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Every scorer learns the same five dismissals first, because they cover almost everything: bowled, caught, LBW, stumped, run out. Then, every so often, something else happens — a batter treads on their own stumps, a new batter takes too long to reach the crease, or someone genuinely gets given out for touching the ball with their hand. The correct scorebook entry for each of these is not obvious if you’ve never had to write one, and the generic “types of dismissal” listicles that rank for these terms mostly stop at the definition. This guide goes one step further: what actually counts, a real example of each — including a genuine first from 2026 — and exactly how each one is supposed to land in the bowling and batting figures.
The Nine Ways to Get Out, and Who Gets Credit
Since the 2017 Laws of Cricket code merged “handled the ball” into “obstructing the field,” there are nine dismissals rather than the ten still listed on some older reference pages. The table below is the detail most explainers skip: which ones actually add to a bowler’s wicket column.
| Dismissal | Credited to the bowler? | How common |
|---|---|---|
| Bowled | Yes | Very common |
| Caught | Yes | Very common |
| LBW | Yes | Common |
| Stumped | Yes | Occasional |
| Run out | No | Common |
| Hit wicket | Yes | Rare |
| Obstructing the field | No | Very rare |
| Hit the ball twice | No | Extremely rare |
| Timed out | No | Extremely rare |
Every one of these still counts as a dismissal for the batter’s own average — a timed-out or obstructing-the-field batter is out, not not-out. The only thing that changes is whether a bowler’s own figures pick up the wicket.
Hit Wicket
A batter is out hit wicket if their bat, body or equipment dislodges a bail (or knocks a stump out of the ground) while playing a shot or setting off for the first run, without the ball needing to touch the stumps at all. Treading back onto the stumps while pulling away from a short ball, or a helmet falling onto the bails, are the two most common versions.
How it’s scored: exactly like bowled — the bowler is credited with the wicket, and the batter’s dismissal is recorded as “hit wicket” rather than “bowled,” since the mechanism is different even though the outcome (stumps disturbed) looks similar on a scorecard at a glance.
Timed Out
A new batter must be ready to face the next ball — or for the non-striker to be ready, if the batter due to face isn’t the one who’s out — within a set time of the previous wicket falling. Miss that window and the fielding side can appeal for the incoming batter to be given out before facing a single delivery.
The time limit varies by competition, and this is the detail most explainers get wrong by quoting a single number. The Laws of Cricket set the default at 3 minutes. ICC playing conditions for international cricket shorten that: 2 minutes in Tests and ODIs, and just 90 seconds in T20Is, reflecting the faster pace expected in the shortest format. Domestic leagues and competitions are free to set their own figure in their own playing conditions, so if you score for a specific league, check its rulebook rather than assuming the international time applies.
Timed out has happened twice in international cricket, and both instances are worth knowing because they show the rule cuts both ways regardless of format or gender. Sri Lanka’s Angelo Mathews became the first men’s international timed-out dismissal at the 2023 ODI World Cup, arriving at the crease against Bangladesh only for a helmet strap issue to eat into his time — the umpires upheld the appeal after Bangladesh’s captain declined to withdraw it, and the decision divided opinion across the sport for weeks. In 2026, Bhutan’s Ritshi Choden became the first woman timed out in international cricket, dismissed on the very first ball of Bhutan’s chase against Nepal at the ACC Women’s Premier Cup — the Cricket Association of Nepal later said the dismissal was within the laws but did not reflect the spirit of the game, even as the wicket stood.
How it’s scored: the batter is out “timed out,” with no ball having been bowled to them and no runs scored in the dismissal itself — no bowler is credited, and depending on your scorebook’s convention it may be recorded against the innings as a whole rather than any specific delivery, since strictly speaking no delivery happened to them at all.
