Law 36 of the MCC's laws of cricket still has peoples' heads in a spin - exactly how does the lbw law work? To the uninitiated, the leg before wicket dismissal is to cricket what the offside law is to football. But the lbw law is not as complicated as some people may think. It is governed by certain principles which, once mastered, make the law simple to understand. And that is exactly what this guide will aim to do! The umpire will consider an lbw decision if he believes the ball would have hit the stumps had its path not been obstructed by the batsman's pads or body. But the umpire also has to take certain factors into consideration before making a decision. The three stumps There are three stumps that make up a wicket. They are the off stump, middle stump and leg stump. From a bowler's perspective, the off stump is to the left of middle stump. And the leg stump is to the right of middle stump. This is reversed for a left-handed batsman. Not out: Ball pitches outside