Today I want to talk about a couple of rules in cricket and especially the ones used in the World Cup. Firstly, I want to discuss the rules of a no ball in cricket. When a bowler delivers the ball, whether it’s a no ball or not is determined by the first impact of the foot. Even if the foot skids beyond the line, that is not considered a no ball as long as the first impact was behind the line. This should be true across the table for all the bowlers but it is not. The rules I have mentioned are for fast bowlers. For spinners it is generally seen that the balls of their feet touch first as opposed to the heels for fast bowlers. It is not a no ball for spinners if the first impact is after the line as long as their foot will land behind the line. Why is there such a distinction in rules for both bowlers? We know that the line belongs to the umpire and as long as the foot is in the air it should be a no ball. The second rule I want to discuss is regarding the new wickets they are using during the World Cup. These wickets have lights in them and they light up as soon as there is the slightest impact on them. Technically, a batsman is only out when the bales are completely dislodged but in the World Cup a batsman is given out when the lights come on which is before the bales are dislodged. Why is it that there are different rules in the tournament which have not been openly specified? The way I see it, this needs to be looked into further.
–Shaan Tahir
shantahir@gmail.com