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Former England captain Alastair Cook has suggested a new rule in Test cricket. He wants the new ball to be available at any moment of the game but its utilisation should be done until 160 overs. Cook played red-ball cricket for the English side from 2006 to 2018 and during this period, he amassed 12472 runs in 291 innings of 161 matches. He is the second-highest run-getter for England in the longest form of the sport, following his compatriot Joe Root.
Cook, who recently appeared on Stick to Cricket podcast, gave the suggestion after noting the incident of Duke balls losing shape during the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025. "A new rule I would add would be how about, in 160 overs, you can take the new ball whenever you want? You have got two new balls for those 160 overs, and you can take that second ball whenever you want. You could take one after 30 overs if you wanted to," said Cook.
Michael Vaughan wants use of substitutes in Test cricket
Ex-England skipper Michael Vaughan was also a part of chat with Cook and the former wants the use of substitutes in Tests for concussion and injury-related issues. Vaughan also highlighted the Rishabh Pant incident during the Manchester Test.
“In the first innings of the game, like-for-like, Rishabh Pant at Lord's is the perfect example," explained Vaughan. He takes a knock to his left hand, so he can bat, but he cannot keep - Dhruv Jurel comes on and keeps for him. You cannot spend the whole game off the field, not fielding and then bat,” remarked Vaughan. We have concussion subs, so if somebody gets hit early on the swede, you can replace that person. So why do not we have substitutes? All of the other sports have it - why are we allowing the game to be reduced in quality if someone gets a clip," remarked Vaughan.
