England and Wales Cricket Board to discuss yellow card idea

The England and Wales Cricket Board is to discuss the idea of using yellow cards in a bid to curb bad behaviour.

Sledging is thought to be one of many subjects on the agenda at a meeting on Wednesday between the ECB and the MCC, the controllers of the laws of cricket.

The card idea is set to be trialled at minor county and club level next term.

"It could be in the first-class game," ECB chief Giles Clarke told The Times. "Though cricket at that level is mainly self-policed, abuse has to be stopped."

Clarke is thought to be keen to address to issue, and pointed to rugby as an example of unsportsmanlike behaviour being dealt with.

"Jack Simmons and Mike Griffith (chairman of the ECB and MCC cricket committees respectively) are very concerned," he said. "A rugby player is sent off the field for 10 minutes, one eighth of the game, and a cricketer could go off for 12 overs."

Other proposals, such as the use of pink balls instead of white in one-day matches, could still come to fruition having been trialled at Lord's last summer.

"All innovations, such as pink balls, are trialled first," Clarke said.

MCC spokesman Neil Priscott explained that although the ECB has asked for the approval of the club, it could still implement the yellow cards without it.

"MCC are the guardians of the laws of the game," he told BBC Sport.

"However, in practice, an idea like yellow cards would not be driven by the MCC and would be a form of playing regulation, it wouldn't be in the laws of the game.

"MCC are yet to discuss this at committee level therefore yet to offer support either way to the argument.

"Powerplays don't form part of the laws of cricket because you don't have powerplays in village green cricket so yellow cards might be a playing regulation the ECB trials in club cricket - which they oversee - but it's not going to be something that forms part of the laws of cricket at this time.

"Who knows in 50 years time but at the moment we have just been asked to look at it and offer support and we haven't had those discussions, so it is too early to say that we do or don't support it."