CA to trial injury subs with tactical twist in Sheffield Shield for the first five rounds of the 2025/26 Shield season.
CA to trial injury subs with tactical twist in Sheffield Shield with eye to Test cricket use.
As talks regarding the introduction of injury substitutes in Test cricket continue, Cricket Australia will test an injury replacement rule in the first five rounds of this season’s Sheffield Shield competition and permit the opposition to make a corresponding substitution. The ICC will then be presented with the results.
In recent weeks, CA has been in contact with the six state teams, providing them with information on the rule that will be used during the first half of the season, which begins on Saturday. The “serious injury replacement substitute” regulation that the BCCI has introduced into India’s domestic first-class tournament will be very different from this.
The Australian version was created with the intention of covering all injuries, keeping competitive balance within matches while attempting to prevent any manipulation, and preventing fit fast bowlers from being overloaded for the rest of the match if they lose a fast-bowling mate early in the game.
sides are now allowed to substitute players for concussions as much as they like during the four days of a Shield game. However, as part of the trial, both sides will have the option to substitute players for injuries up to the end of the second day.
In the event that a player becomes unwell or injured after the toss, teams are permitted to substitute a player with the same skill set (for instance, a fast bowler for a fast bowler, a batter for a batter, or a spinner for a spinner). Teams must submit a request to the match referee, who will assess the injury’s validity and authorise the substitution.
This is not the same as the BCCI regulation, which states that the injury must have occurred during the game and must be external (such as a serious cut or fracture) as opposed to internal (such as a strained hamstring).
The problem gained attention during the last England-India Test series, as players from both teams sustained serious external injuries: Chris Woakes suffered a dislocated shoulder at The Oval, and Rishabh Pant suffered a fractured foot at Old Trafford.
The potential of the opposition to match a substitution is an intriguing aspect of what CA is implementing. By the end of day two, the opposition will have the opportunity to respond with a “tactical substitute” if a team applies the injured replacement rule. However, that replacement needs to be the same kind of player that was hurt in the match.