Leg before wicket (LBW)
Cricket's most argued-about dismissal, set out as the Laws set it out: five conditions that must all be satisfied, and the one clause that changes everything if the batter played a shot.
Overview
Leg before wicket dismisses a batter whose body, rather than their bat, stopped a ball that was going to hit the stumps. It exists because without it a batter could simply stand in front of the wicket and let everything hit their pads.
Law 36 is a conjunction: every one of five circumstances must apply before a batter is out LBW. Failing any single one of them means not out, which is why so many appeals are turned down and why replays so often show a decision turning on one element rather than on the whole picture.
The five conditions
First, the delivery must not be a No ball. Second, the ball must pitch in line between wicket and wicket, or on the off side of the striker's wicket — a ball pitching outside leg stump can never be out LBW, no matter how plainly it would have hit. Third, the striker must intercept the ball with some part of their person, full-pitch or after pitching, without the bat having touched it first.
Fourth, the point of impact must be between wicket and wicket — or, if the striker made no genuine attempt to play the ball with the bat, either between wicket and wicket or outside the line of the off stump. Fifth, but for the interception, the ball would have hit the wicket.
Why "offering a shot" matters so much
The fourth condition is the one that does the work. A batter who plays a genuine stroke is protected when the ball strikes them outside the line of off stump; a batter who shoulders arms and lets it hit them is not. Padding a ball away outside off is safe only while you are trying to hit it.
The phrase in the Laws is "no genuine attempt to play the ball with the bat", which is a judgement about intention rather than about whether the bat moved. It is the single largest source of honest disagreement in cricket.
How the umpire reads the interception
Only the first interception is assessed. If the ball strikes pad and then bat, the pad is what counts; if bat and person are struck simultaneously, the Laws treat that as bat contact first — and bat contact first means not out.
The trajectory the ball would have taken is assumed to continue unaffected after the interception. Whether the striker was standing on the off side is determined by their position when the bowler begins the delivery, not by where they end up.
Key points
- All five conditions in Law 36 must be satisfied; failing one means not out.
- A ball pitching outside leg stump can never produce an LBW.
- Impact outside the line of off stump is out only when no genuine shot was attempted.
- If the bat touches the ball first, the batter is not out LBW.
- Only the first interception is assessed, and simultaneous contact counts as bat first.
Where it’s used
Sports that use leg before wicket (lbw):
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, Law 36 — Leg before wicket (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.
- How a batter is out in cricketBoth are taught in the “Get to know the game” stage of the Cricket learning path.
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Techniques
- Forward and back defenceThe two strokes a batter survives with — the forward defensive and the back defensive — when each is the right choice, and why a defensive stroke is a decision about length rather than intent.
- The sweepThe stroke that turns a good-length spinning delivery into a scoring opportunity — the conventional sweep, the slog sweep and the reverse sweep, and the LBW risk each one accepts.
- Spin bowlingHow a slow bowler turns the ball — finger spin against wrist spin, off breaks, leg breaks and the deliveries that go the other way, and why flight matters more than turn.
- Rugby union tackling techniqueHow a tackle is made safely and legally — where to place the head and shoulder, the height the Laws require, and why technique is a safety question before it is a performance one.
- Movement and recovery in tennisWhy tennis footwork is mostly about getting back rather than getting there — the split step, the recovery position that is not the centre of the court, and sliding on clay.
Equipment
- Wickets, stumps and bailsThe three stumps and two bails a bowler aims at and a batter defends — their exact height, width and shape, and what the Laws say about when bails may be dispensed with.
- The table tennis net assemblyThe net, its posts and its suspension — the one height that governs both the net and the posts, and why that number appears twice in the Laws.
- The racket, blade and rubberWhat the Laws actually regulate about a table tennis bat — the 85% wood rule, the exact thickness limits for pimpled and sandwich rubber, and the pimple density range.
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- Tennis court geometryEvery measurement on a tennis court and the rule that governs them all — court and service-box dimensions, line widths, the centre mark, and why measurements are taken to the outside of the lines.
Scoring systems
- Scoring in rugby unionThe five ways points are scored in rugby union and what each is worth — try, conversion, penalty try, penalty goal and drop goal — with the rule that surprises people about the penalty try.
- Volleyball scoringVolleyball uses rally scoring, in which a point is won on every rally, and matches are decided over a best-of-five sets.
- 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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- Tier A — evergreen educational
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- 2026-09-01
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