Laws of Cricket

The Laws of Cricket is a code that specifies the rules of the game of cricket worldwide. The earliest known code was drafted in 1744. Since 1788, the code has been owned and maintained by the private Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in Lord's Cricket Ground, London. There are currently 42 Laws (always written with a capital "L"), which describe all aspects of how the game is to be played. MCC has re-coded the Laws six times, each with interim revisions that produce more than one edition. The most recent code, the seventh, was released in October 2017; its 3rd edition came into force on 1 October 2022.^[1]

Formerly cricket's official governing body, the MCC has handed that role to the International Cricket Council (ICC). But MCC retains copyright of the Laws and remains the only body that may change them, although usually this is only done after close consultation with the ICC and other interested parties such as the Association of Cricket Umpires and Scorers.

Cricket is one of the few sports in which the governing principles are referred to as "Laws" rather than as "rules" or "regulations". In certain cases, however, regulations to supplement and/or vary the Laws may be agreed for particular competitions as required. Those applying to international matches (referred to as "playing conditions") can be found on the ICC's website.^[2]