New Delhi: Jonny Bairstow became only the second cricketer in County Cricket to be replaced under the new substitute rule introduced in the tournament as a trial.
The County Championship has implemented a new substitute rule this season that allows teams to replace a player midway through a match. Seasoned England batter and Yorkshire skipper Bairstow has become the second player to be substituted under the new rule after suffering a finger injury during his team’s opening round match against Glamorgan.
Bairstow second batter to replaced under the new rule
Bairstow is the second player, after Tom Westley, to be replaced under the new trial rule. Essex captain Westley was replaced on the opening day of the season after suffering a finger injury while batting against Hampshire. After retiring hurt on 28, he was replaced by all-rounder Noah Thain after the medical teams deemed the injury serious enough to have him ruled out of the match.
However, Thain was only allowed to bat and not bowl as Westley, a pure batter, was unlikely to bowl during the match.
Bairstow suffered the injury on his right thumb while performing wicket-keeping duties on Day 2 of the first-round fixture.
Ahead of the start of Day 3 with Yorkshire at 1/0 in reply to Glamorgan’s first-innings total of 302, the club confirmed that Bairstow has been replaced by Will Luxton in the playing XI and will miss the team’s next match against Hampshire, as per the rule.
“Yorkshire have taken advantage of the new substitution rule in this season’s County Championship following Jonny Bairstow’s right thumb injury. Will Luxton is in and can bat,” the club said in a statement.
“Bairstow will now miss the next Championship match against Hampshire at Headingley under the rules. Any players subbed out miss the next eight calendar days,” the statement added.
What is the new replacement player rule County Championship is trialling?
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is trialling the new replacement player rule in the ongoing season, which allows a substitute player to be fully involved in the match despite coming on as a replacement for an injured player.
The rule allows teams to bring in a like-for-like replacement for an injured player midway through the match.
As per ECB, the teams can call up “like-for-like replacements if one or more of their players is ruled out of the game through injury, illness or a significant life event.”
Before the trial came into effect, only concussion substitutes were allowed to fully replace the concussed player.
However, to avoid any exploitation of the rule by teams, the ECB has put certain conditions in place on the implementation of the substitute trial rule, which are:
An injured or ill player can only be replaced after the green signal of the Chief Medical Officers of both participating sides.
The substituted player will not be eligible to play for his team for the next eight days in the County Championship, One-Day Cup and T20 Blast.
Any “significant life event” like attending the birth of a child, an illness in the family or any other major reason that may require a player to miss a part or full match.