The International Cricket Council has made some changes to its Playing Conditions after the Chief Executives’ Committee approved the Men’s Cricket Committee recommendations led by former India captain Sourav Ganguly and the Women's Cricket Committee.

The most significant change to emerge is that the soft signal has been scrapped and the on-field umpires would no longer be required to give a soft signal when referring decisions to the TV umpire. 

"The on-field umpires will consult with the TV umpire before any decisions are taken," the ICC confirmed. “Soft signals have been discussed at previous cricket committee meetings over the last couple of years," Ganguly said.

"The committee deliberated this at length and concluded that soft signals were unnecessary and at times confusing since referrals of catches may seem inconclusive in replays."

The ICC has also made helmets mandatory for high-risk positions - when batters are facing fast bowlers, when wicketkeepers are standing up to the stumps and when fielders are close to the batter in front of the wicket.

"We also discussed player safety, which is very important for us.," Ganguly said. "The committee decided that it was best to make the use of helmets mandatory in certain positions to ensure the safety of players."

There was also a minor addition to the Free Hit rule with any runs scored after the ball hits the stumps counted as runs scored from now. This would mean that if a batter is bowled off a Free Hit and runs are scored off it, they would be attributed to the batter.

The changes will come into effect on 1 June 2023 with the Lord’s Test between England and Ireland, a four-day one-off Test match. The following World Test Championship final between India and Australia, starting June 7, will also follow these new Playing Conditions. 

(With inputs from ICC Media Release)