Its Only Cricket

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Filed under Cricket Rules & Laws

Fact : Umpires get moment or two to decide whether a batsman is out or not when the ball hits his pads and bowlers appeal their heart out.

Ill effect : Commentators get as many replays (Hawk Eye) as they may wish to scrutinize the decision made by umpires.

Not all commentators explain the rule of lbw in cricket every time they dissect a decision made on field and leave a beginner cricket fan wondering why that wasn't out or why it was.. 2 hours since itsonlycricket received a humble email from 'Jyotsna in Auckland in New Zealand', we've decided to revisit the full laws & regulations related to the rule of "leg before wicket" or lbw in cricket an umpire has to consider before raising his finger. Hopefully, following will help a beginning cricket fan to understand what is this debatable rule..

4 points to consider - Height, how forward was the batsman from batting crease, where the ball pitched (outside leg stump, in line with stumps or outside off stump) & did the batsman get an edge on it before it hit his pads.

**If batsman edges the ball before it hits his pads - not out!
**Ball cannot pitch outside leg stump line. if it does, even though batsman is not playing a shot, he can't be out.
**Ball can pitch outside off stump for a batsman to be out lbw, but if batsman was attempting to play a shot & had missed the ball - he can't be out if ball struck his pads outside the line of off stump. Ball has to strike in line with stumps for a Umpire to rule a batsmen out if he was offering a shot.
**If a batsman doesn't offer a shot to a ball pitched outside off-stump, umpires just have to make sure the ball would have hit his stumps and he can rule the batsman out.. irrespective of it hit him in line or outside the line of stumps.
**A full toss hitting batsman's pads - umpires are allowed to imagine the ball would have traveled in straight line & can rule a batsman out if it was going to hit the stumps!

Few Notes
1 : Umpires also consider what angle the bowler is bowling from. If a bowler bowls from very wide of the crease - his chances of getting lbw is low as compared to a bowler bowling from very close to it.
2 : Pads or legs are just a way of representation in lbw law in cricket. a batsman can be out of he was ducking under a ball and ball hit his shoulder or helmet - lbw it will be called!

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What is Leg Before Wicket (lbw) rule in cricket

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