Cricket Review System: How LBW Reviews Work in Tests

Learn how the cricket review system works for LBW in Test cricket and beyond. Step-by-step rules, umpire's call, and review limits explained for fans.

## Your Team Just Burned a Review on a Ball That Was Missing Leg by a Foot It happens in every Test match, and it happened again this week: a batter gets trapped on the pad, the bowler screams, the umpire says not out, the fielding captain signals the T, and 90 seconds later the big screen shows the ball pitching outside leg and everyone in the ground groans. The cricket review system exists to remove howlers from the game. Used badly, it just removes your reviews. This guide walks you through exactly how LBW reviews work in Test cricket and the shorter formats, step by step, in about 12 minutes of reading. By the end you will know what gets reviewed, what gets upheld, and when a captain should keep the T signal in his pocket. ## What you'll need - A basic grasp of the LBW law: ball pitches in line, impact in line, would have hit the stumps. - Access to a live feed with ball tracking (Sky Sports in the UK, Willow or ESPN+ in the US, various broadcasters across Europe). - About 12 minutes of reading time. - No account, no subscription, no gear. This is a rules explainer, not a hardware guide. - Optional: a notepad if you want to track review outcomes across a session. It is genuinely useful. ## Step-by-step ### Step 1. Learn what is actually reviewable Goal: know which decisions the third umpire can overturn before you start arguing with your mates. Only dismissals can be reviewed by the fielding side. Catches, LBW, bowled, stumped, hit wicket, and run out are all fair game. A batter can also review a not out decision that would have dismissed him. What you cannot review: wides, no balls, the umpire's call on a dead ball, or anything that is not a dismissal. Time-wasting appeals against a boundary call get you nowhere. Tip: If the umpire has already sent it upstairs for a run out or a catch, that is a standard referral, not a player review. It does not cost anyone a review. ### Step 2. Understand the two-review limit Goal: stop treating reviews as infinite. In Test cricket, each team gets two unsuccessful reviews per innings. Keep them and you keep them for the whole innings. Burn both on speculative LBW shouts in the first hour and you are helpless for the rest of the day. In ODIs and T20Is, the limits are tighter. Two reviews per innings in ODIs, and in most T20I series it is one or two depending on the competition regulations. Check the playing conditions for the specific series, because they do shift. Watch out: reviews do not reset when a new batter comes in. They reset at the start of a new innings. ### Step 3. Watch the three LBW checkpoints in order Goal: predict the outcome before the third umpire does. Ball tracking runs through three questions in sequence. Miss any one and the review fails. 1. Where did the ball pitch? If it pitched outside leg stump, the batter cannot be out LBW, full stop. Review dead on arrival. 2. Where did it hit the batter? Impact must be in line with the stumps, unless the batter did not offer a shot. 3. Would it have hit the stumps? This is where "umpire's call" lives. If the projected path clips the stumps by less than half the ball's width, the on-field decision stands. That is umpire's call, and it costs you the review. ### Step 4. Learn umpire's call before you signal the T Goal: stop losing reviews to marginal tracking. Here is the worked example. Australia vs England, day three at the MCG. Ball pitches on middle and leg, hits the pad on leg stump, tracking projects it hitting leg stump by about 40 percent of the ball's width. The on-field umpire said not out. England reviews. The third umpire upholds the not out because the projection is within the umpire's call margin. England loses the review. Now flip it. Same delivery, but the projection shows the ball smashing middle stump. Not out becomes out, and the review is retained. The difference between those two outcomes is often two or three centimetres. That is why captains now huddle with the keeper and the bowler for the full 15 seconds before signalling. Tip: The 15-second window starts when the ball becomes dead. It is not negotiable. Late signals get waved away. ### Step 5. Use the DRS protocol on the field Goal: run the review like a professional side does. The sequence is always the same. - Bowler or keeper appeals to the captain. - Captain looks to the keeper first, because he has the best view of height and line. - If the captain is unsure, he asks the bowler one question: did it hit in line? - Signal the T to the on-field umpire within 15 seconds. - The umpire makes the TV screen signal and the third umpire takes over. The third umpire then runs ball tracking, checks for a no ball, checks for an inside edge, and delivers the