MUMBAI, India (AP) Cricketers will be at risk of being sent off for the first time after the game's lawmakers proposed giving umpires powers to punish unruly players.
Currently, only captains can ask their own players to leave the field, with umpires powerless to punish bad behavior unlike in most other sports.
The Marylebone Cricket Club - the guardian of the laws of the game - says players could be ejected from games from Oct. 1 2017 if its main committee approves Wednesday's recommendation from the world cricket committee.
The MCC wants players to be removed from the field for acts of violence or threatening an umpire.
Separately, the MCC wants restrictions on the size of bats, arguing that the ''balance of the game has tilted too far in the batsman's favor.''
