Strange non-LBW

"I know everybody disagrees about LBW decisions but, on this occasion even the batsman said afterwards that he thought he was out! We were playing on a very slow pitch, where every ball kept low. One delivery didn't rise up at all after pitching. Instead, it rolled all along the ground and hit the batsman on the boot smack in front of middle stump. We all appealed, but the umpire simply called it as a No ball. Why?"

Under the revised Code of Laws issued in 2000, any delivery that rolls along the ground before it reaches the popping crease, whether the striker hits it or not, is now a No ball.

The same also applies if a delivery bounces three times or more before reaching the popping crease.

However, the ECB has issued a variation on this part of the No ball Law to be used in match under their jurisdiction - see the article elsewhere on the Home page


Read more about Law 24.6 (No ball) at the MCC website