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Cricket · Level 2: Elementary · Sub-level 2.2

Batting Laws

5 tests · 50 facts · updated 6 September 2026 · markdown

This sub-level teaches what the striker and non-striker may and may not do once the ball is live — obstructing or distracting the fielding side by word or action, striking the ball with a hand off the bat, returning the ball without being asked, the narrow "guard your wicket" right to hit the ball a second time, the clock on a new batter, the difference between retiring hurt and retiring out, and being run out after straying from the crease at either end.

Each test below is ten questions on Insporta. The list under a test is what the questions check: one fact per question, with the source it was written from. Read it before the test, or come back from a wrong answer.

Test 1Obstructing the field — word and action

  1. Law 37 turns on a wilful attempt to obstruct or distract; an accidental block or an unavoidable collision is not out.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 37 · recall

  2. The Law names "word or action", so a deliberate shout to put a fielder off is as much an offence as a physical block.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 37 · recall

  3. Only a wilful obstruction is out; an unavoidable collision while running a normal line is not.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 37 · applied

  4. Deliberately barging a fielder to stop him fielding or taking a catch is a wilful obstruction and is out.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 37 · applied

  5. Law 37 applies to "either batter", so a non-striker backing up can be dismissed for obstruction just as the striker can.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 37 · recall

  6. A deliberate shout meant to deceive and distract a fielder is obstruction by word, and is out on appeal.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 37 · applied

  7. Law 37 expressly excepts obstruction that results from a batter taking genuine evasive action against injury.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 37 · recall

  8. Moving purely to avoid being struck is protected by the avoiding-injury exception, even if the stumps are then missed.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 37 · applied

  9. Obstructing the field is not a bowler's mode of dismissal, so no bowler is credited with the wicket.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 37 · recall

  10. Runs completed before the offence stand; only the run in progress is lost when the batter is dismissed.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 37 · applied

Test 2The free hand, and returning the ball

  1. The 2017 code merged handled-the-ball into Law 37; deliberately handling the ball is now a form of obstructing the field.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 37 · recall

  2. Guarding the wicket with the bat is fine, but wilfully striking the ball with a hand off the bat is out under Law 37.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 37 · applied

  3. A hand holding the bat is treated as part of the bat, so a ball onto that glove is "off the bat", not a free-hand offence.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 5 · recall

  4. Returning the ball to a fielder without their consent, while it is still in play, is out under Law 37.4.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 37.4 · applied

  5. The offence is returning the ball "without the consent" of a fielder; done with consent it is an ordinary courtesy.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 37.4 · recall

  6. The dismissal is lawful but widely thought unsporting to claim, so captains normally decline to appeal for it.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 37; cricket convention · applied

  7. Gooch used his hand to stop a ball looping back onto the stumps and was given out handled the ball for 133.

    Source: ESPNcricinfo · recall

  8. Either batter wilfully handling the ball in play can be out obstructing; being at the non-striker's end changes nothing.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 37 · applied

  9. A lodged ball is dead once the umpire calls it, and only then can the batter safely retrieve it without risking an obstruction call.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Laws 20 and 37 · recall

  10. Like any obstruction, knocking the ball away is out only when it is wilful; a genuine reflex is not penalised.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 37 · applied

Test 3Hitting the ball twice

  1. Law 34 permits a second strike "solely in order to guard the wicket"; hitting it again for any other reason is out.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 34 · recall

  2. A second hit made only to keep the ball off the stumps is expressly allowed under Law 34.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 34 · applied

  3. Runs may not be scored off a lawful second strike; the umpire calls dead ball and the run does not count.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 34 · applied

  4. The batters cannot run, but penalties already incurred on the delivery, such as for a no-ball, still stand.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 34 · recall

  5. The wicket-guard right does not extend to preventing a catch; doing so is out obstructing the field.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Laws 34 and 37 · applied

  6. Law 34 covers a second strike "with bat or person", so using a pad or a foot to hit the ball again counts.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 34 · recall

