Cricket Laws Quiz: 30 Questions To Test Your MCC Rulebook Knowledge
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Cricket has 42 laws, maintained by the MCC, and most of them hide quiet nuance. Thirty questions across wides, no-balls, dismissals and playing conditions to see how deeply you understand the game.
The ball and the delivery (Q1–10)
Q1. How many ways can a batter be dismissed in cricket? A. Ten (eleven if you count timed out as separate).
Q2. Is "Mankad" still classed as unfair play? A. No — the MCC moved it from unfair play to the run-out law in 2022.
Q3. What is a no-ball for overstepping? A. A delivery where the bowler's front foot crosses the popping crease entirely.
Q4. Penalty for a no-ball? A. One run to the batting side plus a free hit in limited-overs formats.
Q5. What is the "wide ball" law? A. A delivery passing out of reach of the batter in normal stance.
Q6. How many bouncers per over in Test cricket? A. Two per over above shoulder height.
Q7. How many bouncers per over in ODIs? A. Two per over above the shoulder.
Q8. In T20Is? A. Two per over.
Q9. Maximum overs a bowler can bowl in an ODI? A. Ten.
Q10. Maximum overs in a T20I per bowler? A. Four.
Dismissals (Q11–20)
Q11. Can a batter be dismissed "obstructing the field"? A. Yes — if they wilfully obstruct or distract the fielding side.
Q12. Is handled-the-ball still a dismissal? A. It has been merged into "obstructing the field" since 2017.
Q13. What is "timed out" in cricket? A. A new batter must be ready to face the next ball within two minutes in Tests (three minutes under older laws); failure = timed out.
Q14. Who was the most recent high-profile "timed out" dismissal? A. Angelo Mathews vs Bangladesh, Cricket World Cup 2023.
Q15. Can a batter be caught off a no-ball? A. No — the ball is dead on signal, only run-out dismissals are possible.
Q16. Can LBW be given off a full-toss? A. Yes, subject to impact and pitching rules.
Q17. Can a batter be bowled off a no-ball? A. No — no-ball supersedes bowled.
Q18. When is a batter considered "caught"? A. When the fielder catches the ball cleanly before it touches the ground, while in full control.
Q19. Is retired out a dismissal? A. Yes — retired out counts on the scorecard as a dismissal; retired hurt does not.
Q20. Who made the first high-profile "retired out" call in T20? A. Ravichandran Ashwin for Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2022.
Playing conditions (Q21–30)
Q21. How many reviews per innings are teams allowed in Tests? A. Three per innings.
Q22. How many in ODIs and T20Is? A. Two per innings.
Q23. What is the "umpire's call"? A. If ball-tracking shows marginal LBW impact or wicket-zone, the on-field umpire's decision stands.
Q24. Minimum overs for a T20I result under DLS? A. Five overs per side.
Q25. ODI minimum overs for DLS? A. 20 overs per side.
Q26. How many fielders can be inside the 30-yard circle during non-powerplay overs in ODIs? A. Five (minimum inside during middle overs).
Q27. Powerplay overs in an ODI innings? A. First ten (PP1), overs 11–40 (PP2), overs 41–50 (PP3).
Q28. What is the two-ball ODI rule? A. Each bowling innings uses two new balls from opposite ends.
Q29. When can a substitute field? A. When a player is injured or absent for an approved reason — and the substitute cannot bat or bowl.
Q30. What is a Concussion Substitute? A. A like-for-like replacement for a player who has suffered a concussion during the match, approved by the match referee.
FAQ
Q: Who maintains the laws of cricket? A: The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), which has been the custodian since 1788.
Q: How often are the laws updated? A: The MCC typically publishes revised editions every several years, with the most recent major revision in 2022.
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Karthik Iyer
Expert in: Cricket RecordsCricket analyst and content writer at CricJosh, covering Cricket Records with 473 articles published.
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