4 Less-common modes of dismissals in cricket

The dismissal of Ben Stokes in the recently concluded series was quite controversial

In the second ODI of the recent England-Australia series, Ben Stokes was controversially given out for what the umpires considered as an act of obstructing the field when he stuck out his hand, seemingly, to prevent the ball thrown by the bowler Mitchell Starc from hitting the stumps to run him out.

The incident caused huge furore and experts debated whether Australian captain Steven Smith acted in the spirit of the game by not withdrawing the appeal and if the umpires were correct in ruling the batsman as out in one of the lesser common ways by which a batsman could be dismissed. The Aussies let the appeal stand and the umpires deemed that Stokes was guilty of the charge and had to head back to the pavilion.

Apart from the well known and common forms of dismissal like caught out, leg before wicket, bowled, run out, hit wicket and stumped, the MCC Laws of Cricket also mention 4 ways of dismissals which aren’t very common and their rules may not be very well known.

1. Obstructing the field

The MCC rulebook (Law 37 mentions): “A batsman is out Obstructing the field if he wilfully attempts to obstruct or distract the fielding side by word or action. In particular, but not solely, it shall be regarded as obstruction and either batsman will be out Obstructing the field if while the ball is in play and after the striker has completed the act of playing the ball, he wilfully strikes the ball with

(i) a hand not holding the bat, unless this is in order to avoid injury.

(ii) any other part of his person or with his bat.”

Any runs scored from the delivery before the obstruction act is done is added to the batting side’s total and the bowler doesn’t get the credit for the wicket.

The rulebook mentions that a batsman isn’t guilty of obstructing the field if the act was accidental or unintentional and also if the batsman’s motive was only to return the ball back to the fielding side.

Len Hutton is the only batsman to have been dismissed for obstructing the field in Test cricket while there have been 6 instances (including Stokes’ dismissal) in ODIs till date. The most remarkable & painful one among the six was Rameez Raja’s dismissal as he blocked the fielder’s throw while making his way back for a double while batting on 98.

In first-class cricket, there have been 23 instances of a player being given out in this fashion. Worcestershire wicketkeeper Tom Straw is the only batsmen to be dismissed twice in first-class cricket for obstructing the field – with the two instances coming in 1899 and 1901 coincidentally against the same opponents – Warwickshire.

2. Handled the ball

Quoting the Law 33 in the MCC rulebook, a batsman is dismissed for handling the ball when “in the act of playing a ball delivered by the bowler, he wilfully strikes the ball with a hand not holding the bat. This will apply whether No ball has been called or not and whether it is the first strike or a second or subsequent strike.”

However, if the handling action was to avoid an injury, the batsman isn’t out as per the rules - the striker will not be out Handled the ball if the strike with a hand not holding the bat is in order to avoid injury.

The bowler doesn’t get the credit for the wicket when a batsman is dismissed for handling the ball either.

The first instance of such a dismissal in international cricket was in 1957 in a Test match between South Africa and England at Cape Town when the host batsman Russell Endean padded a delivery from Jim Laker, only to see the ball head towards the stumps. In an instinctive reaction to prevent the ball from hitting the wickets, Endean palmed away the ball and was given out.

Till date, there have been 9 instances of a batsman being given out for “handling the ball” – 7 in Tests and 2 in ODIs – with the most two recent dismissals being that of Steve Waugh and Michael Vaughan against India in Tests at Chennai and Bangalore respectively in 2001.

Former Indian batsman Mohinder Amarnath is the only batsman in international cricket to have been dismissed for obstructing the field and handling the ball, with both instances coming in ODIs.

There have been 59 instances of a batsman being dismissed for handling the ball in first-class cricket, with the most recent instance being Cheteshwar Pujara getting out when playing for Derbyshire vs Leicestershire in 2014.

3. Hit the ball twice

Hitting the ball twice is a mode of dismissal not known very well to most

This was a rule which was first brought in place to prevent batsmen from hitting the ball more than once as it posed a danger to the fielders – with two fatalities in England in the 17th century. The earliest recorded dismissal of this kind is from a match between Sussex and Hampshire in 1786.

Modern day cricket rules have the rule of the “double hit” as an extension of obstruction of field wherein the batsman hits the ball for a second time with the bat in cases where the intention is not preserving the wicket.

According to the MCC rulebook,

“(i) The striker is out Hit the ball twice if, while the ball is in play, it strikes any part of his person or is struck by his bat and, before the ball has been touched by a fielder, he wilfully strikes it again with his bat or person, other than a hand not holding the bat, except for the sole purpose of guarding his wicket.

(ii) For the purpose of this Law, 'struck' or 'strike' shall include contact with the person of the striker.”

The batsman is not guilty of the charge if the intention of the second touch is to avoid the ball hitting the stumps (thus avoiding being clean bowled) or the batsman is looking to return the ball to the fielding side.

Only runs scored from the hit by the bat (that is, before the second hit) are added to the batting side’s total, which are at the discretion of the umpire judging from the particular incident and the bowler doesn’t get credit for the wicket.

This type of dismissal is rare, with no instance in international cricket and 21 cases in first-class cricket so far. The most recent instance was when Jammu and Kashmir batsman Dhruv Mahajan was dismissed for hitting the ball twice in a match against Bihar in 2005.

In a Pakistan vs India match in 2006, Inzamam-ul-Haq hit the ball twice – first a drive off the bowling off Sreesanth to mid-off, and then to block the ball with his bat when Suresh Raina threw the ball at the striker’s end in an attempt to run him out.

With the ball headed towards the stumps and the batsman standing outside his crease while blocking the ball, the umpires deemed Inzamam’s act as inappropriate – and since the ball had been touched by Raina before the second touch – the batsman was declared out for obstructing the field and not hitting the ball twice.

4. Timed out

Batsmen need to adhere to the 3-minute rule while coming out to bat

Law 31 of the MCC rules state that “After the fall of a wicket or the retirement of a batsman, the incoming batsman must, unless Time has been called, be in position to take guard or for his partner to be ready to receive the next ball within 3 minutes of the dismissal or retirement. If this requirement is not met, the incoming batsman will be out, Timed out.”

The rules of cricket initially mentioned the provision of 2 minutes to the incoming batsman after which the player would have been timed out – and the time was extended to 3 minutes in 2000. In the T20 version of cricket, the stipulated time to be at the crease is 90 seconds instead of 3 minutes to ensure that the game moves on at a brisk pace.

Till date, there hasn’t been any case of a player being dismissed for being timed out – however there was a close call in 2007 in a Test between South Africa and India, when there was some confusion over Sachin Tendulkar being allowed to come into bat because of leaving the field in South Africa’s innings. Ultimately Sourav Ganguly came out to bat, after 6 minutes of the previous batsman Wasim Jaffer’s dismissal.

There was a possibility that Proteas could have looked to appeal to get the incoming batsman dismissed as timed out. However, the umpires informed skipper Graeme Smith that because of the confusion caused by the rules, they wouldn’t entertain an appeal.

Till date, there have been 5 batsmen who have been dismissed for being timed out in first-class cricket. An amusing incident was when former West Indian international Vasbert Drakes was given out for South African domestic team Border in their game against Free State. Expecting the player to be available for the game, the side included him in the XI, but Drakes’ flight to South Africa was severely delayed and he couldn’t even reach the country when the game started.