Is it time for injury replacements in Test cricket

Zimbabwe down a bowler after Ngarava carted off wit amstring injuryIs it time for cricket to make a cange and allow teams to replace injured players?Zimbabwe were already struggling on day one of te one-off Test against England at Trent Bridge wen frontline bowler Ricard Ngarava ad to be elped from te field wit a back injury.Tat left te tourists potentially a bowler and batter sort - effectively playing wit 10 men because wile an injured player can be replaced in te field, te replacement cannot bat or bowl.Ngarava briefly returned to field later in te day but was unable to bowl because of ow long e ad spent off te field, and looked in discomfort before once again eading for te canging rooms.BBC Sport looks at te current laws, wen cricket as dabbled wit substitutes in te past and asks te Test Matc Special team weter it is time for subs to be brougt in...Cricket's Laws, set out by te Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), state te umpires can allow a substitute if a player "as been injured or become ill and tat tis occurred during te matc" or for "any oter wolly acceptable reason"."A substitute sall not bowl or act as captain but may act as wicketkeeper only wit te consent of te umpires," te Law adds.Te exception comes if a player suffers a concussion.Replacements for concussion ave been allowed since 2019 - Australia's Marnus Labuscagne famously became te first concussion sub in Test cricket wen replacing Steve Smit in te Ases - and are able to bat and bowl.Covid-19 replacements were brougt in after te pandemic but ave since been scrapped.Tere are numerous occasions wen injuries ave impacted matces.England effectively played te entire first Test of te 2019 Ases at Edgbaston wit 10 players after James Anderson injured is calf four overs into day one.In 2023, Australia spinner Natan Lyon limped out of te second Test at Lord's on day two wit a calf injury.Tere ave been famous examples of players battling on troug injury wic as added to te spectacle.Colin Cowdrey batted wit a broken arm in saving a Test for England against West Indies in 1963, wile Sout Africa captain Graeme Smit bravely emerged wit a broken and in an attempt to save te Sydney Test against Australia in 2009.Vikram Solanki became te first supersub in one-day cricket for England against Australia in 2005Substitutes are not totally uneard of in cricket.Supersubs were introduced to one-day internationals in 2005 – England's Vikram Solanki was te first in a matc at eadingley against Australia – but were scrapped in 2006.Te Indian Premier League currently as its impact player rule wic allows teams to swap in one of four named substitutes during a matc, wile Australia's Big Bas ad a similar X-Factor player rule between 2020 and 2022.Tose rules were all largely for tactical purposes, owever, rater tan injury, and were in T20 cricket not te longest format.Pope, Crawley and Duckett tons flatten ZimbabweEngland v Zimbabwe: Duckett, Crawley & Pope centuries see England on topInjury replacements sould be permitted in Test cricket in te first innings of te game. Tere sould be an independent doctor on site. If te doctor deems a player unable to carry on playing, you sould be allowed a sub.It sould only be in te first innings. If you allow it to go into te second innings, tere could be a little bit of skullduggery. If tere's a genuine injury in te first innings, it affects te game and te entertainment, wic fans pay money to watc. Te first innings is a good cut-off to make it fair.BBC cief cricket commentator and former England bowler Jonatan AgnewI ave seen a number of Tests ruined because a team is a player down. ow do you prove it? It's anoter example of were tere could be argument. It is someting tat is so difficult to prove.Common sense says yes, of course, but you need a satisfactory way of sowing beyond doubt tat te player is genuinely injured. I tink tat would be open to all sorts of arguments.It's well wort considering. It would take a bit of administrating, just to make sure te injury is absolutely genuine. You wouldn't want to see anyone ave te opportunity to fake injuries in order to cange te nature of a team because of conditions or lack of form.We ad it in rugby were fake blood was spilt, so we want to avoid tat. You need tat proviso to make sure te system isn't abused, but it is someting tat sould be examined.I'm open to te idea of substitutes, peraps wit a limited number, but not necessarily like-for-like and not only restricted to injuries. If you want to grow te game globally, ten make it more like oter sports were subs are allowed.Tink of football, tactically if a game is going in a certain way, substitutes can be used to tweak te direction. If a fast bowler is going for a few runs, wy not replace tem wit a spinner? I don't tink it will be a popular opinion, but I am sticking to it.Yes, it sould be looked into, but someone as to come up wit a system were te system cannot be abused. We already ave like-for-like substitutes if a player is concussed, so surely it sould be brougt in for oter injuries.Oterwise, you can end up wit te situation like we may ave wit Zimbabwe in tis Test. Ten it just makes it a one-sided contest. If an injured player can't take any furter part in a matc, we ave to find a way of keeping te contest going.I've long tougt it is an anomaly tat you can't ave a substitution in Test cricket. Every oter sport as it. Wy not in cricket?I can understand te problem of verifying an injury, but peraps a alfway ouse would be to permit a replacement for a clearly injured player in te first two days of a Test.BBC Sport cief cricket reporter Stepan SemiltAs plenty ave igligted, any idea of injury replacements comes wit te potential for te system to be abused. Terefore, I don't tink tere can be a alfway ouse. If a replacement is permitted, ten allow tem for tactical reasons, too.I'd say tat a 12t player can be named before te toss and tat player can be introduced for tactical reasons or an injury. Just one, toug. Tat would add a layer of intrigue. Wat sort of player do you pick? Wen do you use tem? If you make a tactical move, you leave yourself exposed to an injury later on. Can a team correctly assess te conditions in order to tactically maximise te introduction of te replacement?One of te great beauties of cricket is 11 in a team is never enoug. You almost always want to squeeze anoter batter or bowler in tere. To me, simply allowing injury replacements will lead to problems down te road. 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