
Cricket has always been considered a gentleman’s sport. Regardless of the rules, the game is always performed in spirit. However, there have been occurrences that have given rise to some of the game’s most odd regulations.
Today, we look at the most unusual cricket rules, most of which you probably aren’t aware of:
The batter is not permitted to hit the ball twice
Advertisement
We’ve all questioned at some point whether the batsman would be permitted to hit the ball again if he didn’t hit it as well as he intended the first time.
No, it turns out. “A batsman is considered out if he/she willfully strikes the ball the second time with his/her bat before it has touched any fielder,” states Law 34 of the cricket laws.
However, there are two exceptions to this cricket rule. A batter is not out even after hitting the ball twice if the batsman:
- Strikes the ball for the second time to return it to the fielder. (However, in this case, he or she must obtain permission from the fielder before contacting the ball with the bat or any other part of his body.)
- Strikes the ball a second time to protect his wickets (to keep the ball from hitting his wickets).
Rule for Appeal Withdrawal
According to Cricket Law 31.8, a leader of the fielding team may withdraw an appeal after receiving consent from the umpire. In other words, even though a batter has been pronounced out, the captain can ask the batsman to bat again after receiving confirmation from the umpire.
An entertaining example of this occurred during India’s match against England. Ian Bell was dismissed on what everyone assumed was a boundary. Replays revealed, however, that the ball never touched the ropes and was thus run out. MS Dhoni, the Indian captain, abandoned his appeal and recalled Ian Bell. Showing a positive spirit of cricket against cricket rules.
Spider-Camera is not a backup fielder
If the cricket ball strikes the spider cam hovering on the ground, it is a dead ball (even if it is a certain catch or six).
The incident seen in the video above occurred after Australian all-rounder Glen Maxwell smacked the ball in the air, which struck the Spider-Cam. The umpires followed protocol and deemed it a dead ball.
Penalty Runs for Kicking the Ball Over the Line
One of the most strange cricket rules is that if a fielder purposely kicks the ball over the boundary rope, the batting team receives 5 penalty runs.
This regulation is odd since if a fielder purposely kicks the ball past the boundary, the batting club gets 4 runs (at the very least). Isn’t that a punishment in and of itself?
One such occasion came when India played South Africa when Sehwag purposefully kicked the ball over the ropes (see video above). The umpires ruled that this was an infringement and assessed South Africa a five-run penalty.
Virender Sehwag opted to deliberately kick the ball over the boundary rope so that India could dismiss Morne Morkel.
Any obstruction on the ground constitutes a boundary
This rule appears to be a gully cricket rule. What’s odd is that it’s in the ICC‘s rule book! Any impediment on the ground is considered a boundary if both captains agree before the toss.
If a batsman strikes a stroke and the ball is stopped by a dog or a bird that happens to enter the ground at the right time, it is not regarded a boundary (even if the ball was crossing the boundary line before it was stopped).
However, for fixed barriers such as a tree, the two captains and umpires must agree that it should be deemed a boundary. If you’re wondering, a six is not considered if the ball hits the tree immediately without any bounce. It is only regarded as a boundary.