Umpire’s call is what the big screen shows when a reviewed LBW decision is too close for the technology to settle. Ball-tracking has run its checks and the answer has landed in a narrow grey band: part of the ball in line when it hit the batter, or the ball clipping the stumps without its centre inside them. In that band, the on-field umpire’s original decision stands. Out stays out. Not out stays not out. And the team that asked for the review does not lose it.
It only exists in LBW reviews, and only on two of the three checks ball-tracking makes. Here is how those checks work, why the grey band exists at all, and what happens to your reviews when a decision lands in it.
DRS in 30 Seconds
DRS stands for Decision Review System. It lets a team challenge an on-field umpire’s decision and have it checked by the third umpire, who works with replays, edge detection and ball-tracking.
Only two people can ask. A batter who has been given out can review their own dismissal. The fielding captain can review a not-out decision. They signal by making a “T” with their arms, within 15 seconds of the ball becoming dead, and no advice may come from the dressing room.
For an LBW review, the third umpire works in a fixed order. First, was the delivery legal — no no-ball. Second, did the ball touch the bat before the pad, because an edge means not out. Only then does ball-tracking run, under the Appendix D protocol, and it answers three questions: where the ball pitched, where it hit the batter, and whether it would have gone on to hit the stumps. (The full system, beyond LBW, is covered in what DRS is in cricket.)
The Three Checks
1. Pitching: where the ball bounced
Ball-tracking checks where the ball landed against a strip running between the two sets of stumps. The centre of the ball decides, and there are only three possible answers: in line, outside off stump, or outside leg stump.
If the ball pitched outside the line of leg stump, the batter cannot be out LBW, and the review effectively ends there. There is no umpire’s call for pitching. Where the ball bounced is something the cameras can measure directly, so the system gives a plain answer rather than a grey band.
2. Impact: where the ball hit the batter
The same strip between the stumps is used, this time at the height where the ball struck the batter’s pad or body.
- In line: the centre of the ball hit the batter inside the line of the stumps.
- Umpire’s call: part of the ball was inside the line, but its centre was outside.
- Outside the line: no part of the ball was inside the line.
A batter who is playing a shot cannot be given out LBW if the impact is outside the line. The one exception: if the umpire decides the batter made no genuine attempt to play the ball, an impact outside the line of off stump does not protect them. Padding a ball away is not a free escape.
3. Hitting: would the ball have hit the stumps?
This is the check people argue about most. The target is the wicket zone, and since the ICC’s June 2025 playing conditions it is defined as the actual outline of the stumps and the bails — not a separate box drawn around them.
- Hitting: the centre of the ball is inside that outline. Put simply, if the centre of the ball is inside the outline, more than half of the ball is over the stumps. That is a clear hit.
- Umpire’s call: the ball touches the stumps or bails, but its centre stays outside the outline — so less than half of the ball is making contact.
- Missing: the ball clears the stumps altogether.
So the shorthand you will hear on commentary, “more than half the ball has to be hitting,” is really a plain-English version of the centre-of-the-ball test. If the centre is in, more than half the ball is in. If only the edge of the ball is touching, the decision goes back to the umpire who made it.
To overturn a not-out decision, the review needs in line at impact and hitting, both clear. To overturn an out decision, it needs the ball clearly missing, or an impact clearly outside the line. Anything in between is umpire’s call, and the original decision survives.
Why Umpire’s Call Exists
Ball-tracking is two different things stitched together. Where the ball pitched and where it hit the pad are measurements — the cameras saw them happen. Where the ball would have gone next is a prediction. The pad stopped the ball, so everything after the impact is the system projecting a path the ball never actually travelled.
No projection is exact. Ball-tracking carries a small margin of error, and that margin grows the further the ball still had to travel. Umpire’s call is the margin of error turned into a rule: when the projected answer falls inside it, the technology has not shown the on-field umpire to be wrong, so their decision stands. DRS was built to correct clear errors, not to re-judge the closest calls by a fraction of a ball’s width. The ICC’s Cricket Committee looked at removing umpire’s call in 2021 and chose to keep it for exactly this reason.
The same caution produces a second safety net. If the ball struck the batter a long way down the pitch — three metres or more from the stumps, or between 2.5 and 3 metres when it had travelled less than 40 centimetres after pitching — a not-out decision cannot be overturned, however clear the projection looks. The prediction has had too far to travel to be trusted that far.
A Worked Example: One LBW Appeal, Step by Step
A Test match. A fast bowler runs in to a right-handed batter and raps the front pad. The fielding side appeals loudly. The umpire shakes his head: not out. He thinks the ball was sliding past leg stump. The captain reviews.
- No-ball check. The bowler’s front foot landed behind the line. The delivery was legal.
- Edge check. Replays and UltraEdge show no bat involved. Ball hit pad first.
- Pitching. Ball-tracking shows the ball bounced just inside the line of the stumps. In line. The appeal is still alive.
- Impact. The ball hit the pad with its centre inside the line of the stumps. In line again.
