Joshua van Heerden becomes first injury substitute under new trial regulation | CricTracker

Western Province’s top-order batter Joshua van Heerden has become the first like-for-like injury replacement. Van Heerden came in for Edward Moore in a CSA 4-Day Series Division 1 game against Lions, becoming the first-ever substitute under the new trial for substitutes in cricket. He suffered a left adductor tear (inner thigh muscle) while fielding on Day 2 of the clash at Newlands in Cape Town.

Meanwhile, the new trial for substitutes is a part of an initiative taken by the International Cricket Council (ICC) and s also being conducted in Australia (Sheffield Shield) and India (Ranji Trophy and Duleep Trophy). The rule is based on seeking a solution for teams who lose players to serious injuries during a multi-day game.

Like the procedure Australia is following, South Africa is considering both internal and external injuries in case of substituting players. On the other hand, India have only focused at external injuries for the time being. 

Regrding the process in South Africa, in case of an internal injury, the player needs to undergo an Ultrasound and/or an MRI scan. Then, the report is sent to CSA’s chief medical officer Dr Hashendra Ramjee and CSA’s cricket operations manager Obakeng Sepeng, who both have been given the responsibility of studying the results. The duo then have the role of contacting the match referee to ask for confirmation.

On the other hand, if the injury is external, such as a visible dislocation or broken bone, the match referee can themself make the decision on the substitution by consulting Dr Ramjee and Sepeng.

There are noticeable differences in the protocols followed by different countries. This is because of different boards wanting to make use of the system in different ways. All the cricketing boards will eventually report back to the ICC with the findings of the trial. It is a distant possibility that the ICC applies the like-for-like substitutions rule in the international game. As of now, only concussion substitutes are applied.

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