The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), the custodian of the Laws of Cricket, and the International Cricket Council (ICC) have recently deemed the 'bunny hop' catch illegal, a move set to be integrated into the ICC's playing conditions this month and the MCC's laws by October 2026. This decision comes after growing concerns about the fairness of such catches, which involve fielders making multiple airborne touches outside the boundary ropes before completing a catch.

So, what exactly is the 'bunny hop' catch? It refers to a fielding technique near the boundary where a player, after initially catching or parrying the ball while airborne and outside the boundary, performs multiple 'hops' or touches while still outside the boundary before finally completing the catch within the field of play. A prominent example is Michael Neser's catch in the Big Bash League (BBL) 2023. Neser, while fielding near the boundary, caught the ball but his momentum carried him over the boundary line. Aware of the rules, he tossed the ball up while airborne, landed outside the boundary, jumped again, and palmed the ball back into the field of play before hopping back inside to complete the catch.

Under the previous Law 19.5.2, such a catch was deemed legal if the fielder's last contact with the ground before touching the ball was within the boundary, and they didn't touch the ball and the ground simultaneously outside the boundary. This allowed for spectacular displays of athleticism but also led to debates about the fairness of the play. The MCC felt that while these efforts were often spectacular, they sometimes "went too far" and appeared unfair to the "majority of the cricketing public".

The updated law addresses this by limiting fielders to a single airborne touch outside the boundary. According to the new rule, if a fielder's first touch takes them outside the boundary, their second touch must bring the ball back inside the field of play. This means that fielders can no longer repeatedly parry the ball while outside the boundary before completing the catch. The MCC has clarified that fielders can still push the ball up from inside the boundary, step outside, and then dive back in to complete the catch, but any contact with the ball from outside the boundary will require the fielder to land inside the field of play for the catch to count.

This change aims to strike a balance between allowing athletic fielding efforts and maintaining the integrity of the game. The MCC believes that this new rule will prevent situations where fielders exploit the boundary law to gain an unfair advantage.

The new rule will be effective in ICC playing conditions from June 17, 2025, coinciding with the start of the new World Test Championship cycle, and will be incorporated into the MCC's official Laws of Cricket from October 2026.