Under MCC Law 41.9, a first instance of fielding-side time-wasting in an innings brings a first and final warning. A later offence outside an over gives the batting side five penalty runs. If the repeat offence happens during an over, the bowler is suspended for the rest of the innings instead; Law 41.9 does not award five runs for that in-over offence.
What counts as fielding-side time-wasting?
MCC Law 41.9 states that “It is unfair for any fielder to waste time.” It gives an unnecessarily slow over, or time wasted in another way by the fielding captain or another fielder, as grounds for the umpire to act. The Law sets no fixed number of seconds for this procedure: whether time has been wasted is a matter for the umpire’s judgment. MCC Law 41.9
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What happens after each offence?
First instance in the innings: warning
If the ball is in play, the umpire calls and signals Dead ball and informs the other umpire. The bowler’s-end umpire warns the fielding captain that this is a first and final warning, then informs the batters. The warning applies to subsequent fielding-side time-wasting during that innings.
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Further instance outside an over: five runs to the batting side
If the ball is in play, the umpire again calls and signals Dead ball and informs the other umpire. The bowler’s-end umpire awards five penalty runs to the batting side and explains the decision to the fielding captain. The umpire also informs the batters and, as soon as practicable, the batting captain.
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Further instance during an over: bowler suspended
For a further fielding-side time-wasting offence during an over, the bowler’s-end umpire directs the fielding captain to suspend the bowler immediately. That bowler cannot bowl again in the innings. If the over has to be completed, another bowler must finish it; that replacement must not have bowled any part of the previous over and must not bowl any part of the next over. The prescribed consequence for this in-over offence is the bowler’s suspension, not a five-run award under Law 41.9. The 2026 MCC Laws retain this procedure as Law 41.9.
After the match: report and possible further action
The umpires report the occurrence to the offending side’s executive and to any governing body responsible for the match. Those bodies may take further action against the captain, individuals or team as appropriate.
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How the five-run award is recorded
Under MCC Law 41.17, batting-side penalty runs are signalled when the ball is dead and recorded as penalty extras. They are added separately from runs scored off the deliveries immediately before or after the award, and are not treated as runs from either delivery. The batters do not change ends solely because the five-run penalty is awarded. If penalty runs are awarded to the fielding side, they are added to its most recently completed innings total, or to its next innings if it has not yet completed one. MCC Unfair Play Law; MCC changes for 2026
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Law 41.10 deals separately with time-wasting by batters. At the first instance, the umpire warns both batters; the warning applies throughout the innings, and incoming batters are told about it. For further batter time-wasting, the attempted run is disallowed, the batters return to their original ends, and five penalty runs go to the fielding side. So the recipient of a five-run penalty depends on which side committed the offence and which Law applies. MCC Law 41.10
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Which rules apply to a particular match?
The MCC Laws are the general Laws of Cricket. At international level, the ICC applies playing conditions, which can alter or supplement how the Laws operate in a competition or format. Check the conditions for the match in question before applying a general-law explanation to a specific decision; the ICC Men’s ODI Clause 41 is an official example of format-specific playing conditions. MCC explains the distinction on its About the Laws page. The 2026 MCC edition retains fielding-side time-wasting as Law 41.9 and the penalty-run provisions in Law 41.17. MCC 2026 Laws
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