No Balls – Height - A Clarifying Statement.

There appears to be some confusion in the League about what is and what isn’t a no-ball, based upon its height.

For clarification, please could all captains read the following and also make all their players aware. It is the responsibility of the captains to ensure fair play at all times and if they do not know the rules then this is going to be very difficult.

The MCC are the custodians of the Laws of and publish them on their web site: http://www.lords.org/laws-and-spirit/laws-of-cricket/

The laws are also available in the “blue book” from the MCC on-line shop here: http://www.shopatlords.com/index.php?page=shop&pid=2761&cid=99 priced at just £3.00

You may also like to purchase “Tom Smiths” which is highly recommended and can be purchased here http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tom-Smiths-Cricket-Umpiring- Scoring/dp/0297866419/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1339315654&sr=8-1 for £11.39

Law 42 (Fair and unfair play)

Importantly;

Law 42 1. Fair and unfair play - responsibility of captains The responsibility lies with the captains for ensuring that play is conducted within the spirit and traditions of the game, as described in The Preamble – The Spirit of Cricket, as well as within the Laws.

And

Law 42 2. Fair and unfair play - responsibility of umpires The umpires shall be the sole judges of fair and unfair play. If either considers an action, not covered by the Laws, to be unfair he shall intervene without appeal and, if the ball is in play, call and signal and implement the procedure as set out in 18 below. Otherwise umpires shall not interfere with the progress of play without appeal except as required to do so by the Laws.

So, to deal with the height issue;

Law 42 6. Dangerous and unfair (a) Bowling of fast short pitched balls (i) The bowling of fast short pitched balls is dangerous and unfair if the bowler’s end umpire considers that by their repetition and taking into account their length, height and direction they are likely to inflict physical injury on the striker irrespective of the protective equipment he may be wearing. The relative skill of the striker shall be taken into consideration. (ii) Any which, after pitching, passes or would have passed head height of the striker standing upright at the popping , although not threatening physical injury, shall be included with bowling under (i) above, both when the umpire is considering whether the bowling of fast short pitched balls has become dangerous and unfair and after he has so decided. The umpire shall call and signal No ball for each such delivery. (b) Bowling of high full pitched balls (i) Any delivery, other than a slow paced one, which passes or would have passed on the full above waist height of the striker standing upright at the popping crease is to be deemed dangerous and unfair, whether or not it is likely to inflict physical injury on the striker. (ii) A slow delivery which passes or would have passed on the full above shoulder height of the striker standing upright at the popping crease is to be deemed dangerous and unfair, whether or not it is likely to inflict physical injury on the striker.

This will result in the umpire taking the following action;

Law 42 7. Dangerous and unfair bowling - action by the umpire (a) As soon as the bowler’s end umpire decides under 6(a) above that the bowling of fast short pitched balls has become dangerous and unfair, or, except as in 8 below, there is an instance of dangerous and unfair bowling as defined in 6(b) above, he shall call and signal No ball. When the ball is dead, he shall caution the bowler, inform the other umpire, the captain of the side and the batsmen of what has occurred. This caution shall apply throughout the . (b) If there is any further instance of dangerous and unfair bowling by the same bowler in that innings, the umpire shall repeat the above procedure and indicate to the bowler that this is a final warning. This warning shall also apply throughout the innings. (c) Should there be any further repetition by the same bowler in that innings, the umpire shall call and signal No ball and (i) when the ball is dead direct the captain to suspend the bowler forthwith and inform the other umpire of the reason for this action. The bowler thus suspended shall not be allowed to bowl again in that innings. If applicable, the over shall be completed by another bowler, who shall neither have bowled any part of the previous over, nor be allowed to bowl any part of the next over. Additionally he shall (ii) report the occurrence to the batsmen and, as soon as practicable, to the captain of the side. (iii) together with the other umpire report the occurrence as soon as possible after the match to the Executive of the fielding side and to any Governing Body responsible for the match, who shall take such action as is considered appropriate against the captain and bowler concerned.

In some circumstances this may be applicable;

Law 42 8. Deliberate bowling of high full pitched balls If the umpire considers that a bowler deliberately bowled a high full pitched ball, deemed to be dangerous and unfair as defined in 6(b) above, then the caution and warning prescribed in 7 above shall be dispensed with. The umpire shall (a) (i) call and signal No ball. (ii) when the ball is dead direct the captain of the fielding side to suspend the bowler forthwith. The bowler thus suspended shall not be allowed to bowl again in that innings. If applicable, the over shall be completed by another bowler, who shall neither have bowled any part of the previous over, nor be allowed to bowl any part of the next over. (iii) inform the other umpire of the reason for this action. (b) report the occurrence to the batsmen and, as soon as practicable, to the captain of the batting side. (c) together with the other umpire report the occurrence as soon as possible after the match to the Executive of the fielding side and to any Governing Body responsible for the match, who shall take such action as is considered appropriate against the captain and bowler concerned.

These laws are extracted directly from the MCC web site and are from the 2000 Code 4th Edition – 2010. The MCC has produced a video which explains the major changes that occurred with this edition and can be viewed here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIoSCGpvBto