ICC bars players below 15 in the international and Under-19 cricket

In order to improve the safeguarding of players, the International Cricket Council has come with a new rule on Thursday and set the minimum age requirement to feature in the international arena. The ICC stated that no player below the age of 15 would be allowed to make his presence in any form of either men’s or women’s or U-19 international cricket. The rule has been set in to maintain the safety of young players at all costs.

The Board has further stated that players with exceptional circumstances will only be allowed to appear in the international arena. ICC would only allow only those U-15 players whose playing experience and mental development would prove that they can handle the pressure and demands of international cricket. In other cases, no player below the age of 15 would walk in the field of cricket in the international zone.

“The Board confirmed the introduction of minimum age restrictions for international cricket to improve safeguarding of players which will apply across all cricket including ICC events, bilateral cricket, and U19 cricket. To play in any form of men’s, women’s, or U19 international cricket players must now be a minimum age of 15. In case of exceptional circumstances, a Member Board could apply to the ICC to allow a player under the age of 15 to play for them.

“This could include where the player’s playing experience and mental development and wellbeing demonstrates that they would be capable of coping with the demands of international cricket,” said ICC in a statement as quoted by News 18.

ICC made announcement with a change in World Test Championship rules

As far as young players are concerned from the teams across the world, there have been only three cases where players have turned up before the age of 15 for their countries. Hasan Raza from Pakistan came before the age of 14. Romania’s M Gherasim and Kuwait’s Bhavsar too came up before the age of 14 for their nations. The ICC came up with a new announcement while confirming a change in the World Test Championship rules owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. Teams would follow the new rules while playing any matches from now on.