Obstructing the Field (and the Former “Handled the Ball”)
A batter is out obstructing the field if they wilfully obstruct or distract the fielding side by word or action while the ball is in play — deliberately changing running direction to block a throw, distracting a fielder about to take a catch, or (since the 2017 Laws of Cricket code folded the old separate law into this one) touching the ball with a hand or arm without a fielder’s consent. Before 2017, that last case was its own dismissal, “handled the ball” — the MCC’s reasoning for merging them was that deliberately touching the ball was always a specific instance of obstruction, so keeping two overlapping laws just added complexity without adding protection for the fielding side.
A well-known modern case: Bangladesh’s Mushfiqur Rahim was given out obstructing the field in an ODI after using his glove to knock the ball away from his stumps rather than letting it complete a run-out — exactly the kind of instinctive, deliberate hand contact the merged law now covers under a single heading.
How it’s scored: the batter is out “obstructing the field,” with no bowler credited — the same treatment as run out, since a fielding-side action (or in this case, the batter’s own interference with one) ended the innings rather than the bowler beating the bat.
Hit the Ball Twice
The rarest entry on the list: a batter is out if they deliberately hit the ball a second time with the bat or their body, other than to protect their wicket from being broken (knocking a ball away from the stumps to stop it rolling onto them is explicitly allowed). It exists mainly to stop a batter improvising a second shot to score more runs off the same delivery, and recorded international instances of it are close to nonexistent.
How it’s scored: the same pattern as obstructing the field — no bowler credited, recorded against the batter as “hit the ball twice.”
Why the Bowler-Credit Rule Exists
It isn’t arbitrary. Bowled, caught, LBW, stumped and hit wicket all happen because of something the bowler did — beating the bat, drawing a mistimed shot, trapping the batter in front, or forcing an error through pace or turn. Run out, obstructing the field, hit the ball twice and timed out all end an innings through something else entirely: a fielding-side throw, the batter’s own conduct, or simply the clock. Bowling figures are meant to measure what the bowler achieved, so only the first group counts toward them — a convention every serious scorebook and averages table has followed for as long as bowling averages have existed.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many ways can a batter be given out in cricket?
Nine, since the 2017 Laws of Cricket merged “handled the ball” into “obstructing the field.” They
are bowled, caught, leg before wicket, stumped, run out, hit wicket, obstructing the field, hit the
ball twice, and timed out.
Which dismissals count as a wicket for the bowler?
Only five — bowled, caught, leg before wicket, stumped and hit wicket. Run out, obstructing the
field, hit the ball twice and timed out are valid dismissals but are never credited to the bowler.
How long does an incoming batter have before being timed out?
It depends on the competition. The Laws of Cricket default to 3 minutes; ICC international playing
conditions shorten that to 2 minutes in Tests and ODIs and 90 seconds in T20Is. Check your own
league’s playing conditions for its own figure.
Has anyone actually been timed out in international cricket?
Yes, twice. Angelo Mathews (Sri Lanka, 2023 ODI World Cup) was the first men’s instance. Ritshi
Choden (Bhutan, 2026 ACC Women’s Premier Cup) was the first women’s instance.
What’s the difference between obstructing the field and handled the ball now?
There isn’t one in the current Laws — handled the ball was folded into obstructing the field in the
2017 code. A batter who touches the ball without a fielder’s consent is out obstructing the field.
Does a rare dismissal like this affect a player’s batting average?
Yes, the same as any other dismissal — it counts as an innings completed (out), lowering the average
exactly as bowled or caught would.
How CricPulse Helps
CricPulse’s scoring screen already includes hit wicket as a dedicated dismissal type alongside bowled, caught, LBW, run out and stumped — select it and the bowler is credited automatically, no manual adjustment needed. The rarest dismissals on this page (timed out, obstructing the field, hit the ball twice) don’t yet have their own buttons, since they happen rarely enough that most scorers will go entire seasons without needing one — if it does happen, record it as you would today and note it in your match log so the story survives even where the quick-tap options don’t cover it yet.
Want the full picture on how a normal scorecard is laid out first? Read our guide to reading a cricket scorecard and beginner’s guide to cricket scoring rules. Curious how any dismissal, common or rare, feeds into a season’s qualifying average? See our guide to end-of-season averages and qualification rules. Score your match with CricPulse — free on iOS and Android.