Leg before wicket (lbw) is one of the ways in which a batsman can be dismissed in the sport of cricket. The umpire may rule a batsman out lbw if the ball would have struck the wicket but was intercepted by any part of the batsman except his bat. The umpire's decision, however, will depend on a number of criteria, including where the ball pitched, whether the ball hit in line with the wickets and whether the batsman was offering a shot. Lbw first appeared in the laws in 1774, as batsmen began to use their pads to prevent the ball hitting their wicket. Since the 1990s, the availability of television replays and, later, ball- tracking technology to assist umpires has increased the percentage of lbws in major matches. However, the accuracy of the technology and the consequences of its use remain controversial. Owing to its complexity, the law is widely misunderstood among the general public and wrong lbw decisions have sometimes caused crowd trouble. Since the law's introduction, the proportion of lbw dismissals has risen steadily. Statistics reveal that the probability of a batsman being dismissed lbw in a Test match varies depending on where the match is played and which teams are playing.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leg_before_wicket

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1800:

Lord Wellesley, Governor-General of the British Raj, founded Fort William College in Fort William, India, to promote Bengali, Hindi and other vernaculars of the subcontinent. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_William_College

1913:

The air temperature in California's Death Valley reached 134 °F (56.7 °C), the highest reading ever recorded. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_Valley_National_Park

1942:

An American naval airman discovered a downed Mitsubishi A6M Zero on Akutan Island, Alaska, US, which was used to devise aerial tactics against it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akutan_Zero

1973:

John Paul Getty III, grandson of American oil magnate J. Paul Getty, was kidnapped in Rome. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Paul_Getty_III

2011:

After 168 years, the final edition of the News of the World was published as the British tabloid newspaper shut down over allegations that it hacked the voicemails of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler, victims of the 7/7 attacks and relatives of deceased British soldiers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/News_International_phone_hacking_scandal

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

badinage: Playful raillery; banter. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/badinage

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost.   --Arthur Ashe https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Arthur_Ashe