Super-subs likely to be scrapped: ICC

ICC chief Malcolm Speed said the super-sub rule may be scrapped because it could not achieve its original objective.

The super-sub rule may be scrapped by the International Cricket Council because it was placing undue importance on winning the toss in one-day internationals, the ICC said on Wednesday.

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"We have recommended to the board that the on-trial super-sub rule may be discontinued from March 21, 2006, since it has proved to be unpopular with the teams and hasn't achieved the objective," Malcolm Speed, ICC chief executive, told reporters after a chief executives' committee meeting.

"We introduced this rule on a 12-month trial basis last year to make one-day cricket more exciting. But from the feedback that we have received from captains and former players it was apparent that we should not continue with it."

The original intention of the super-sub rule was to encourage teams to make greater use of all-rounders.

In practice, the ICC said, teams have used specialists as substitutes and this has placed undue importance on winning the toss.