- Hitting. The projection shows the ball going on to clip the outside of leg stump. Part of the ball is inside the outline of the stumps and bails, but its centre is outside.
That is umpire’s call. The umpire’s original decision was not out, so not out it stays — even though the graphic clearly showed the ball hitting the stumps. Because the decision only survived on umpire’s call, the fielding side keeps its review.
Now change one thing. Same bowler, same ball, same graphic — but this time the umpire raised his finger and gave it out, and the batter reviews. Every check is identical. The result is identical too: umpire’s call. This time the original decision was out, so the batter stays out, and the batting side keeps its review. One delivery, two possible outcomes, and the only difference is the decision the umpire made in the first place. That is the whole rule in a single picture.
How Many Reviews Does Each Team Get?
Teams are limited by how many reviews they can get wrong, not by how many they can use. The allowance is counted in unsuccessful reviews per innings:
| Format | Unsuccessful reviews per innings |
|---|---|
| Test cricket | 3 |
| ODI cricket | 2 |
| T20I cricket | 2 |
A review that overturns the decision costs nothing. A review that ends in umpire’s call also costs nothing — since October 2017 it has been recorded as “Unchanged – Umpire’s Call” rather than unsuccessful, under the DRS protocol in Appendix D of the ICC playing conditions. A review only counts against the allowance when the technology clearly confirms the on-field decision was right: the ball clearly missing, for example, or an impact clearly outside the line.
Those figures are worth double-checking wherever you read them, because a lot of older guides still carry the old numbers — two per innings in Tests, and one in ODIs and T20Is. Both were increased, and the current allowance above is the one in the ICC’s playing conditions now.
Common Misunderstandings
- “The ball hit the stumps on the screen, so it must be out.” The graphic is a prediction, not a replay of something that happened. Only a clear hit — centre of the ball inside the outline of the stumps and bails — overturns a not-out decision. A graze sends the decision back to the umpire.
- “Umpire’s call costs the team its review.” It did before October 2017. It does not any more. A decision that stands only because of umpire’s call leaves the team’s allowance untouched.
- “There must be an umpire’s call for pitching too.” There is not. Pitching is measured, not predicted, so it gets one of three plain answers, and pitching outside leg stump ends the appeal.
- “Umpire’s call is the same as the soft signal.” Different rule, different decisions. The soft signal was an on-field umpire’s early view on referred catches, and the ICC scrapped it in June 2023. Umpire’s call is about LBW ball-tracking only.
- “The third umpire just agrees with their colleague.” The third umpire reports what the technology shows. Umpire’s call is one of its possible answers, and it means the evidence was not strong enough to prove the original decision wrong — not that anyone closed ranks.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is umpire’s call in simple words? When an LBW decision is reviewed and ball-tracking shows it was very close — part of the ball in line, or the ball only clipping the stumps — the on-field umpire’s original decision stands, and the reviewing team keeps its review.
Do you lose a review on umpire’s call? No. Since October 2017, a review that fails only because of umpire’s call does not count as an unsuccessful review. Your allowance stays exactly where it was.
Can umpire’s call happen on catches or run-outs? No. It belongs to LBW reviews only, on the impact and hitting checks. Catches and edges are judged on a different test — whether the evidence is conclusive enough to overturn — and run-outs and stumpings are decided from replays of what actually happened.
Why not simply remove umpire’s call and let the technology decide? Because after the ball hits the pad, the technology is predicting, not measuring, and every prediction has a margin of error. Without the grey band, batters would be given out on projections that might be wrong by the width of the band itself. The ICC reviewed the rule in 2021 and kept it.
What changed in 2025? Two things. The wicket zone is now the actual outline of the stumps and bails, which slightly widens what counts as hitting. And if a batter given out caught reviews the decision, the replays show no bat, and the ball hit the pad, the LBW check that follows now starts from an original decision of “out” — so an umpire’s call verdict on that check leaves the batter out, where before it would have saved them.
Why is umpire’s call controversial? Because the graphic can show the ball hitting the stumps while the batter stays not out, or only clipping them while the batter stays out. Critics argue any contact should decide it. The counter-argument, and the ICC Cricket Committee’s stated reason for keeping the rule in 2021, is that the graphic after impact is a prediction with a margin of error, and DRS was built to correct clear errors while leaving the closest calls with the on-field umpire.
Does umpire’s call apply in domestic leagues like the IPL? Not automatically on these terms. This article follows the ICC’s international playing conditions. Domestic leagues play under their own playing conditions, so whether the same zones and review allowances apply depends on that league’s rules for that season.
Does umpire’s call favour batters or bowlers? Neither, by design. It favours the original decision, whichever way it went. A marginal call given out stays out; a marginal call given not out stays not out.
Based on the ICC’s playing conditions and the DRS protocol in Appendix D, including the changes announced on 27 June 2025, and Law 36 of the Laws of Cricket. Domestic leagues play under their own playing conditions, so review allowances can differ outside international cricket.
More sports rules in plain words: NFL overtime rules.