Expert: Kunal Ganju - 9/14/2009

Question
Afternoon Kunal, I was hoping for your assistance in regards to recent incident. A medium paced bowler bowled to a short batsman and in the eyes of the square leg umpire it passed the batsman above waist high and then bowled the batsman at the base of off stump. What I need to know is this, if a batsman is bowled even if it passes at waist surely this must be deemed to be out and not a no ball. As with junior cricket this ended up being an unsavory incident and I would love to have an answer so that this doesn't happen again.

Answer
Hi Niall

I'm fairly certain that if the ball (bowled my a medium pacer) passes above the batsman's waist, it should be called a no-ball irresepctive of whether or not it hits the stumps. The no-ball would have occured as soon as the ball passes the batsman, and so the no-ball call would take precedence over the "bowled" decision.

The only exception to this is if the ball is considered a "slow paced ball". In the case of a slow paced ball, the ball needs to pass above the level of the batsman's shoulder level (in his normal stance) to be called a no-ball. The laws however do not define what a "slow paced ball" is, so the decision lies with the umpire.

Hope this helps
Kunal