 "BCCI has set a cut off of 16.5 years and 15 years for U-16 boys and U-15 girls respectively. Reuters"){kind=logo}
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has made a change to their age determination process in junior cricket by introducing an additional bone test, which it hopes will ensure no player misses out on an extra season due to arithmetical age.
The BCCI employs a bone test via the TW3 method as per the current norms in order to determine the eligibility of cricketers in the junior circuit, in which a 1 factor is added to determine a player’s eligibility for the next season in the same age group.
With the rule change, a cricketer will undergo a second bone test in the following season to determine his/her eligibility to play at the same age level.
“It is being done to have an exact age and make sure that no player loses due to arithmetical calculation rather than scientific calculation,” a BCCI source told PTI.
The cut-off for U-16 boys is 16.5 years and 15 years for U-15 girls competition. “This means that the bone age of a player has to be 16.4 or below in the following season in male cricketers and 14.9 or below in case of females for participation,” the source said.
To explain the rule change further, if a male U-16 player undergoes a bone test in the 2025-26 season and the result shows a bone age of 15.4 years, he would not need to undergo another bone test the following season. Instead, a 1 factor is automatically added to their bone age.
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More ShortsIn this instance, the player’s bone age for the 2026-27 season would be arithmetically calculated to be 16.4 years, regardless of their actual bone growth, allowing them to participate in the U-16 tournament with a bone age of 16.4.
Similarly, if a player’s bone age is determined to be 15.5 years or higher, the bone age automatically increases to 16.5 years or higher, making him ineligible for the U-16 tournament, since 16.4 is the final cutoff.
“It’s possible that this arithmetical calculation does not accurately reflect a player’s actual age, which could cause them to lose out on a year of eligibility,” the source added.
In the case of U-15 girls, if a player tests 13.9 years this season, she will be eligible for the same category the next season with a bone age of 14.9.
However, if she tests at 14 or above this season, she can play this season but not the next one with cut off being 14.9.
With PTI inputs