Dismissal (cricket)

In cricket, a dismissal occurs when a batsman's innings is brought to an end by the opposing team. Other terms used are the batsman being out, the batting side losing a wicket, and the fielding side taking a wicket. The ball becomes dead, and the dismissed batsman must leave the field of play for the rest of their team's innings, to be replaced by a team-mate. A team's innings ends if ten of the eleven team members are dismissed. Players bat in pairs so, when only one batsman remains who can be not out, it is not possible for the team to bat any longer. This is known as dismissing or bowling out the batting team, who are said to be all out.
The most common methods of dismissing a batsman are : caught, bowled, leg before wicket, run out, and stumped. Of these, the leg before wicket and stumped methods of dismissal can be seen as related to, or being special cases of, the bowled and run out methods of dismissal respectively.
Most methods of dismissal do not apply on an illegal delivery or on the free hit delivery that follows a no-ball in certain competitions. Among the common methods of dismissal, only the "run out" dismissal can occur during any type of delivery.

Purpose

Once dismissed, a batsman cannot score any more runs in that innings; thus, dismissing batsmen is a way for the fielding side to control the number of runs scored in an innings, and prevent the batting side from either achieving their target score or posting a large total for the fielding side to follow in the next innings. Additionally, in Test and first-class cricket, it is usually necessary for the side fielding last to dismiss ten players of the opposing team in their final innings to achieve victory.

Adjudication

By convention, dismissal decisions are handled primarily by the players; thus, if the dismissal is obvious the batsman will voluntarily leave the field without the umpire needing to dismiss them. If the batsman and fielding side disagree about a dismissal then the fielding side must appeal to the umpire, who will then decide whether the batsman is out. In competitive cricket, many difficult catching and LBW decisions will be left to the umpire; if a batter acknowledges that they are out in such cases and departs without waiting for the umpire's decision it is known as "walking", and regarded as an honourable but controversial act.
If the umpire believes they have incorrectly dismissed a batsman, they may recall them to the crease if they have not already left the field of play. An example of this was in the 2007 Lord's test match between England and India when Kevin Pietersen was initially given out caught behind, but was recalled when television replays showed that the ball had bounced before being taken by Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Methods of dismissal

A batter can be dismissed in a number of ways, the most common being bowled, caught, leg before wicket, run out and stumped. An analysis of Test match dismissals between 1877 and 2012 found that 98.2% of the 63,584 Test match dismissals in this period were one of these five types. Much rarer were retired, hit the ball twice, hit wicket, handled the ball/obstructing the field, and timed out.

Method of dismissal:	Bowled	Caught	LBW	Run out	Stumped	Retired	Hit the ball twice	Hit wicket	Obstructing the field	Handled the ball	Timed out
Can the striker be dismissed?											N/A
Can the non-striker be dismissed?											N/A
Is the bowler credited with the dismissal?											N/A
Is a fielder or wicket-keeper credited with the dismissal?											N/A
Can dismissal occur from a no-ball or free hit?						N/A				N/A	N/A
Can dismissal occur from a wide?						N/A				N/A	N/A

As it is possible to dismiss the non-striker, and possible to dismiss the striker from a wide, this means a batter can be dismissed without facing a single delivery. This is sometimes known as a diamond duck.
Len Hutton, Desmond Haynes, and Steve Waugh were each dismissed in seven different ways over the course of their test career.

Common methods of dismissal

Law 32: Bowled

If a bowler's legitimate delivery hits the wicket and puts it down, the striker is out. The ball can either have struck the stumps directly, or have been deflected off the bat or body of the batter. However, the batter is not Bowled if the ball is touched by any other player or umpire before hitting the stumps.
Bowled takes precedence over all other methods of dismissal. What this means is, if a batter could be given out both Bowled and also for another reason, then the other reason is disregarded, and the batter is out Bowled.
Between 1877 and 2012, this method accounted for 21.4% of all Test match dismissals.

Law 33: Caught

If the batter hits the ball, from a legitimate delivery, with the bat and the ball is caught by the bowler or a fielder before it hits the ground, then the striker is out.
"Caught behind" indicates that a player was caught by the wicket-keeper, or less commonly by the slips. "Caught and bowled" indicates the bowler also took the catch.
Caught takes precedence over all other methods of dismissal except Bowled. What this means is, if a batter could be given out both Caught and also for another reason, then the other reason is disregarded, and the batter is out Caught.
Between 1877 and 2012, this method accounted for 56.9% of all Test match dismissals, with 40.6% caught by fielders, and 16.3% caught by the wicket-keeper.

Law 36: Leg before wicket (lbw)

If a bowler's legitimate delivery strikes any part of the batter, without first touching the bat, and, in the umpire's judgement, the ball would have hit the wicket but for this interception, then the striker is out. There are also further criteria that must be met, including where the ball pitched, whether the ball hit the batter in line with the wickets, and whether the batter was attempting to hit the ball, and these have changed over time.
Between 1877 and 2012, this method accounted for 14.3% of all Test match dismissals.

Law 38: Run out

A batter is Run out if at any time while the ball is in play, the wicket in the ground closest to them is fairly put down by the opposing side while no part of the batter's bat or body is grounded behind the popping crease.
This usually happens while the batters are running between the wickets, attempting to score a run. Either the striker or non-striker can be Run out. The batter nearest the safe territory of the wicket that has been put down, but not actually in safe territory, is out. On the line is considered as out; frequently it is a close call whether or not a batter gained their ground before the bails were removed, with the decision referred to the Decision Review System.
The difference between stumped and run out is that the wicket-keeper may stump a batter who goes too far forward to play the ball, whilst any fielder, including the keeper, may run out a batter who goes too far for any other purpose, including for taking a run.
A special form of run out is when the batter at the non-striker's end attempts to gain an advantage by leaving the crease before the next ball has been bowled. The bowler may then dislodge the bails at their end without completing the run-up and dismiss the batter. This form of run-out is sometimes called the Mankad, in reference to Vinoo Mankad, the first bowler to dismiss a batter in this manner in a Test match, running out Bill Brown in 1947. With changes in the Laws of Cricket, a bowler cannot Mankad a batter once they reach the point in their delivery where they would normally release the ball. It is considered good etiquette to warn a batter that he is leaving their crease early, before attempting a Mankad run out on a subsequent ball. In 2022, the ICC moved this form of dismissal from the 'Unfair Play' section of the Laws of the Game to the normal 'Run Out' section.
A run out cannot occur if no fielder has touched the ball. As such, if a batter plays a straight drive which breaks the non-striker's stumps whilst they are outside their crease, they are not out. However, if a fielder touches the ball at all before it breaks the stumps at the non-striker's end, then it is a run out, even if the fielder never has any control of the ball.
Between 1877 and 2012, this method accounted for 3.5% of all Test match dismissals.

Law 39: Stumped

If the striker steps in front of the crease to play the ball, leaving no part of their body or the bat on the ground behind the crease, and the wicket-keeper is able to put down the wicket with the ball, then the striker is out. A stumping is most likely to be effected off slow bowling, or medium-paced bowling when the wicket-keeper is standing directly behind the stumps. As wicket-keepers stand several yards back from the stumps to fast bowlers, stumpings are hardly ever effected off fast bowlers. The ball can bounce off a keeper and break the stumps and still be considered a stumping.
Stumped takes precedence over Run out. What this means is, if a batter could be given out both Stumped and Run out, then Run out is disregarded, and the batter is out Stumped.
Between 1877 and 2012, this method accounted for 2.0% of all Test match dismissals.