What changed in the 2026 edition of the Laws?
Rule- England
- Wales
- MCC Laws of Cricket
- ECB
- ECB Safety Regulations
- Junior cricket
- Under 9-Under 18
- 2026
- Umpires
MCC's 2017 Code, 4th Edition (2026) came into effect on 1 October 2026, with 73 changes. (The ECB's 2026 summer competition playing conditions were based on the previous, 2022, edition.) Changes most relevant to junior matches:
- Bouncer over head height is a Wide, not a No ball (Law 22.1.3).
- Deliberate beamer: the bowler is suspended for the rest of the match, not just the innings (Law 41.7.6). A deliberate front-foot No ball is treated the same way (Law 41.8).
- Ball sizes renamed: Men's, Women's and Junior balls are now Size 1, 2 and 3, all in Law 4.1, with tighter tolerances.
- Overthrows defined (Law 19.8): an overthrow is the ball crossing the boundary after a fielder directs it towards the wickets to run a batter out or stop runs. A misfield, or a short pass to a team-mate near the boundary, is not an overthrow.
- Boundary catches (Law 19.5.2): a fielder may only jump from outside the boundary once (no "bunny hop" catches).
- Ball finally settled (Law 20.1.1.1): the ball can be finally settled in any fielder's hands or stationary on the ground.
- Bowled off the stumps: if the striker hits the ball straight, it rebounds off the bowler's end stumps and then breaks the striker's wicket, the striker is no longer out Bowled (Law 32.1.2).
- Drinks intervals: umpires no longer need to remove the bails (Law 12.3).
- All gendered language has been removed from the Laws.
Updated 21 Oct 2026