Leg Before Wicket

LBW Full Form in English, letter by letter

LBW (Leg Before Wicket) is a cricket dismissal where the batter's body blocks a ball that would have hit the stumps.

LBW Full Form in Indian Languages

Commentators say LBW a dozen times a match, and families watching an India game want to know what it stands for. Leg Before Wicket is shown here in Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi and Gujarati.

What a leg before decision means

LBW stands for Leg Before Wicket. It is Law 36 of the Laws of Cricket: a batter is out if the ball, on its way to the stumps, strikes the batter's body instead of the bat, and would have gone on to hit the wicket. The word leg is traditional, since the pads are what usually get hit, but any part of the body counts, including the hand or the head.

Without the law, a batter could stand in front of the stumps and let the pads do the defending. LBW stops the legs from becoming a second bat.

A bowler must appeal first. The umpire will not give anyone out LBW without an appeal, which is why you hear the whole fielding side shout. Modern Laws use the word batter, but commentary in India still often says batsman.

The checks an umpire makes in order

Start with the delivery: it must be a legal ball, not a no-ball. Next, did the ball hit the bat first? If it took any edge on the way, the batter is not out LBW, however plumb the pad hit looks.

Then three lines of sight decide the case. Where did the ball pitch? A ball that lands outside leg stump cannot give an LBW. Where did it hit the batter? Impact must be in line between wicket and wicket, unless the batter offered no shot, in which case impact outside the off stump line can still be out. Finally, was the ball going on to hit the stumps?

Worked example: a fast bowler pitches the ball on off stump, it nips back, hits the front pad in line, and the tracking shows it clipping the top of middle stump. The umpire raises the finger. Change one fact, such as the ball pitching a few inches outside leg stump, and the answer is not out.

Every condition has to hold together. A single failed check means the batter stays.

How DRS reviews an LBW and what umpire's call means

When a team reviews, the third umpire looks at ball-tracking on three points: pitching, impact and wickets. Each can come back as in line, outside, or umpire's call.

For pitching, a ball outside leg stump is simply not out. For the other two, the margin is in the ball: if at least half of the ball is hitting the stumps, or is in line at impact, the decision is clear. If less than half is, the verdict is umpire's call and whatever the on-field umpire decided stays.

That is why a review can be lost when the graphic shows the ball clipping the stump. Tracking is a prediction of the path after impact, not a recording, so the margin protects the human decision from a close estimate. A team loses a review only when the original decision stands after the check.

See DRS for how the review system works in full.

A team usually has a limited number of unsuccessful reviews per innings in Tests, so captains weigh up whether a close LBW is worth a review. Bowlers often ask for the review on the basis of how they saw the ball move, and wicketkeepers help by commenting on the line of the ball.

A short history of the law

Leg before has been in the Laws since the 18th century, and it has been rewritten many times since. Most changes aimed to stop batters from using their pads to avoid being bowled, and each revision was argued about for years.

The modern ball-tracking era began in the early 2000s with Hawk-Eye in broadcasts, and DRS spread through international cricket in the following decade. Umpire's call was added so that a close prediction could not overturn a human decision outright.

For Indian viewers the big shift was when reviews became standard in home Tests and in the IPL era of televised cricket, turning every pad hit into a three-way argument between the umpire, the batter and the screen.

The Laws themselves are written by the MCC in London, while the ICC adds playing conditions for international matches, including how many reviews each side gets. Domestic cricket in India, including the Ranji Trophy, does not always use reviews, so an LBW there can be judged purely by the umpire.

LBW myths fans still repeat

The commonest myth is that any ball hitting the pad is out. It is not. The ball must be heading for the stumps, and a defensive tuck that hits the pad outside off while a shot is played will keep the batter in.

The second is that LBW can be given off a no-ball. It cannot. A no-ball wipes out dismissals such as bowled, caught and LBW. Only a run-out can happen off it.

A third is that pitching outside leg means the umpire got it wrong. Usually it means the law did exactly what it was written to do.

Three questions settle most LBW decisions: where did it pitch, where did it hit, and where was it going. Watch for those and the reviews stop looking arbitrary.

LBW Full Form: Common Questions