How a dash of colour could redraw contours of white-ball cricket

A splash of blue has turned white-ball cricket’s universe a shade more intriguing.During the India–Australia ODI series, fans noticed two shimmering blue stripes running parallel to the popping crease, one foot on either side of the middle stump.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!These markings are part of a new ICC trial rule introduced in ODIs and T20s, in which any delivery that passes between these blue lines will not be called a wide, even if it drifts down the leg side.The six-month experiment aims to give bowlers more leeway and restore balance in a game increasingly dominated by batters.

“Even though it’s on a trial basis, it’s a welcome move, as it gives the bowlers something to bowl at in white-ball cricket,” umpire Anil Chaudhary told TOI.“If it passes through the blue zone, it’s within reason and will not be deemed wide,” he explained.The concept has already travelled beyond Australia. Bright yellow lines made an appearance in the West Indies-Bangladesh ODI in Mirpur earlier this week.These new markings sit closer to the stumps than the traditional ‘wide’ guidelines, which sit roughly 17 inches inside the return crease.For decades, bowlers have lived and died by that invisible “wide” line, often punished for straying a whisker too far down the leg side.

Chaudhury recalls a time when things were different: “In the 1970s, when ODIs were still new, umpires gave bowlers some room on leg-side deliveries. That changed very quickly.”DDCA umpire Pradip Rawal sees the latest innovation as a relief that was long overdue. “This surely gives bowlers a little more breathing space. ODIs aur T20s mein bowlers ke liye kuch bacha nahi tha (There was nothing left for bowlers in white-ball cricket).”Interestingly, this extra set of lines also doubles as a visual cue for the “protected area” of the pitch: that central corridor where players are warned not to trample through unnecessarily.A simple dash of colour, then, could just redraw the geometry of white-ball cricket.