Cricketing Terms 3

Maiden
An over in which no runs (excluding byes) are scored. Part of the bowler's figures. Considered a big deal (if you are the bowler and not the batsman that is).
Leg side and Off-side
The leg stump is on the leg side funnily enough. The leg side is the opposite side for a batsman who bats left handed (and the names of all the fielding positions are determined by the stance of the batsman facing the ball). The off side is the opposite to the leg side (which ever that may be).

Leg Before Wicket" or LBW is the most argued about way of getting out in cricket because of all the ifs and buts involved, but very basically it means if the ball hits the batsman - NOT his bat, usually his leg - and would otherwise have hit the wicket, the batsman is out "Leg Before". Easy eh? The wicket is credited to the bowler.
Exceptions to this rule: 1) The ball "pitches" (bounces) outside leg stump - batsman cannot be out LBW, regardless of whether he tries to hit it or not. 2) The ball pitches outside OFF stump, and the batsman attempts to hit the ball - batsman is not out.

Laws of Cricket
The game of Cricket has been governed by a series of Codes of Law for over 250 years. These Codes have been subject to additions and alterations recommended by the governing authorities of the time. Since its formation in 1787, the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) has been recognised as the sole authority for drawing up the Code and for all subsequent amendments.

In the late 1990s, two distinguished MCC members and ex-England captains, Ted Dexter and Lord Cowdrey, sought to enshrine the 'Spirit of Cricket' in the game's Laws - thereby reminding players of their responsibility for ensuring that cricket is always played in a truly sportsmanlike manner. The Dexter/Cowdrey initiative proved successful, and when the current Code of Laws was introduced, in 2000, it included, for the first time, a Preamble on the Spirit of Cri