THE ICC is scrapping the soft signal for umpires, starting with England’s upcoming Test against Ireland. The use of the signal when referring a decision to TV umpires has been described as “unnecessary” by the chair of the ICC men’s cricket committee Sourav Ganguly. As well as abolishing soft signals, the ICC has now made helmets mandatory for any batter facing fast bowling, all wicket keepers stood up to the stumps, and any close-in fielders fielding in front of the bat. The ICC has also made a minor adjustment to the free hit – from now on during a ...