Bowled
Also known as: bowled out, clean bowled
Bowled is a dismissal where the ball, delivered by the bowler, hits the stumps and dislodges at least one bail without the batter touching it in a way that counts as a legal stroke.
A batter is bowled when the ball beats the bat entirely (or passes inside the inside edge) and hits the stumps, sending at least one bail flying. "Clean bowled" — where the ball passes the bat without contact at all — is considered one of the most emphatic dismissals in cricket. A batter can also be bowled via a thick inside edge that deflects the ball onto the stumps; this is still bowled (not caught), because the ball hit the stumps rather than being caught in the air. Bowled is a particularly satisfying dismissal for pace bowlers when a yorker lands precisely at the base of the stumps (a full-length ball aimed at the batter's feet), or for spin bowlers when the ball beats the bat by turning sharply to take the stumps.
Example
The off-spinner pitches the ball on middle stump; it turns sharply past the outside edge and clips the top of off stump — the batter is clean bowled, the bail spinning in the air.
Why it matters
A bowled dismissal reveals a fundamental gap in batting technique — the bat missed where the stumps are. SwingVantage's cricket analysis (in development) will map the path of balls that produce bowled dismissals to identify the specific technical lapses that leave the stumps exposed.
Related terms
- StumpsStumps are the three upright wooden posts — off stump, middle stump, and leg stump — that form each wicket in cricket, topped by two small bails that fall if the ball strikes them.
- WicketIn cricket, a wicket refers both to the set of three stumps and two bails at each end of the pitch, and to the act of dismissing a batter — "taking a wicket" means getting a batter out.
- LBW (Leg Before Wicket)LBW is a way of being out: if the ball would have hit the stumps but the batter’s pad (leg) intercepts it first — under specific conditions — the umpire can rule them leg before wicket.
- YorkerA yorker is a delivery bowled to pitch right at the batter’s feet, under the swinging bat — one of the hardest balls to score off and a key death-overs weapon.
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