This edition of Laws of Cricket, in association with the International Institute of Cricket Umpiring and Scoring, covers some more tricky questions of the Laws.

Many times on the pitch (and after the game) we have come to discuss whether a controversial situation should be allowed or not. There are precious few players with a deep enough understanding of the laws for our arguments to be resolved, but many times it's the players who also act as umpires. Now we can consult a team of expert experienced umpires for the answers to those tricky questions.

You can submit your own questions to the umpires here.

"The bowler bowled a ball that was going wide but it hit one of our close fielders on the shoulder and rebounded onto the striker' wicket with the striker out of his ground. We thought he was out Bowled, but the umpire at the bowler's end said Not out, so we appealed to the other umpire for Run out. He said Not out. Were they both correct?"

Yes, both those decisions were correct, but bowler's end umpire should also have called No ball, followed immediately by Dead ball.

MCC say that this situation is to be treated as equivalent to the ball coming to rest before reaching the line of the striker's wicket. The call of No ball penalises the fielding side and should prevent them using it as a tactical ploy. The call of Dead ball is because the striker did not have a reasonable opportunity to receive and to attempt to play the ball. No matter how wide the ball was going, the call of Wide ball would be wrong for two reasons: No ball takes precedence over Wide and a ball cannot be called a Wide until it passes the striker's wicket and by that time it was considered dead.

Law 24.6 No ball (Open Learning Manual Page 76)

Law 38.1 Run out (Open Learning Manual Page 115)

"We were involved in a charity match and it was obvious that a lot of the players hadn’t played the game for years. If ever! One of these chaps, while batting, was hit by a delivery on the forearm just above the glove. The ball was then nicely caught by second slip. Someone appealed. The batsman promptly walked off, believing he was out. The umpire called him back. Is the umpire allowed to do this? I thought it was only a captain who could withdraw an appeal?”

If he was hit on the arm, above the glove, he wasn’t out anyway! Captains can, indeed, request the consent of the relevant umpire to withdraw an appeal. But umpires have a duty to stop a batsman walking if, as the Law says, he’s doing so ‘under the misapprehension’ that he’s out.

Law 27.7 Appeals (Open Learning Manual Page 85)

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