Ask the Laws Department: I (LBW)
MCC are the Guardians of the Laws of cricket.
The first in a new feature, in conjunction with Wisden Cricketer, where Fraser Stewart from the MCC Laws Department answers common questions and queries on the Laws of the Game.
When is a batsman’s leg before wicket?
Monty Panesar makes a vociferous appeal for leg-before The first in a regular series of queries, quizzes and clarifications on the Laws, pinpoints the ball’s critical impacts with pitch and pad.
The recent Test series between Sri Lanka and India saw the trial of a review system of umpires’ decisions, in which both teams had the chance to ask the third umpire for a confirmation of the facts where they relieved an injustice had been done.
The use of the ball-tracking technologies, such as Hawk-Eye and Virtual Eye, in the trial led to the ICC asking MCC, guardian of the Laws of Cricket, to clarify what constituted pitching and striking the batsman in line with the stumps for lbw decisions.
MCC’s interpretation was that, for pitching outside leg stump, the centre of the ball should be used as the reference point but, for considering whether the ball hits the batsman in line with the stumps, any part of it is used.
The explanation of the difference is that, for pitching in line, physics and common sense dictate that the centre of the ball - that is, the circumference point beneath its centre of gravity - must be the point of impact with the pitch. The point of impact with the batsman is more complicated, however. The centre of the ball - in this case the foremost point of it - does not necessarily make contact with the batsman. The edge of the ball could graze the pad but its centre stay outside the line of the pad. But the edge of the ball is sufficient to break the wicket. So, MCC decided that, if any part of the ball is in line with the stumps, it satisfies the
criterion of hitting in line.
The decision is unlikely to change the mindset of standing umpires in all levels of cricket. But with technology becoming increasingly accurate and now being used for officiating purposes, a distinction had to be made.
Ask the umpire
- with MCC Laws sub-committee
Is it right that the bowler can run out the non-striker who is backing up too far at any time and without giving a warning?
MCC says:
'The batsman is "safe" to start backing up as soon as the bowler’s back foot lands' Law 42.15: "The bowler is permitted, before entering his delivery stride, to attempt to run out the non-striker. The ball shall not count in the over. The umpire shall call and signal Dead ball as soon as possible if the bowler fails in the attempt to run out the non-striker."
So, the bowler may attempt to run out the non-striker during his run-up before he enters his delivery stride (when his back foot lands for the last time before delivering the ball). This means the batsman is "safe" to start backing up as soon as the bowler’s back foot lands.
It has been customary for a bowler to warn the batsman but nothing in the Laws requires him to do so. If a batsman is backing up too early, the bowler is legally entitled to run him out without warning.
