The International Cricket Council have moved swiftly to avoid a repeat of the farcical scenes at the end of England's one-day clash with New Zealand on Wednesday.

The second match in the NatWest series ended in controversy when rain ended play one over short of the minimum required for a result at Edgbaston.

The decision to persist with a 30-minute interval after England's innings despite the poor weather conditions has come in for widespread criticism. But the ICC has now given umpires the power to reduce the length of the interval between innings for the rest of the series.

The final part of regulation 15.1 now reads: "Where the innings of the side batting first is delayed or interrupted, the umpires will reduce the length of the interval.

"In the event of time being lost (playing time lost less any extra time provided) up to and including 60 minutes in aggregate, the length of the interval shall be reduced from 45 to 30 minutes.

"In the event of more than 60 minutes being lost in aggregate, the duration of the interval shall be agreed mutually by the umpires and both captains subject to no interval being of more than 30 minutes' duration or less than 10 minutes' duration.

"In the event of disagreement, the length of the interval shall be determined by the ICC match referee."

The ICC chief executives' committee will examine the matter when it meets in Dubai at the end of the month with a view to securing the best longer-term result for the playing conditions relating to this matter.