Leg before wicket
In cricket, leg before wicket (lbw) is the dismissal of a batsman when the ball hits the player's leg pads when it would have continued to hit the stumps. Interestingly, although it is called "leg" before wicket, practically, it applies to any part of the body except the gloves holding the bat. The ball must also have been pitched in line with the stumps or on the off-side for the umpire to give the batsman 'out'; furthermore, if the batsman is hit outside the line of the off-stump, he cannot be given out if he is attempting to hit the ball.If the bowler thinks the ball would have hit the wicket, he calls "How's that", asking the umpire for his opinion. This is called as an appeal. If the umpire determines that the batsman is out, he raises his arm forward with his index finger up.
When assessing the appeal the umpire must make a judgment as to whether:
- the delivery was a fair one (i.e. not a no-ball);
- the ball pitched in line with the stumps;
- the batsman attempted to play a shot;
- the batsman did not hit the ball with the bat before being blocked;
- the ball would have hit the stumps had it not been blocked by the batsman's legs or any part of the body except the gloves.
