# Batting Laws · Cricket Level 2: Elementary

Cricket · Level 2: Elementary · Insporta Book (https://book.insporta.app/cricket/level-2/batting-laws/)

Batting Laws in Cricket (Level 2: Elementary) on Insporta: 50 sourced facts behind 5 tests. Covers: obstructing the field — word and action; and more.

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.

## Test 1: Obstructing the field — word and action

- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)

## Test 2: The free hand, and returning the ball

- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- Gooch used his hand to stop a ball looping back onto the stumps and was given out handled the ball for 133. (Source: ESPNcricinfo)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)

## Test 3: Hitting the ball twice

- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)

## Test 4: The clock, and retiring

- 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)
- 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)
- ICC playing conditions replace the three-minute Law figure with two minutes for internationals. (Source: ICC Playing Conditions)
- At the 2023 World Cup, Mathews was not ready in time after his helmet strap failed, and Bangladesh appealed. (Source: ESPNcricinfo)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)

## Test 5: Leaving the crease at either end

- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- The dismissal is called the "Mankad" after India's Vinoo Mankad, who ran out Bill Brown this way in 1947-48. (Source: ESPNcricinfo)
- 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)
- 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)
- Sharma ran out Charlie Dean at the bowler's end to seal an India win, reigniting the debate over the dismissal. (Source: ESPNcricinfo)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)

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.

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