This edition of Laws of Cricket, in association with the International Institute of Cricket Umpiring and Scoring, covers some more tricky questions of the Laws.

Many times on the pitch (and after the game) we have come to discuss whether a controversial situation should be allowed or not. There are precious few players with a deep enough understanding of the laws for our arguments to be resolved, but many times it's the players who also act as umpires. Now we can consult a team of expert experienced umpires for the answers to those tricky questions.

You can submit your own questions to the umpires here.

Non-striker - out of his ground?

"The wicket-keeper was not best pleased as a result of the following incident. The batsman hit the ball and set off on what looked like a suicidal single. The non-striker practically flew down the pitch, just made his ground, and then fell backwards onto the pitch to avoid being hit by the ball, which was being thrown in. The ’keeper took the ball, whipped off the bails and appealed for a Run out. The non-striker was well out of his ground at that moment. Why was the appeal turned down?"”

The appeal failed because, according to your description of events, the non-striker had already made his ground. The only reason he had left his ground after that was to take evasive action to avoid being struck by the ball.

Law 38.2 Run out (Open Learning Manual Page 115)

What does encroachment by the wicketkeeper mean?

"It’'s so unusual to hear an umpire at square leg call 'No ball' that we spectators sat up with a start when it happened in a match recently. Yet there weren’t more than two fielders behind the popping crease on the leg side, and it certainly didn’t seem as if the bowler had thrown the ball. When they came off for tea I heard fielders talking about the wicket-keeper ‘encroaching’. What did they mean by this?"

The umpire at striker’s end called and signalled No ball because some part of the wicket-keeper’s person or equipment was not completely behind the wicket when the ball came into play. The wicket-keeper must remain wholly behind ‘his’ wicket until either the striker touches the ball with his bat or person, or it passes the wicket, or the striker attempts a run.

Law 40.3 The wicketkeeper (Open Learning Manual Page 121)

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