The sport of cricket holds a history of evolution for decades. From the kits to the formats, the sport has seen upgradation with time and need. The current rulemakers of the sport, the Marylebone Cricket Council, hold pages of rules that are not even known to the players all the time. However, there used to certain rules that once dominated the sport, but now don't exist anymore. Here is a list of five such rules that are no more on books, or have reformed with time. 1 | Runner for an injured batter, abolished on 2011 For decades an injured batsman could ask for a runner: another player would run between the wickets while the injured batter continued to face the bowling. It sounded fair on paper — but in practice it created chaos. Umpires struggled to judge whether cramps or injuries were genuine; teams sometimes appeared to “game” the rule for tactical advantage. The ICC’s Chief Executives’ Committee recommended scrapping runners in 2011 and the executive board ratified that decision, removing the runner from international playing conditions. With time there came concussion substitutes but with restrictions. Unless a player gets injured on the head or neck, the team is technically playing without the player and none as a replacement. 2 | Two brand-new balls from each end for an entire ODI innings, changed (2011-revised 2025) From 2011 the standard in men’s ODIs became two new balls — one commenced from each end and both were used throughout the 50 overs. That rule helped keep the white ball bright and sightable but also reduced opportunities for bowlers to exploit swing and reverse-swing late in an innings; many argued it progressively favoured batters and inflated scoring. In June 2025 the ICC amended the playing conditions so that two new balls are used only until the end of the 34th over; from over 35 the bowling side can choose one of the two balls to use at both ends for the remainder of the innings. The tweak aims to restore some balance between bat and ball, particularly with reverse-swing and seam bowling in the later overs. 3 | Bowl-outs as tie-breakers: replaced by Super Over (and boundary-count scrapped) The rule looked like a reformed version of what tie-breakers look like in football or hockey. Early T20s (and some other competitions) used a bowl-out to decide tied matches: bowlers aimed at an undefended wicket and the side hitting more stumps won. For example, example: India vs Pakistan, T20 World Cup, Sept 14, 2007 — match tied; India won the bowl-out 3–0 (Kingsmead, Durban) — a memorable early use of the old method. Critics said bowl-outs bypassed batting entirely and didn’t reflect the overall contest. The ICC moved to a Super Over (one over per side) as the preferred tiebreaker from around 2008–09. Later controversies over Super Over tie rules — notably the 2019 World Cup final where boundary-countback decided the winner after a tied Super Over — led the ICC to scrap the boundary-count rule in October 2019 and adopt repeatable Super Overs (until a winner is produced) for knockout matches. 4 | No umpire from a playing nation: introduction and recent relaxation The neutral-umpires policy was a major modern reform: for many years the ICC required on-field umpires in Test matches to be neutral (not from the home nation) to remove even the perception of home bias. That system became standard for top-level Tests and many ODIs for two decades. However, COVID-19 travel constraints forced a temporary suspension of the strict neutral-only requirement in 2020, allowing home or locally based ICC panel umpires to stand in international matches to keep cricket viable during the pandemic. As travel resumed, ICC signalled a return to neutral umpires for Tests where possible, but the pandemic showed the policy could be flexed when necessary. The rule’s application has therefore evolved from rigid to pragmatic. 5 | DRS only if both boards agree: de-facto mandate and wide adoption When the Decision Review System (DRS) first appeared it was optional: DRS could be used in a bilateral series only if both boards agreed. That reflected worries about cost, accuracy (especially ball-tracking/Hawk-Eye) and trust from some boards. But as technology improved (UltraEdge, Hotspot, better ball-tracking) and more sides accepted it, DRS became the norm — and the last major holdout (India) formally embraced it in bilateral Tests from 2016. ICC tournaments now mandate DRS, and today DRS is used in virtually all elite international fixtures; the old “both boards must agree” idea has become obsolete in practice. The shift happened because DRS improves decision accuracy, reduces controversial umpiring errors, and is expected in high-profile events.