The International Cricket Council (ICC) has approved a set of significant rule changes across all three formats of men’s international cricket, aimed at enhancing fairness, clarity, and pace of play.

While some of the updates have already come into effect in the new World Test Championship (2025–27) cycle, others related to white-ball cricket will be implemented starting July 2, 2025.

One of the headline changes is the introduction of a stop clock in Test matches, following its implementation in white-ball formats last year. The rule requires the fielding side to be ready to start a new over within 60 seconds of the previous one ending. Teams will receive two warnings before a five-run penalty is enforced for further delays.

The ban on the use of saliva remains in place, but the ICC has now given umpires discretionary power regarding ball changes. Umpires are no longer required to replace the ball immediately upon detecting saliva, unless the ball’s condition is significantly altered. However, the batting side will still be awarded five penalty runs for the infraction.

If a catch is taken and later found to have occurred on a no-ball, the third umpire will still review the catch for fairness. If clean, the batting side will receive just the no-ball run; if not, they will be awarded the runs completed.