LBW, Explained
Cricket's most argued decision, in plain English. The idea is simple and fair; the handful of conditions that actually decide it are where every row begins.
Of all the ways a batter can be out, leg before wicket — LBW — starts more arguments than the rest put together. The idea behind it is simple and fair. The conditions that decide it are fiddly, and that is where the shouting comes from.
Start with the idea. A batter is not allowed to use their legs as a second bat. If a ball would have gone on to hit the stumps, and the batter's body — usually the front pad — stops it instead, the batter can be given out. Without the law you could simply plant a pad in front of the wicket and block every straight ball with no risk at all.
The five things that must all be true
A batter is only out LBW if the fielding side appeals, the shout of "howzat!", and every one of the following is true. Miss a single one and the answer is not out.
- 1.It was a fair delivery. A no-ball can never be given LBW, whatever happens after it.
- 2.The ball missed the bat. If it touched the bat, or the glove holding it, before the pad, the appeal dies there. An inside edge onto the pad is not out.
- 3.It pitched in line or on the off side. The ball must bounce in line with the stumps or outside off stump. One that pitches outside leg stump is never out, however dead in front it looks.
- 4.It struck the batter in line. The point of impact must be between the stumps — with one exception, below.
- 5.It was going on to hit the stumps. In the umpire's judgement the ball had to be about to hit the wicket. Missing high, or sliding down the leg side, saves the batter.
Where the arguing lives
Three situations rescue a batter from an appeal that looked stone dead. They are worth knowing, because each is a favourite source of the replay-room debate.
| It looks out, but… | …why the batter survives |
|---|---|
| The ball pitched outside leg stump | A ball that lands outside leg can never be LBW, no matter how plumb it then looks. The law rewards bowling straight. |
| The ball hit the bat first | Bat before pad — an inside edge onto the pad — is not out. The bat has to be out of the equation. |
| Hit outside off while playing a shot | If the ball strikes the pad outside the line of off stump while the batter is genuinely trying to hit it, not out. |
There is one twist that catches new watchers out. A batter can be out even when the ball hits them outside off stump — if they made no attempt to play a shot. The law refuses to let a batter kick a ball away with no intention of hitting it. Offer a genuine stroke and the outside-off protection holds; stick the pad out and leave the bat behind, and that protection is gone.
The review
Television gave the argument a referee. Modern cricket lets a side challenge the on-field decision, and a ball-tracking system reconstructs the delivery to answer the three questions that matter: where it pitched, where it struck the batter, and whether it was going on to hit the stumps.
Then comes the phrase that baffles every newcomer: umpire's call. When the tracking shows the ball only clipping the stumps, the on-field umpire's original decision stands — so two deliveries that look identical can be given out and not out, depending only on what the umpire said first. That is deliberate. The review exists to overturn clear mistakes, not to re-judge every millimetre, so the benefit of a marginal call is left with the umpire in the middle.
The Ways to Get OutLBW is one of ten. The other nine dismissals, from the everyday to the ones you might wait years to see.The pad is not a second bat. That one sentence is the whole law; everything else is just where the arguing happens.