The basics of cricket include a bowler bowling a legal delivery by bouncing the ball that pitches on a 22-yard wicket. A batter waits for the ball at the other end to hit the ball to score runs and survive a dismissal.
Routinely, a ball bounces once before it reaches the batsman. The bowler may also bowl in a way that the ball does not bounce and directly reaches the batter. This type of delivery is legal if it is below the waist of the batter. But what happens when a ball bounces more than once on the pitch?
The answer to this is determined by where the second bounce took place with respect to the batter’s crease. If the second bounce took place beyond the crease of the batter’s end, it is a legal delivery. However, if the second bounce takes place before the batter’s crease, it is called a no-ball.
Earlier, a no-ball was called when the ball bounced more than twice. The modern rule came into force in the 2000s and was implemented after the 2003 World Cup.
A couple of notable instances of the double bounce took place in the 1999 exhibition match between England and President’s XI and the 2003 World Cup match between Australia and New Zealand. In the 1999 match, Mark Taylor bowled a double bounce delivery that went on to hit the stumps. Even though the modern rule had not come into force back then, the umpire called it a no-ball. In the 2003 match, Andre Adams of New Zealand bowled a double bounce that was struck for a six.
