Leg before wicket
The leg before wicket (lbw) law is to cricket what the offside rule is to football confusing to plenty!
The umpire will consider giving a batsman out lbw if he believes that the ball would have hit the stumps if it had not been obstructed by the batters pads.
But a number of things have to be taken into account by the umpire.
The batter can not be given out if:
the ball pitches outside the line of leg stump, regardless of whether or not the ball would hit the stumps.
the ball hits the bat before striking the pad then the batsman can not be given out.
the batter is struck on the pad outside the line of off stump, having made a genuine attempt to hit the ball.
the bowler bowls a no ball.
But the batter can be given out if:
the batter is struck on the pad in front of the stumps.
the batter is struck on the pad outside the line of off stump, having not made an attempt to hit the ball.
And now you know why the lbw law causes so much discussion.
