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New Delhi: The use of runners for injured batsman could soon be abolished following a recommendation from the ICC Chief Executives' Committee (CEC).
The Committee wrapped up its two-day meeting in Hong Kong on Monday and presented a range of radical recommendations to the Executive Board for their approval.
Chief among them is to remove the use of runners in international cricket, thus changing a fundamental law of the game that has existed for more than a century.
Runners have been the source of several notable disagreements on the cricket field in recent times, including Ian Healy's verbal stoush with Arjuna Ranatunga in 1995 and Andrew Strauss' showdown with a cramping Graeme Smith in 2009.
In addition, the committee unanimously agreed to make a watered-down version of the Decision Review System (DRS) mandatory in all Tests and one-day internationals.
The universal standard will include infra-red camera and audio-tracking devices but not 'ball-tracking' technology such as Hawk-Eye, which has been removed from the ICC's compulsory list at the behest of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
The committee also made a number of proposals to spice up the flagging ODI format, including using separate new balls at either end of the ground to keep the balls swinging for longer.
The recommendation would also keep the white ODI ball from losing its colour as quickly, promoting better visibility for the batsmen.
Under a related proposal teams would only be able to take their batting and bowling powerplays between the 16th and 40th over, thereby adding an extra element of intrigue to the often-mundane middle overs.
"Even though the success of 50-over cricket played during the 2011 World Cup was universally acknowledged, the CEC rightly supported the enhancements recommended by the ICC Cricket Committee to strengthen the format further, including encouraging Members to trial some specific innovations in their domestic cricket," ICC chief Haroon Lorgat said in a statement.
Proposals put forward for trials at the domestic level include a review of the number of overs allowed per bowler, allowing two short balls per over instead of one and a maximum of four fielders outside the 30-yard circle during non-powerplay overs.
