SportRules.org
Cricket section

Cricket laws, clearly set out.

This section is for the moments that make people stop and ask what just happened: close LBWs, strange run outs, disputed catches, dead ball calls, and reviews that change everything. Each page should show the order the umpire works through so the decision makes sense from start to finish.

Focus areas

Where cricket gets technical

  • Catches: whether the ball carried cleanly, stayed under control, and was completed before touching the ground.
  • Run outs and stumpings: whose ground it is, when the wicket is fairly broken, and which batter is actually out.
  • Dead ball moments: the exact point where the ball stops being live and why that can wipe out a dismissal or boundary.
Next pages

Natural first explainers

  • LBW decision flow: pitching, impact, shot offered, and whether the ball would have hit the stumps.
  • No-balls, wides, and free hits: extra runs, valid balls, restricted dismissals, and why a no-ball overrides a wide.
  • Overthrows: when extra runs count, when a boundary changes the total, and where batters were when the throw started.
  • Reviews and umpire's call: what the technology checks and why a decision can stay with the on-field umpire.
  • Run outs and stumpings: making ground, breaking the wicket, direct hits, keeper stumpings, and which batter is out.
  • Catches and boundary catches: clean catches, fielder control, rope contact, relay catches, and six-or-out decisions.
  • Powerplay and fielding restrictions: inner-circle limits, boundary riders, format differences, and no-ball fielding breaches.
  • Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method: how rain-affected limited-overs targets are recalculated using overs, wickets, par scores, and minimum-overs rules.
  • Super Over rules: when tied limited-overs matches use a one-over tie-breaker, who can bat and bowl, repeated Super Overs, and abandoned tie-breakers.
  • Dead ball, leg byes, and byes: when extras count, when leg byes are refused, and how dead ball changes runs or dismissals.
  • Follow-on rule: when a large first-innings lead lets a captain make the other side bat again immediately.
  • Timed out and time-wasting rules: incoming-batter readiness, unfair delays, warnings, penalty runs, and format differences.
  • Unusual dismissals: hit wicket, obstructing the field, timed out, retired out, and appeal requirements.
How pages should work

Built for fast answers

  • Start with the decision first.
  • Show the checks in the same order an umpire uses.
  • Explain the one detail that usually changes the outcome.
  • Link the law to real match situations and review calls.
Official references

Where these rulings come from