In a major decision taken at the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Annual Conference in London, the ICC chief executives’ committee, on Friday (June 23) approved that teams will not lose a review when an LBW review comes down to Umpire’s Call from October 1.

The governing body of the game has also done away with the 80 over top-up of reviews in Test cricket which allowed the teams to get two reviews – irrespective of how many it has used up – after the 80th over of the same innings.

Another notable decision taken at the meeting is that the apex body also approved the usage of DRS in Twenty20 Internationals. The ICC also agreed on minimum standards for the use of DRS in international cricket, with mandatory use of the accredited ball tracking and edge detection technology.

Other changes approved by the committee include:

Bat size restrictions:

In an attempt to ensure a balanced competition between bat and ball, the ICC approved recommendations relating to bat sizes. Last year, the MCC’s cricket committee had set the limits to 108mm in width, 67mm in depth and 40mm at the edge.

“Many of the top players’ bats have edges of between 38 and 42mm but there are some which have edges up to 50 mm,” the MCC had said previously.

Punishments for on-field misconduct:

Just like the referees in football, the umpires in cricket have been granted the power to send players off the field for extremely serious incidents of player misconduct.

“All Members have agreed to implement this in full,” said ICC in a statement.

Run-out rule change:

A batsman will have made his or her ground when a bat bounces after being grounded behind the crease by a running or diving batsman.

* All the new playing conditions will come into effect from 1 October.