How a batter is out in cricket
The lawful ways to dismiss a batter — bowled, caught, LBW, run out, stumped and the rarer modes — what separates them, and which ones a bowler is credited with.
Overview
A batting innings ends when ten batters are out. The Laws set out each mode of dismissal separately, and an appeal is required before an umpire may give any of them: an umpire does not rule a batter out unless the fielding side asks.
In practice the game is dominated by five: bowled, caught, leg before wicket, run out and stumped. The remaining modes — hit wicket, hit the ball twice, obstructing the field, timed out — are rare enough that each occurrence is remarkable, but they are not optional extras. They are Laws.
The five common modes
Bowled is the cleanest: the delivery puts down the striker's wicket. Caught is the most frequent in most cricket: a fielder catches the ball off the bat before it touches the ground. Leg before wicket is the body-instead-of-bat dismissal, set out in its own Law and covered in detail on its own page.
Run out and stumped both turn on a batter being out of their ground. A run out happens while the batters are attempting a run and a fielder puts down the wicket at the end they are short of. A stumping is the wicketkeeper putting down the wicket while the striker is out of their ground and not attempting a run — the difference is the attempted run, not who broke the stumps.
The rarer modes
Hit wicket dismisses a striker who breaks their own wicket with bat, body or equipment while playing the ball or setting off for a run. Hit the ball twice covers deliberately striking the ball a second time other than to protect the wicket. Obstructing the field covers wilfully obstructing or distracting the fielding side. Timed out applies when an incoming batter is not ready to play in time.
These exist because the Laws must close the gap between what is unsporting and what is merely unusual. Each is narrow, and each is written so that an accident does not dismiss a batter.
Credited to the bowler — and not
Bowled, caught, LBW, stumped, hit wicket and hit the ball twice are credited to the bowler in their figures. Run out, obstructing the field and timed out are not: no bowler caused them.
This is why a bowling analysis reading 4 for 30 may understate a spell in which a bowler also created two run-outs through pressure, and why "wickets" and "dismissals" are not quite the same count.
Key points
- An umpire gives a batter out only after an appeal from the fielding side.
- Bowled, caught, LBW, run out and stumped account for almost every dismissal.
- Stumped and run out differ by whether the batter was attempting a run.
- Hit wicket, hit the ball twice, obstructing the field and timed out are rare but real.
- Run outs are not credited to the bowler.
Where it’s used
Sports that use how a batter is out in cricket:
Related rules
Cricket creases
The white lines marked at each end of a cricket pitch — bowling, popping and return creases — what each one is for, and the exact measurements that decide no-balls, run-outs and stumpings.
Innings and overs
How a cricket match is structured — what an innings is, why an over is six balls, how the bowling end alternates, and which parts of the structure the Laws fix and which a competition sets.
No-ball
The illegal delivery in cricket — where the bowler's feet must land, what the Laws say about straightening the arm, and why a no-ball costs a run and has to be bowled again.
Sources
The rules, dimensions and specifications on this page were read from these documents.
- The Laws of Cricket — Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), 2017 Code, Laws 32–39 — Modes of dismissal; Law 31 — Appeals (read 2026-09-12)
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- Cricket creasesBoth are taught in the “Get to know the game” stage of the Cricket learning path.
- Innings and oversBoth are taught in the “Get to know the game” stage of the Cricket learning path.
- No-ballBoth are taught in the “Get to know the game” stage of the Cricket learning path.
- Wide ballBoth are taught in the “Get to know the game” stage of the Cricket learning path.
- Leg before wicket (LBW)Both are taught in the “Get to know the game” stage of the Cricket learning path.
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Scoring systems
- Runs and boundaries in cricketHow runs are actually scored in cricket — by running, by finding the boundary, and by the penalties the fielding side concedes — and how each kind is credited in the scorebook.
- Extras: byes, leg byes, wides and no-ballsThe runs a fielding side gives away rather than the batting side earning — what separates a bye from a leg bye, why a wide and a no-ball each cost a penalty run, and how each is recorded.
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How this page is maintained
- Content type
- Rule
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- Tier A — evergreen educational
- Verified external sources
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- Content updated
- 2026-09-01
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