VIDEO- ICC working on making changes to wide rule, says Shaun Pollock

VIDEO- ICC working on making changes to wide rule, says Shaun Pollock

South African legend Shaun Pollock has revealed that the ICC Cricket Committee is working towards giving bowlers “more leeway on wides”, as the current rule is “very strict on them”, particularly when batters make last-minute movements.

In both One-Day Internationals and T20Is, batters often make late movements across the crease to disrupt bowlers’ lines and lengths, resulting in wides being given. “I’m working on something,” Pollock, who is part of the ICC Cricket Committee, said on the sidelines of SA20. “We’re looking to come up with a bit more leeway for the bowlers on wides. I think it’s very strict on them.”

The 51-year-old believes that bowlers must know where they have to bowl while at the top of their run-up. “If a batter jumps across at the last minute, it doesn’t really work out for me,” Pollock added. “A bowler, at the start of his run-up, needs to know where he can bowl it. I want them to know exactly when they’re running up why or how. How can a bowler be expected to change his game plan at the last second when he’s bowling? He needs to have a clear idea of where he can go.”

Pollock confirmed that discussions are underway to introduce changes. “So, it’s in the pipeline – we’re all discussing it. We need to give a little bit back to the bowlers.”

The former all-rounder believes South Africa should leverage its players’ experience in subcontinent conditions during the upcoming Champions Trophy.

“You’ve basically got the same players who were at the (ODI) World Cup (2023), where we reached the semifinal and lost to Australia,” he said. “We’ve got numerous IPL stars who play for South Africa. In those situations, everything looks promising. The number of IPL players – people like Klaasen, Miller, even de Kock – all those guys who spend so much time over there, gaining an understanding of the conditions, can only help South Africa.”

“They’ve also got the ICC Test Championship now, so it’s been some positive developments, and hopefully, some younger individuals will come through. We’ve started to see this happen in the Test arena,” he added.