ICC will now consider ball tampering as Level 3 offense

International Cricket Council (ICC) has made some new rules regarding the ICC Code of Conduct and ICC Playing Conditions, rules concerning the controversial Duckworth-Lewis-Stern System (DLS) has been updated as well. Ball tampering has been a major issue, addressed in the new rules. 'Changing the condition of the ball’ category of ICC Code of Conduct will now be considered a Level 3 offense. These new rules were given a green flag in an ICC Board Meeting during the Dublin Conference on July 2.

The actions of ICC have been influenced by the ball-tampering incident in South Africa by the Australian players- David Warner, Steve Smith, and Cameron Bancroft. They had used Sandpaper to alter the ball to enhance reverse swing. Under Level 3, the suspension points have been raised from eight to 12.

Additions have been made as to the offenses- 'Attempting to gain an unfair advantage (cheating, other than ball-tampering)’, 'Personal abuse’, 'Audible obscenity’ and 'Disobeying an Umpire’s instructions’.

DLS system, which was introduced in 2004 was updated with a third version, following a precise analysis of 700 ODIs and 428 T20Is, comprising approximately 240,000 results of individual deliveries.

There haven't been any monumental changes in the playing conditions. Relatively small changes consist- 'Allowing a match to be concluded before a scheduled interval’ and 'not allowing boundary rope to be any more than 10 yards from the edge of the available playing area unless the boundary is the maximum 90 yards from the center of the pitch'.

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