England and Australia to be allowed to sub concussed batsmen for first time during Ashes as Zimbabwe banned from cricket

ENGLAND and Australia will be able to bring in a sub if one of their players suffers concussion during the Ashes.

The move was approved by the ICC yesterday at their meeting in London following a two-year trial in domestic cricket.

It means that if, for example, an England opener is whacked on the helmet by a ball from Mitchell Starc and has to retire hurt then another player will be able to replace him.

But the original player will not be able to return to the match.

It does not mean that England will need to have extra players at the ground to cover the possibility of concussion.

Instead, other batsmen would move one place up the order while a player is summoned from elsewhere in the country.

Earlier this month, Samit Patel was called into Nottinghamshire’s match against Somerset after Chris Nash was ruled out with concussion.

Any substitutes must be like-for-like and will have to be cleared by the match referee.

The regulation change will be introduced from August 1 – the opening day of the First Ashes Test at Edgbaston.

The ICC also kicked out Zimbabwe from international cricket with immediate effect because of repeated Government interference into the game in that country.