UMPIRES' COLUMN: Rules when balls hit helmets on the field

Two helmets were placed on the field in line with the stumps at the striker’s end and a ball hit one of the helmets, and someone asked what happens if it hits both helmets. Upon hitting the first helmet the ball automatically becomes dead and therefore if it goes on to hit the second helmet, it is irrelevant. Five penalty runs are awarded to the batting side, not 10 as someone on the radio suggested.

Then there was a bat that flew out of the batter’s hand after playing the ball. What would have happened if it had hit the wickets and dislodged the bails? It would have been out as the law says any part of the batter’s person or equipment that breaks the wickets in waiting to receive the ball or after receiving it, or immediately setting off for a run, is out hit wicket. That also applies to part of a bat, cap, glasses, etc that comes off the batter’s person and removes the bails. The batter is out hit wicket. The time taken for this to happen is once the bowler enters his delivery stride until after the batter has received the ball. If a bail falls off before the bowler reaches his delivery stride, the striker's end umpire will call and signal 'dead ball' as it could have been another reason for the bail to fall off.

A batter cannot be out hit wicket if the ball is a no-ball or the bowler fails to deliver the ball once in his delivery stride. A batter is not out hit wicket if in running he slides into the wickets. The only way he can be out while running is if in setting off immediately for the first run, he steps back onto the wickets. In that case, it's up to the umpire to decide what is 'immediately' and is one of the decisions an umpire at the striker’s end has to make.

While mentioning the Test, there were some unusual celebrations when reaching a hundred. There was plenty of bat waving, air punching, badge-on-helmet kissing, but that was a first when one of the Indian batters did a well-executed forward flip! Will we see that in the local league?