Aug 29, 2026
Hit wicket in cricket: what the rule says and why T20 produces six times as many
Hit wicket has happened 119 times in 4.17 million deliveries, and a batter is six times likelier to go this way in a T20 league than in a Test. What L...
Laws of Cricket
10 articles tagged with "Laws of Cricket"
Aug 28, 2026
Dead ball in cricket: the rule, the umpire’s call, and what changes in October 2026
A dead ball is a ball no longer in play, and it is Law 20, not Law 23. Here is when the ball dies on its own, when the umpire has to call it, and the...
Jul 21, 2026
Cricket’s laws are being rewritten, and the Ranji Trophy starts ten days after they land
The MCC’s new edition of the Laws takes effect on October 1 with 73 amendments, headlined by a final over that has to be bowled out even after a wicke...
Apr 24, 2024
Wide ball in cricket: the rules, the markings, and how often one is actually called
A wide costs one run, does not count as a ball in the over, and is the single biggest source of extras in limited-overs cricket. Here is what Law 22 s...
Apr 19, 2024
Mankading in cricket: the rule, every dismissal, and what changes in October 2026
Running out the non-striker has been legal since 1947 and stopped being filed under unfair play in 2022. Here is what Law 38.3 actually says, every in...
Feb 17, 2024
Obstructing the field in cricket: what Law 37 says and every batter it has dismissed
Obstructing the field is the rarest dismissal in cricket: 15 times in 4.17 million deliveries. Here is what Law 37 actually says, why Angkrish Raghuva...
Jun 9, 2023
Types of out in cricket: all 10 ways to be dismissed, and how often each one happens
Nine of the ten have their own Law and the tenth hides in a sub-clause of Law 25. Four of them account for 97 per cent of the wickets in four million...
Jan 15, 2023
Retired hurt vs retired out in cricket: the difference, and how often the batter comes back
Retired hurt keeps the right to resume; retired out spends a wicket to speed the scoring. We counted every retirement in the ball-by-ball record to fi...
Oct 24, 2022
Free hit in cricket: the rules, and what a free hit is actually worth
Only three dismissals survive a free hit, and in eleven years of limited-overs cricket only one of them has ever actually happened. Here is what the r...
Feb 1, 2022
No ball rules in cricket: every type, the free hit, and what a no ball actually costs
A no ball costs the fielding side a penalty run, an extra delivery and a free hit on which the batter can only be run out. Every situation the Laws ca...