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Melbourne, 29 September 2025:
Australian cricket will trial an injury substitute rule in the Sheffield Shield that includes a reciprocal tactical sub for the opposition, a measure aimed at preventing teams from exploiting the change.
Cricket Australia confirmed the new playing condition after weeks of consultation with state teams, the Australian Cricketers Association and the International Cricket Council. The rule will be tested during the first five rounds of the Shield, which begins Saturday, with the option of extending it for the full season.
If successful, the rule could be introduced to Test cricket next year. India is also trialing a narrower version of the injury sub rule in domestic competition, limited to external injuries and without tactical replacements.
The ICC initially imposed tight restrictions on injury substitutes before easing its stance, allowing the current Shield experiment to proceed without affecting first-class status. Under the trial, teams can make one like-for-like substitution for any injury or illness suffered during play, warm-ups or off the field. The decision must be made before the start of day three.
To balance the rule, the opposition will be permitted to make a tactical substitution by the end of day two. Players who are substituted out will face a mandatory 12-day stand down, beginning after the scheduled second day of the match.
Teams will continue to travel with 12-man squads, with the extra player usually a fast bowler, given most in-game injuries affect pace bowlers. CA data shows eight in-game injuries occurred during last summer’s Shield, six of them to fast bowlers.
The idea has drawn mixed reactions. England captain Ben Stokes has strongly opposed it, calling injury replacements “absolutely ridiculous” and open to abuse. “You pick your eleven for a game; injuries are part of the game,” Stokes said during this year’s series against India.
Others, including former England captain Michael Vaughan, back the change. “What we are doing at the moment is intentionally depleting a contest by making one of the teams effectively play with ten men,” Vaughan wrote in The Telegraph earlier this year.
Sport science and medical experts also support the move, arguing that allowing injury replacements will help protect players’ careers, particularly those of fast bowlers.
