Cricket Australia to trial injury substitutes

Cricket Australia is to trial injury substitutes in the first five rounds of their domestic Sheffield Shield competition.

Teams will be able replace a player if they sustain any injury or become unwell before, during or after play, up to close of play on day two, at the referee's discretion.

To maintain fairness, the opposition side will also be able to make a tactical substitution.

Only one substitution is available per match and must be like-for-like, such as a bowler for a bowler. If it is not like-for-like then the match referee could place restrictions on what the substitute will be able to do.

"Cricket Australia management will be collecting information on the success or otherwise of the trial to assess the options post that round," said Cricket Australia head of operations Peter Roach.

"We hope to learn much about the trial across the first five rounds that we can use in both our competition going forward, and also pass up to the International Cricket Council (ICC) for consideration for introduction at Test level."

The opening round of the Sheffield Shield begins on Saturday.

India trialled a similar rule earlier this year in its domestic red ball competition, though it was limited to injuries sustained on the field and had to be external, for example a deep cut or fracture rather than a muscle strain.

The possibility of introducing injury substitutes was raised during England's Test series against India this summer.

India's Rishabh Pant batted with a fractured foot in the fourth Test, while Chris Woakes came out to bat on the final day of the fifth Test with one arm in a sling after dislocating his shoulder on day one.

The ICC's playing conditions for Test matches do not allow full substitutes.

Teams are allowed to replace injured players in the field but the "substitute shall not bowl or act as captain but may act as wicket-keeper only with the consent of the umpires".

Replacements for concussion have been allowed since 2019 and are able to bat and bowl.

Covid-19 replacements were brought in during the pandemic but have since been scrapped.