What Is A Bump Ball In Cricket?

In a sport where the governing laws seem heavily skewed in favour of the bowlers, a bump ball in cricket may be described as petrichor post a drought-like situation for the batters.

Akin a breadth of fresh air which lasts only only for a few seconds, a bump ball ensures that a batter’s stay at the 22 yards is not brought to an end.

In what is a unique occurrence on a cricket field, a bump ball resulting in a catch is often accompanied by a huge cheer from the spectators, who are absolutely certain of a caught dismissal.

However, when they soon realize that the batter concerned has refused to walk back, they look at the much-experienced fans in their vicinity with a peripheral vision.

What Is A Bump Ball In Cricket?

A bump ball is used to describe an event wherein a batter’s bat hits the ball and the ground almost simultaneously. As a result, the ball lobs in the air and lands into the hands of a fielder but only after hitting the pitch at first.

For a casual viewer who hasn’t observed or experienced playing a bump ball before, it might seem like a straightforward catch. However, since the bat had hit the ball first and then the ground the very next instant, the batter would stay not out. In majority such cases, both the batter, fielder, and rest of the players on the ground are aware of a bump ball event.

Sometimes, one might have also noticed the fielding taking the bump ball catch and hilariously pretending to celebrate the fall of wicket in order to have the crowd up on their feet in celebration.

Is There Any Way A Batter Can Be Dismissed Off A Bump Ball?

In some rare cases, a batter’s bat meets the ball in such a manner that it seems a case of bump ball to him/her. While the bat might have also made a contact with the ground, the replays confirm that the ball had hit the pitch, then the bat and finally landed into the fielder’s hand. This is a clear case of a caught dismissal since the ball had not made contact with the ground after pitching.

However, in case of a bump ball, there is no way a batter can be dismissed due to reasons mentioned in the above paragraphs.

About the author

Gurpreet Singh

Gurpreet Singh is a Cricket writer at The Sportsrush. His platonic relationship with sports had always been there since childhood, but Cricket managed to strike a special, intimate nerve of his heart. Although his initial dream of playing the sport at the highest level couldn't come to fruition, Gurpreet did represent the state of Jharkhand at the under-14 level. However, almost like taking a pledge to never let the undying passion for Cricket fade away even a tad, he made sure to continue the love relationship by assigning the field of journalism as an indirect Cupid. He thus, first finished his bachelor's in journalism and then pursued the PG Diploma course in English journalism from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC). Soon after and since 2019, he has been working at The Sportsrush. Apart from sports, he takes keen interest in politics, and in understanding women and gender-related issues.

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