The slip cordon for Northern Districts in a Plunket Shield match in 2019. Photo: Photosport
Cricket powerhouses Australia, England and India will trial injury replacements in domestic first-class cricket but New Zealand will not.
A change to the International Cricket Council playing conditions means from October, for an initial six-month period, a player who suffers a serious injury on the field of play at any time after the match has started (including any pre-match warm-up period) may be replaced for the remainder of the match by a fully participating like-for-like player.
The concept is being trialled by ICC full member nations in multi-day domestic competitions to see if in future it could be introduced to Test matches.
Currently test cricket does not allow full injury substitutes, however since 2019 concussed players have been able to be replaced during matches.
India's trial will allow for a player to be replaced for an external injury, such as a broken bone or a dislocated shoulder, but Australia has plans to allow a substitution for any injury that rules a player out of the game including hamstring concerns or torn muscles.
New Zealand Cricket would not be following suit for the centenary season of the Plunket Shield which starts on 18 November.
"Our Major Association teams travel with just 12 players for Plunket Shield matches so, unlike the home team, the away team wouldn't be able to replace on a like-for-like basis without additional travel/assembly costs," a spokesperson said.
England test captain Ben Stokes has called the discussion around the potential of injury replacements "ridiculous".
"There will just be too many loopholes for teams to be able to go through," Stokes said last month.
"You pick your 11 for a game, injuries are part of the game, completely understand the concussion replacement because that's player welfare, player safety, but I think the conversation should just honestly stop around injury replacements because you stick me in an MRI scanner I could get someone else in straight away and you stick anyone else in an MRI scanner and a bowler is going to show 'oh yeah you've got a bit of inflammation around your knee, oh sweet you can get another fresh bowler in.'
"I just think that conversation should be shut down and stopped."
Whereas former England captain Michael Vaughan is a fan of the move towards injury replacements.
The idea was put under the spotlight when India's wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant injured his foot on day one of the fourth Test against England in July and an injured England bowler Chris Woakes came out to bat with his arm in a sling in the fifth test between the two nations.
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