verdict on the big screen. Total time: usually 60 to 90 seconds. Watch out: If the bowling side reviews and the tracking shows the ball would have missed, that review is gone. There is no refund for a near miss. ### Step 6. Know how the formats differ Goal: adjust your expectations when you switch from Tests to T20. | Format | Reviews per innings | Umpire's call applies | Reset | |---|---|---|---| | Test | 2 per team | Yes | New innings | | ODI | 2 per team | Yes | New innings | | T20I | 1 or 2 per team (series dependent) | Yes | New innings | | The Hundred | 1 per team | Yes | New innings | The big practical difference is that in T20 the review is almost always saved for a wicket that would change the game. In Tests, captains can afford to gamble on a set batter because the innings is long and the payoff is huge. ### Step 7. Read the big screen like a pro Goal: interpret the graphic in real time. When the tracking comes up, look at three things in order: the pitch marker, the impact marker, and the projected path. If the pitch marker is outside leg, the review is over regardless of anything else. If impact is outside off and the batter offered a shot, same result. The projected path is the last thing shown. If it is clipping, expect umpire's call. If it is hitting the middle of the stumps, expect the decision to be overturned. Tip: Broadcasters now show the umpire's call margin as a shaded zone. Anything inside that shading keeps the original decision. ### Step 8. Track your team's review record Goal: build a sense of which players are worth backing. Keep a simple tally across a series. Most sides convert roughly 30 to 40 percent of their LBW reviews. The best sides in the world sit closer to 50 percent because their keeper and slip cordon read line and height better than anyone. If your team is converting below 25 percent across a series, the problem is not the technology. It is the advice the captain is getting. ## Our take The cricket review system is the single best addition to the sport in the last twenty years, and it is also the most misused. Our view: keep the two-review limit, keep umpire's call, and stop complaining about it. The margin exists because ball tracking is a projection, not a photograph, and an error bar of a few centimetres is honest. If you want to follow the tracking data properly, the broadcast feed matters more than the app. Sky Sports in the UK and Willow in the US give you the full third-umpire view. Cheap streams cut the graphic and leave you guessing. ## Common problems and fixes **Problem: The captain reviews, the ball is missing leg, and the review is gone in the first over.** Fix: Never review an LBW where the ball pitched outside leg. That is the one check the third umpire does first, and it takes five seconds. **Problem: You think the ball hit the batter outside the line and the review gets upheld anyway.** Fix: Check whether the batter offered a shot. If he did not, impact position does not matter. **Problem: The review takes three minutes and kills the momentum.** Fix: That is a broadcast problem, not a rules problem. The third umpire is checking no ball, edge, and tracking in sequence. Nothing you can do from the sofa. **Problem: Your team has burned both reviews by lunch on day one.** Fix: That is a captaincy issue. Save at least one review for the last session, when the ball is reversing and LBW shouts get genuinely dangerous. **Problem: The tracking shows the ball hitting the stumps but the decision stands.** Fix: That is umpire's call. The projection was within the margin. It is not a conspiracy, it is an error bar. ## What to do next Watch the next Test session with the three LBW checkpoints in your head: pitch, impact, projection. You will call the third umpire's verdict correctly more often than the commentators do. Then track your team's review conversions across a full series. It is a better indicator of wicketkeeping quality than most stats graphics. Finally, if you are new to the sport, read the LBW law itself. It is four sentences long and it explains 90 percent of what you see on the big screen. ## FAQ **How many reviews does each team get in Test cricket?** Two unsuccessful reviews per innings. Successful reviews are retained, so a captain can theoretically use many more than two across an innings. **Can a batter be out LBW if the ball pitched outside leg stump?** No. If the ball pitches outside leg stump, the batter cannot be given out LBW regardless of where it hits him or where it would have gone. **What is umpire's call in the cricket review system?** Umpire's call is the margin built into ball tracking. If the projected path clips the stumps by less than roughly half the ball's width, or if impact is marginal, the on-field decision stands and the review is lost.

Cricket Review System: How LBW Reviews Work in Tests

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