Concussion rules by board: different minimums for different levels.

The minimums side by side

The research behind this site describes these as different rules for different settings, not errors. A professional with a club doctor and physiotherapist on hand is managed differently from a club player, and the ICC and ECB documents treat children more cautiously.

ICC (international cricket)

The ICC Concussion Management Guidelines, June 2025 edition, state that a player diagnosed with concussion during a match in which a replacement is activated must observe a mandatory seven-day stand-down. The PTI report of the ICC's announcement on 27 June 2025 describes the stand-down as applying to any player diagnosed with concussion in a match. The two versions differ on scope, and the ICC's text is the narrower one. The guidelines also say most diagnosed players are ready in about a week, and that children aged 18 and under typically take about three weeks under experienced medical oversight. The replacement rules themselves are on concussion and replacements.

England and Wales (ECB)

Professional and elite academy cricket

The ECB's Professional and Elite Academy Concussion Guidelines describe themselves as a revision of the ECB's 2018 guidelines, drawing on the 2022 Amsterdam consensus and the UK grassroots guidelines of 2023. The file sits under a March 2026 path on the ECB's site, but the document carries no edition date of its own and its reference list still describes 2023 regulations as due for update in March 2024, so the most precise date we can give is that it was current on the ECB site in 2026.

The guidelines cover the England men's, women's and disability senior teams, England pathway teams, men's first-class counties, women's professional regional teams and their academies, and Hundred teams. Players without ongoing access to a club doctor and physiotherapist follow the recreational guidelines instead. The key change the ECB names is three return pathways chosen by age and risk, with the minimums in the table above. For the 12 to 16 group, the ECB says a return to learning comes before a return to play.

The ECB says umpires and coaches are not expected to diagnose or manage concussion, but must call medical staff on to the field for any helmet strike or welfare concern. It also mandates baseline testing for professional players.

Recreational cricket

The ECB's Recreational Cricket Concussion Guidelines carry the slogan "If in doubt, sit them out". The ECB says they are adapted from the UK Government's concussion guidelines for non-elite (grassroots) sport, first released in April 2023 and revised in November 2024, with additions for cricket. They cover everyone in recreational cricket in England and Wales other than the England teams, professional county clubs and Hundred teams, and they apply to all ages, including disabled players, who the ECB says may need a longer initial rest.

The ECB states that anyone with a suspected concussion should be assessed by a healthcare professional, or call NHS 111, within 24 hours. It sets no return to competitive cricket before 21 days, provided the player has been free of symptoms for at least 14 days, and says symptoms lasting beyond 28 days need further medical attention. An ECB extract, dated June 2026 in its web address, sets out a six-stage graduated return, with competitive matches on day 21 at the earliest. The ECB also says the presence of a healthcare professional at a recreational game does not remove the need to follow the guidelines, and that children and adolescents need special consideration because they may take longer to recover and are more susceptible to rare and dangerous complications.

Australia (Cricket Australia)

Cricket Australia's Community Cricket Concussion Guidelines page states that a participant must not return to play until at least 21 days after the incident, and only with clearance from a medical doctor. The player completes a declaration that goes to the doctor; a parent or guardian completes it for a player under 18. The guidelines apply to organised community training, matches and competitions, and CA asks affiliated clubs and associations to enforce them. CA describes a club concussion officer as a non-medical role that helps the club follow the protocol. CA names the bases of the guidelines as the Amsterdam consensus statement, the Australian Institute of Sport's 2024 Concussion and Brain Health Position Statement and the ICC's 2024 concussion guidelines.

This page does not give a minimum for Cricket Australia's elite competitions. The elite policy document we found carries a confidentiality label, and this site does not cite such documents; Cricket Australia's own published rules are the authority.

New Zealand (NZC)

The NZC Concussion Policy 2024-25 has two parts. The first covers domestic matches with medical staff present (the four-day, 50-over and T20 competitions); the second covers matches without medical staff, including national tournaments, the Hawke Cup and community tournaments. International matches are left to the ICC. Where no medical staff are present, NZC says the "if in any doubt, sit them out" principle applies, the umpires decide whether to remove a player, and the player may not return until a medical doctor has excluded concussion and cleared the return. The policy still lists as related documents the 2016 Berlin consensus, the ECB's 2015 guidelines and Cricket Australia's 2014 policy, rather than the Amsterdam consensus that the ICC, ECB and CA now cite (the ICC and ECB date it 2022; CA's community page dates it 2023).

Boards not covered

No Cricket South Africa concussion policy was found, Cricket Ireland's concussion guidance was not checked, and no BCCI concussion policy document was opened. This page says nothing about their rules rather than guess.