  7. Hitting the ball again to send it for runs, once it has already struck him, is out under Law 34.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 34 · applied

  8. Accidental double contacts are not out, and an intentional second hit is nearly always the lawful wicket-guard kind, so genuine cases barely occur.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 34 · recall

  9. Law 34 expressly allows using the bat to knock the ball back to a fielder, provided it is done with their consent.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 34 · applied

  10. An unlawful second hit stops play straight away; no runs can accrue and the striker is out if the fielding side appeals.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 34 · recall

Test 4The clock, and retiring

  1. Law 40 requires the incoming batter to be ready within the set time of the fall of the previous wicket or a retirement.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 40 · recall

  2. Law 40 sets the default at three minutes; international playing conditions shorten it.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 40 · recall

  3. ICC playing conditions replace the three-minute Law figure with two minutes for internationals.

    Source: ICC Playing Conditions · recall

  4. At the 2023 World Cup, Mathews was not ready in time after his helmet strap failed, and Bangladesh appealed.

    Source: ESPNcricinfo · recall

  5. Timed out dismisses the incoming batter who failed to be ready in time, and no bowler is credited.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 40 · applied

  6. Retiring hurt is "retired not out" and the batter may resume; retiring for any other reason without consent is "retired out" and he may not.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 25.4 · recall

  7. Under Law 25.4.2 a retired-hurt batter comes back when a wicket next falls, or when another batter retires.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 25.4.2 · recall

  8. Retiring for any reason other than injury or illness, without the opposing captain's consent, counts as "retired out" — a dismissal, though no bowler is credited.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 25.4 · applied

  9. A voluntary retirement is permitted; the batter is simply recorded "retired out", and no bowler gains a wicket.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 25.4 · applied

  10. Law 40 applies only "unless Time has been called"; once play is suspended the clock does not run.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 40 · applied

Test 5Leaving the crease at either end

  1. The ball is not dead just because the stroke is finished; a batter out of his ground can be run out.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Laws 20 and 38 · recall

  2. A run out needs the wicket fairly broken — a bail off or a stump out of the ground; rattling the stumps without dislodging a bail is not enough.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 29 · applied

  3. The bat must be grounded behind the line at the moment the wicket is broken; a bat in the air does not count.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 30 · applied

  4. The dismissal is called the "Mankad" after India's Vinoo Mankad, who ran out Bill Brown this way in 1947-48.

    Source: ESPNcricinfo · recall

  5. The 2017 code moved this dismissal from the unfair-play Law into Law 38, listing it as a legitimate run out.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 38.3 · recall

  6. Law 38.3 allows the attempt until the instant the bowler would ordinarily have delivered the ball.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 38.3 · recall

  7. Sharma ran out Charlie Dean at the bowler's end to seal an India win, reigniting the debate over the dismissal.

    Source: ESPNcricinfo · applied

  8. If the non-striker has not left his ground there is nothing to punish, and the ball is normally called dead.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 38.3 · applied

  9. Run out is one of the few dismissals still available off a no-ball, so a batter short of his ground is out.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Laws 21 and 38 · applied

  10. Staying in the ground until the ball is on its way removes any chance of being run out at the bowler's end.

    Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 38.3 · recall

Sources

MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022) for the Laws themselves; ICC Playing Conditions per format for the officiating and regulation detail that overrides the Laws in international cricket (DRS, powerplays, over rates, concussion replacements, the free hit); ESPNcricinfo for recent changes such as the soft-signal retirement. Questions are authored from these sources, not reproduced from them.

  • MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 3714
  • MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 349
  • ESPNcricinfo4
  • MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 404
  • MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 38.34
  • MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 25.43
  • MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 37.42
  • MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 51
  • MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 37; cricket convention1
  • MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Laws 20 and 371
  • MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Laws 34 and 371
  • ICC Playing Conditions1
  • MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 25.4.21
  • MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Laws 20 and 381
  • MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 291
  • MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 301
  • MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Laws 21 and 381