Stumped is a method of dismissing a batter in

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

, in which the

wicket-keeper In cricket, the wicket-keeper is the Cricket player, player on the fielding (cricket), fielding side who stands behind the wicket, ready to stop Delivery (cricket), deliveries that pass the batsman, and take a Caught, catch, Stumped, stump the ...

puts down the wicket of the striker while the striker is out of their ground. It is governed by Law 39 of the

Laws of Cricket The ''Laws of Cricket'' is a code that specifies the rules of the game of cricket worldwide. The earliest known code was drafted in 1744. Since 1788, the code has been owned and maintained by the private Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in Lord's Cr ...

. Being "out of their ground" means no part of the batter's body, equipment or bat is touching the ground behind the crease. Stumped is a special case of

run out Run out is a method of dismissal in cricket, in which the fielding team put down the wicket of a batter who is outside their ground, usually because they are trying to score a run. Run out is governed by Law 38 of the laws of cricket. If ...

, but a stumping can only be affected by the

without the intervention of another fielder, when the striker is not attempting a run, and the ball must not be a

no-ball In cricket, a no-ball (in the Laws and regulations: "No ball") is a type of illegal delivery to a batter (the other type being a wide). It is also a type of extra, being the run awarded to the batting team as a consequence of the illegal d ...

. If the criteria for both stumped and run out are met, then the dismissal will be recorded as a stumping and credited to the bowler and wicket-keeper. As always in cricket, one of the fielding team must

appeal In law, an appeal is the process in which Legal case, cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of cla ...

for the wicket by asking the umpires. It is the striker's end umpire who adjudicates all stumpings, and all run-out appeals at the striker's end.

Practice

Stumping is the fifth-most-common form of dismissal after

caught Caught is a method of dismissing a batsman in cricket. A batsman is out caught if the batsman 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. If the catch ...

bowled In cricket, the term bowled has several meanings. First, it is the act of propelling the ball towards the wicket defended by a batter. Second, it is a method of dismissing a batter, by hitting the wicket with a ball delivered by the bowler. ...

leg before wicket Leg before wicket (lbw) is one of the ways in which a Batting (cricket), batter can be dismissal (cricket), dismissed in the sport of cricket. Following an Appeal (cricket), appeal by the Fielding (cricket), fielding side, the umpire (cricket), ...

, and

, though it is seen more commonly in shorter forms of the game such as

Twenty20 Twenty20 (abbreviated T20) is a shortened format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the county cricket, inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two t ...

cricket, because attacking batting leads both to batters more frequently losing their balance, and to deliberately leaving the crease to better strike the ball. Most stumping dismissals are affected by the keeper "standing up" (i.e. able to

put down the wicket In the sport of cricket, the term wicket has several meanings: * It is either of the two sets of three Stump (cricket), stumps and two Bail (cricket), bails at each end of the Cricket pitch, pitch. The Fielding (cricket), fielding team's playe ...

by reaching out with the gloved hand holding the ball) and so are usually taken by a medium or slow bowler, especially a slower

spin bowler Spin bowling is a bowling technique in cricket, in which the ball is delivered relatively slowly but with rapid rotation, giving it the potential to deviate sharply after bouncing. A bowler who uses this technique is called a spinner, a spin b ...

. If the keeper is "standing back" to a faster bowler, the wicket-keeper may throw the ball at the stumps to remove the bails ("throw down the wicket") and is also credited with the stumping, although any other fielder throwing down the wicket would be a

. Stumping is often an intended consequence of the fielding team's setup and involves cooperation between bowler and wicket-keeper: the bowler draws the batter out of their ground, such as by delivering a ball with a shorter length to tempt the batter to step forward to create a half-volley, and when they miss the ball, the keeper catches it and breaks the wicket before the batter "makes their ground" (i.e. places the bat or part of their body on the ground back behind the

popping crease In cricket, a crease is a white line painted or chalked on the field of play, that defines the area within which the batters and bowlers operate. The term ''crease'' may also be used to refer to the rectangular area enclosed by the lines. Law ...

). If the bails are removed before the act of stumping (e.g by the keeper's foot), the batter can still be stumped if the wicket-keeper removes one of the stumps from the ground, while holding the ball in the hand or arm that is in contact with the stump. A batter may be out stumped off a wide delivery, in which case the batting team are still credited with the one run extra and both umpires are required to signal to the scorers: the bowler's end umpire signals the Wide, the striker's end, that the batsman is out. A batter cannot be stumped off a

(as stumped is credited to the bowler, the fielding team cannot benefit from the illegal delivery). Notes: * The popping crease is defined as the back edge of the crease marking (i.e. the edge closer to the wicket. Therefore, a batter whose bat or foot is ''on'' the crease marking, but does not touch the ground ''behind'' the crease marking, can be stumped. This is quite common if the batter's back foot is raised so that only their toe is on the ground. * The wicket must be properly put down in accordance with Law 29 of the

Laws of cricket The ''Laws of Cricket'' is a code that specifies the rules of the game of cricket worldwide. The earliest known code was drafted in 1744. Since 1788, the code has been owned and maintained by the private Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in Lord's Cr ...

: using either the ball itself or a hand or arm that is in contact with the ball at the point of breaking the wicket. A stumping is also valid if the ball merely rebounds from the wicket-keeper and breaks the wicket just as if the wicket had been thrown down. * The wicket-keeper must allow the ball to pass the stumps before taking it, unless it has touched either the batter or his bat first (Law 21.9). If the wicket-keeper fails to do this, the delivery is a

, and the batter cannot be stumped (nor run out, unless he attempts to run to the other wicket). * If the striker is injured and has a runner (no longer permitted in international cricket or many professional competitions, but within the unmodified Laws of Cricket), the runner leaves their crease and the wicket is put down for what would otherwise be a stumping, the striker is run out, not stumped.

Records

References

External links

{{Cricket statistics Cricket laws and regulations Cricket terminology