Vadodara: The International Cricket Council (ICC) is considering laying down new guidelines for matches affected due to crowd violence, match-referee Mike Procter said on Sunday.

Procter said currently there were no rules governing such incidents and the match- referee had to use his discretion to decide on the future course of the match.

"At its next meeting, ICC will try and formulate clear cut guidelines for matches hit by crowd disturbances," he said ahead of the fifth One-day International between India and West Indies on Monday.

The first three matches of the on-going series were marred by crowd trouble, the third at Rajkot having to be abandoned after 27.1 overs in the second session. The Rajkot match was awarded to India on a better run-rate calculated by the Duckworth- Lewis system.

Procter said in the absence of any specific guidelines from ICC, he used his discretion in awarding the match to India since the home team was way ahead of West Indies in terms of run-rate at the 25-over stage.

"I took the decision on my own and not from the rule book," he said, adding that the safety of the players was the most important consideration for him then.

"The players' safety is of paramount importance. But at the same time the game has to go on," he said.

Extras:
Windies did not over react to Rajkot incident: Procter
West Indies fined for slow over-rate at Ahemdabad
Crowd trouble: Three-tier security ring at Motera