Super Over to decide World Cup if needed

The World Cup final will be settled by a super over in the event of a tied game, the International Cricket Council has announced.

Several playing conditions and initiatives for the tournament were agreed at a two-day meeting of the ICC board in Dubai, with arrangements for the March 29 showpiece in Melbourne finally settled.

Although a one-over shootout was in place for the final four years ago, as well as other ICC mandated events since, there was no commitment to use the method in the forthcoming tournament until now.

A statement read: "The ICC board reinstated the use of a super over in the event of a tie in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 final. This now replicates the arrangements for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 final and other recent ICC events where a winner will be determined on the day of the final (weather-permitting), and a super over was the most credible way to separate the two sides."

The board also decided that tournament captains would not have pre-existing over-rate offences held against them.

Two instances of slow over-rates in a 12-month period lead to an automatic one-game ban at present, but each player will begin the competition with a clean slate.

That will benefit England skipper Eoin Morgan, who earned one censure in Sri Lanka before Christmas.

The statement continued: "This approval means all captains will enter the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 with no over-rate 'strikes' against their names, and they will only be suspended from playing in an ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 match if over-rate offences are committed during the event."

Elsewhere, there was a nod to the recent debate over on-field behaviour.

A number of flare-ups in the Test series between Australia and India saw former New Zealand captain Martin Crowe call for red and yellow cards to be introduced, while several other prominent commentators have called for a crackdown on sledging.

The ICC has not gone as far as implementing any new policy, but did empower officials to act against any lapses in conduct.

"The ICC board reiterated its support for the umpires clamping down on poor player behaviour, particularly leading into and during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015," the statement added.

The ICC board also approved the dates of the ICC events through to 2019 as below.