The MCC and the Laws of Cricket.

The MCC's role

The preface to the current Laws, the 2017 Code 4th Edition (2026), says that since its formation in 1787 the Marylebone Cricket Club has been recognised as the sole authority for drawing up the Code and every amendment to it, and that it holds the world copyright. The preface calls the MCC the accepted custodian of the Laws. It answers questions about the Laws and gives interpretations, though it keeps the right not to answer queries it considers frivolous or connected with a bet. The 4th edition's preface is signed by R.S. Lawson, as Chief Executive and Secretary of MCC, and dated 1 October 2026.

The MCC says the full 2026 edition is free on its website, and that its website and its Laws of Cricket app carry a digital version kept up to date with any minor changes after printing.

How the Laws are changed

• The MCC's Laws sub-committee debates, decides and drafts changes, which the MCC Cricket Committee and Main Committee then ratify. The sub-committee meets several times a year (MCC, 3 February 2026).
• The Laws' own list of significant dates records that the MCC set up the Laws sub-committee in 2007, replacing the Laws Working Party.
• The same list records that at a Special General Meeting on 5 May 2010, MCC members agreed that the MCC Committee may change the Laws without asking the members to approve each change.
• The MCC's Laws Manager named in its February 2026 announcement is Fraser Stewart.

The MCC is clear that adopting a change is a decision for others. The ICC and national boards decide whether to bring each Law change into their own playing conditions, and the MCC notes that some 2026 changes had already been adopted as playing conditions by the ICC and other bodies before 1 October 2026.

Laws and playing conditions

The preface describes the Laws as the framework for every match. Leagues and governing bodies add their own playing regulations on top, for junior cricket, T20 matches, Test matches and so on, usually leaving the fundamentals alone. The ICC's women's ODI playing conditions (effective July 2026) show how this works: they state that the Laws are incorporated within the playing conditions, which then vary them for the format. One small example is the umpires' arrival time. Law 2.1 requires umpires at the ground at least 45 minutes before the start; clause 2.1.1 of those ICC conditions requires at least 90 minutes.

The Codes of Laws, as the MCC dates them

The list of significant dates printed in the 2026 Laws gives the following milestones:

• by 1700: cricket recognised;
• 1744: the earliest known Code, drawn up by "Noblemen and Gentlemen" who used the Artillery Ground in London;
• 1755, 1774 and 1786: revisions of the Laws. The MCC's 2022 edition of the Laws, which sets the same list out year by year, says the 1755 revision was made by several cricket clubs, particularly the Star and Garter in Pall Mall; the 1774 revision by a committee of noblemen and gentlemen of Kent, Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex, Middlesex and London meeting at the Star and Garter; and the 1786 revision by a similar body from the same counties;
• 30 May 1788: the MCC's first Code of Laws adopted;
• 1835, 1884, 1947 and 1980: new Codes, with a second edition of the 1980 Code in 1992 (the MCC's list files the 1980 Code under 1979, the year it was approved; it took effect in 1980);
• 3 May 2000: a new Code approved, including a Preamble on the Spirit of Cricket;
• 2017: the current Code.

The MCC says six editions of the 2000 Code appeared in fifteen years, and that a new Code was needed in 2017 to rationalise them.

The 2017 Code and its editions

A report on the 2017 Code by the Club Cricket Conference records three of its best-known changes: new limits on bat edge thickness (40 mm) and depth (67 mm), with width unchanged at 108 mm; a new Law on players' conduct giving umpires in-match sanctions up to removing a player from the field; and the merging of Handled the ball into Obstructing the field. The bat figures match Law 5.7 in the 2026 text, and the conduct scheme is Law 42 in the current edition.

The 2019 edition, the MCC says, reworked Law 41.7 on high full-pitched deliveries so umpires have more say on whether one is dangerous, defined the waist in the Laws for the first time at the umpires' request, and adjusted Law 41.16 to stress that the non-striker should stay in their ground until the bowler releases the ball. The changes in the 2022 and 2026 editions are covered on the 2026 Laws changes page and, Law by Law, on the pages for dismissals and extras and results.

How the current text is laid out

The 2026 edition has 42 Laws plus appendices, ending with Law 42, Players' conduct. It opens with the Preamble on the Spirit of Cricket, part of the Laws since 2000 according to the MCC. Law 1.4 and Law 41.1 make the captains responsible for play being conducted within the Spirit of Cricket as well as within the Laws. The MCC states two drafting principles for the 2026 edition: keeping the Laws fit for the modern game, and making them as inclusive as possible, including plainer English for readers whose first language is not English.

When a page on this site cites a Law, it means the 2026 edition unless it names another. Where an earlier edition said something different, the page says so.