Cricket Australia will conduct the trial of an injury replacement rule in the first five rounds of the upcoming Sheffield Shield 2025-26 season. The findings will be passed on to the International Cricket Council (ICC) as part of ongoing discussions about the implementation of the injury substitutes rule in Test cricket.
The discussions were sparked after Rishabh Pant batted with a fractured foot during the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025 in England. It was further intensified with Chris Woakes taking a guard with a dislocated shoulder in the decisive The Oval Test.
CA has communicated the details of the rule to all six Sheffield Shield teams. The rule primarily focuses on covering all injuries and illnesses of players, including internal muscle strains. The injury replacements are allowed after the toss until stumps on day two with a like-for-like substitute. The match referee will determine the legitimacy of the injury and approve the same skill set player as a replacement. The player ruled out will have to undergo a mandatory 12-day non-playing period, starting on the second day of the match.
If a team utilizes the injury replacement rule, the opposition side can bring in a “tactical substitute” in response, again by the stumps on day two. The only condition says that a substitute player and the rival team’s ruled-out player should have the same skill set. The match referee can also put restrictions on the involvement of players. For instance, a batter may not be allowed to bowl if the replaced player doesn’t bowl regularly.
The board has also encouraged the state teams to carry an extra pacer as their 12th player on away games on most occasions, based on the data CA received from the state teams. The team travelling to Western Australia or the Western Australia side can fly an extra player with the team due to the length of the flight and possible difficulties in getting other players on short notice.
CA will seek feedback from the states. If it achieves success, it has also left the possibility of continuing the trial further for the next two rounds.
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The BCCI) has already introduced the “serious injury replacement substitute” rule for its multi-day tournament. The rule will allow teams to make corresponding substitutions during the first-class match. But there is one significant difference compared to the Australian version. The rule states that the injury has to have happened during the game and needs to be external (like a deep cut or fracture). The internal injuries, like hamstring strain, won’t be taken into consideration. Notably, no injury replacement requests were reported during the Duleep Trophy 2025.
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