Technical Interpretations
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TECHNICAL INTERPRETATIONS LAW 36: LEG BEFORE WICKET There are several points that an umpire must consider when an appeal is made for LBW. The final and most important question is “would the ball have hit the stumps?” but more about that later. (1) Firstly, the delivery must not be a “no ball”. (2) The ball MUST pitch in line with the stumps or outside the off stump. Any ball pitching outside leg stump CANNOT BE OUT LBW. (3) The ball must not come off the bat or the hand holding the bat before it hits the batsman on the pads or body. (4) Where does the ball hit striker? – only the first impact is considered. Quite often the ball will hit the front pad and deflect onto the back pad. (5) If the striker was attempting to play the ball the ball must hit him in line between wicket and wicket, even if the impact is above the level of the bails. (6) If the striker was making no genuine attempt to play the ball, then the impact can be outside off stump. (7) Where would the ball have gone if not interrupted by impact on striker? (8) The ball does not always pitch before hitting the batsman. If it is a full toss the umpire MUST assume the path at impact will continue after impact. (9) The “Off” side of wicket is now clearly defined as when the batsman takes his stance and the ball comes into play – ie when the bowler starts his run up or if he has no run up, his bowling action The term “LBW” whilst meaning Leg Before Wicket also allows the batsman to be out if the ball strikes any other part of his body, even his shoulder or head! All of the above points must all be satisfied for the batsman to be out under this Law. Most of the points are self-explanatory. However it needs to be noted that apart from the above, there will be other things that will cross the umpires mind before giving a decision. The ball does not always pitch before hitting the batsman. Point (2) above applies only in cases where it does pitch. If it does not pitch, the umpire has no alternative to rule that the ball after impact would have continued along the same line it was travelling before impact. The only restriction on where the ball pitches or hits the batsman full pitch is that it must not be outside leg stump. Pitching on the line of leg stump falls within the conditions; pitching outside this line does not. Point (6) above provides for conditions on where the point of impact on the striker can be different if the umpire is not satisfied that the batsman has tried to play the ball with his bat. In such cases, the batsman could be out, if the other conditions are satisfied, if the part of his person which is hit is either ‘in line between wicket and wicket’ outside the line of the off stump. In all cases, the height of the point of impact is not to be considered but it will become relevant when deciding if the ball would have gone on to hit the wicket. If the umpire is to judge whether the ball would have gone on to hit the wicket if the striker’s person had not been in the way, he must have clear knowledge of the path on which the ball was travelling when it hit the striker. The umpire must turn his attention to the flight of the ball immediately he has seen the bowler’s front foot land in the delivery stride. He must know: (a) Was it delivered from close to the stumps, from far out towards the return crease, or from an intermediate position? This will tell him the angle at which the ball is approaching the stumps. The greater the angle to the direction of the pitch, the more the ball would have to turn in order to hit the wicket. (b) Was the ball swinging? As the path curves the angle of approach to the striker is changing. If it is between wicket and wicket when it hits the striker, the swing would carry it further from this line than a ball which was not swinging would travel. (c) What was the speed of the ball? After pitching, a fast ball would rise much higher than a slow one. Unless a fast ball has risen only a small amount between pitching and impact, it is likely that it would have gone over the top of the stumps. (d) When the ball pitches the umpire must ask himself a multitude of questions - Did it turn? Which way? How sharply? This will tell him the direction of the new path of the ball. (e) Did it rise? How sharply? This will tell him whether the ball would have gone over the top of the stumps or not. The further the batsman is from the stumps when the ball hits his person, the greater the sideways travel of the ball will be before reaching the stumps. If the ball is rising sharply when it hits the batsman then the further he is from the stumps and the higher it would have risen before reaching the wicket are a critical decision for the umpire to make. Therefore the greater the distance between the batsman and the stumps the greater the accuracy with which the new path of the ball must be known. The less distance there is between the ball pitching and the ball hitting the batsman, the more difficult it is to assess these points accurately. The umpire must see enough of the ball’s travel after pitching and before hitting the striker’s person to be sure what the new path is. Umpires will learn to interpret accurately what they see of the path of the ball before it hits the striker through experience of seeing the behaviour of balls that are not interrupted in their travel. If the ball does not pitch, in other words a full toss, the umpire’s job is easier in this case. He should know with considerable accuracy the path on which the ball has been travelling since leaving the bowler’s hand. He has only to continue this path in his mind’s eye, to assess whether the ball would have hit the wicket. He does not have to worry about turning and rising on pitching, even if it is possible that the ball might have pitched before reaching the stumps. He must, however, take account of the distance between the batsman and the stumps to allow sufficiently for the ball’s subsequent sideways travel. He must also remember that if the ball is on a curved path it is to be considered as continuing on that curved path. Finally, If the ball hits the batsman more than once, perhaps first striking the front leg and then the back one, it is only the facts about the first impact that are to be considered in making all the assessments explained above, Appendix D of the 2000 Law Book defines the off side of the wicket. It depends on whether the striker is right- or left- handed. Law 36.3 stipulates that any change by the striker after the ball has come into play is to be ignored in deciding whether the ball is on the off side or the leg side. In other words the reverse sweep does not mean the umpire has to change the definition of a ball pitching outside leg stump. NSWCUSA 16 th July 2009. .