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A batsman plays the ball and sets off for a run . A fielder gathers the ball and throws , at which point the batsman sticks out his / her bat , while running , and diverts the ball so that it goes over the boundary . The fielding side do not appeal for Obstructing the field . What should the umpire do ?
This is a slightly tricky one . The act by the batsman is wilful , so the batsman is out Obstructing the field . However , he / she cannot be dismissed unless there is an appeal . The umpire should not call the ball Dead , nor do anything other to alert the fielding side . He / she should give the boundary as if this were simply a normal overthrows scenario .
However , should there then be an appeal before the ball is next live ( when the bowler begins his / her run-up for the next delivery ) or before Time is called , the umpire must give the batsman out and revoke the previous call .
While watching West Indies and Sri Lanka , I saw one of the West Indian batsmen had his forearm guard rolled over his batting gloves . The wristband of his gloves was almost covered by the forearm guard . In the event of an appeal for a catch result from his forearm guard which is attached to the gloves , what would be the decision ? Is the batsman out caught ?
Under Law 5 , only the bat , or a hand holding the bat ( or the glove on a hand holding the bat ) is to be considered the bat . Slightly confusingly , this can mean that a hand which is not holding the bat , but is touching the other hand which is holding the bat , counts as a hand holding the bat ( since the hand holding the bat is considered the bat , so the second hand is , thus , holding the bat as well ).
However , the chain cannot extend any further to any other piece of equipment . An arm guard , even an arm guard touching the glove , is not included in this definition . The batsman cannot be out caught off an arm guard .
A batsman makes no attempt to play the ball with his bat , nor does he try to avoid being hit by the ball . It is clear that , under Law 26 , Leg byes will not be allowed . Can the striker be credited with runs , however , if the ball after hitting the pad then comes into contact with his bat ?
Law 24 explains what happens if a fielder is late or leaves the field ( ie penalty time ), but not if a batsman is late arriving . Does he also incur penalty time and would this preclude him from batting as per Law 25 ?
If the ball first hits the striker ’ s bat , whether intentionally or not , then no question of Leg byes arises and play will proceed normally . If the ball first hits the striker ’ s person , then ( ignoring the chance that the striker may be out LBW ), the umpire must consider whether , within these restrictions , Leg byes could be allowed or not . Note that later contact with the bat cannot alter a decision that runs are not to be allowed if no attempt to play or avoid the ball has been made .
Thus , if the first strike is with the person , rather than the bat , and there is no attempt to play the ball , then runs should not be allowed . Note , however , that the batsman can still be out caught in such a situation .
Penalty time is , broadly , about playing time off the field . Given that , at any given moment , nine batsmen will be off the field even if all are present , there can be no penalty time accrued while a team is batting ( although it can be served during that time ). Thus , a batsman who is late arriving is simply treated as not yet having come in – although if he / she is so late that there are no other available batsmen to come in then the innings will be at an end , and he / she will accrue penalty time with his / her side in the field .
Our thanks to Jonny Singer , MCC Laws of Cricket Advisor , for answering these questions .
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