.3.1: the wicket-keeper must be wholly behind the stumps only from the moment the ball is released, not for the whole of the bowler's run-up.
• Appendix A2.7 and A2.8 (new): definitions of a ball "held in the fielder's hand" and of "complete control", which the MCC says matter when a fielder breaks the wicket with the ball in hand for a Run out or Stumping. Complete control is the same standard as for a catch.

On the last point, Wisden reported that on 8 October 2026 the MCC clarified that the complete-control requirement applies only when a fielder breaks the wicket with hand or arm while holding the ball, and that direct hits, deflections, kicks onto the stumps and non-striker run outs are unaffected. We have seen only Wisden's report, not the MCC's statement, so this is unverified.

Batting, running and dismissals

• Laws 18.5.1 and 18.5.2: batters may turn back and abandon a run without penalty even after crossing; deliberate short running must be an attempt to deceive, and now also lets the fielding side choose who takes strike. The MCC says the ICC had already adopted this.
• Law 32.1.2: the striker is not out Bowled if the ball touched another player, the non-striker's wicket or an umpire first, which the MCC says now covers a straight hit rebounding off the bowler's-end stumps onto the striker's wicket.
• Law 35.1.1: receiving the ball, for Hit wicket, lasts until the batter regains balance after the shot, writing down a long-held interpretation.
• Law 35.2: the striker is protected from Hit wicket if a detached piece of their equipment touches another player before hitting the wicket, or if a fielder knocks them onto the stumps; purely incidental contact does not count.
• Law 37.1.3 and 37.5.2 (new): a batter who drops or throws the bat to hit the ball or avoid dismissal can be out Obstructing the field, after which the fielding captain chooses who takes strike.
• Law 38.3: reworded for clarity, with no change of meaning, according to the MCC.

Bowling, extras and the match

• Law 22.1.3: a bouncer passing over head height is a Wide, not a No ball as before. The MCC says this matches almost all professional cricket.
• Laws 15.1 and 15.2: a captain can no longer declare or forfeit the final innings of a match; the MCC says this was only ever used for contrived results.
• Law 12.5.2: the final over of a day is completed even if a wicket falls in it, provided conditions stay fit.
• Law 12.3: umpires no longer need to remove the bails at a drinks interval.
• Law 9.2: mechanical blowers and other suitable equipment may be used to clear debris from the pitch, not only sweeping.
• Law 2.13.2.2 (new): where both sides commit offences on the same delivery that call for opposite actions, both are punished, and where the actions conflict the earlier offence governs.

Wording

• All gendered language (he or she, him or her and similar) has been removed. The 2022 edition had already replaced "batsman" with "batter".
• The word "pitch" is now used only for the 22 yards between the stumps. Where the ball hits the ground, the Laws now say "landing" or "bouncing".
• Law 17.1 describes an over as 6 valid balls, where earlier wording simply said 6 balls. The MCC's change list does not record this as a change in substance.

What the ICC adopted

Press reports of the ICC's new playing conditions (Outlook India, 1 October 2026) say they apply to international series starting on or after 1 October 2026, while series already under way keep the old conditions. The same reports say the ICC adopted the 2026 Laws on the final over of the day in Tests, the overthrow definition, finally settled, complete control for run outs and stumpings, and the Size 2 ball specification of 142 to 149 g and 21.5 to 22 cm. Our research did not find the ICC's own release on these conditions, so these come from the press. How dismissals and extras work in full is on the dismissals and extras and results pages.