Hit the ball twice, or "double-hit", is a method of dismissal in the sport of cricket. It is exceptionally rare at all levels of the game. The law was codified at the very latest by 1744 and had likely been introduced earlier than that due to injuries and deaths occurring from double hit attempts in the 1600s and 1700s. The law prohibits a batter from making a second clear attempt to hit the ball after it has hit their bat or their person.
Law 34.1 of the Laws of Cricket states:[1]
34.1 Out Hit the ball twiceA player can hit the ball twice in order to prevent it from hitting his/her stumps but not with a hand that is not in contact with the bat and not if doing so prevents a catch being taken (in which case they would be out obstructing the field). The bowler does not get credit for the wicket.
34.1.1 The striker is out Hit the ball twice if, while the ball is in play, it strikes any part of his/her person or is struck by his/her bat and, before the ball has been touched by a fielder, the striker wilfully strikes it again with his/her bat or person, other than a hand not holding the bat, except for the sole purpose of guarding his/her wicket.
34.1.2 For the purpose of this Law ‘struck’ or ‘strike’ shall include contact with the person of the striker.
For the sole purpose of guarding his/her wicket means that a player who hits the ball twice to protect his wicket, without obstructing the field, can then be given out on appeal if they then decide to attempt to score a run. A lawfully struck second hit can be caught for a dismissal if hit into the air, or become a run-out dismissal, but otherwise the play becomes a dead ball with no runs scored and the batsmen returned to their original ends upon the ball hitting the boundary or when the batsmen complete one run. No balls and penalty runs can still be scored with the exception that no penalty runs will be awarded for the batsman's second hit striking a helmet left on the playing surface by the fielding side.
Cricket is often considered to be a rather gentle pastime but it has a history of extreme violence. In the early days before the modern rules had universal effect batsmen could go to almost any lengths to avoid being out. They could obstruct the fielders and they could hit the ball as many times as necessary to preserve their wicket. This had fatal consequences on more than one occasion and strict rules were gradually introduced to prevent the batsman from physically attacking the fielders, to keep them at their crease, and only allowing one attempt to hit the ball even if they missed it with the bat the first time.
In 1622, several parishioners of Boxgrove, near Chichester in West Sussex, were prosecuted for playing cricket in a churchyard on Sunday 5 May. There were three reasons for the prosecution: one was that it contravened a local by-law; another reflected concern about church windows which may or may not have been broken; the third was that "a little childe had like to have her braines beaten out with a cricket batt".[2]
The latter situation was because the rules at the time allowed the batsman to hit the ball more than once and so fielding near the batsman was very hazardous, as two later incidents confirm.
In 1624, a fatality occurred at Horsted Keynes in East Sussex when a fielder called Jasper Vinall was struck on the head by the batsman, Edward Tye, who was trying to hit the ball a second time to avoid being caught. Vinall is thus the earliest known cricketing fatality. The matter was recorded in a coroner's court, which returned a verdict of misadventure.[2]
In 1647, another fatality was recorded at Selsey, West Sussex, when a fielder called Henry Brand was hit on the head by a batsman trying to hit the ball a second time.[2]
It is not known when the rules were changed to outlaw striking for the ball a second time or when the offence of obstructing the field was introduced, but both those rules were clearly stated in the 1744 codification of the Laws of Cricket, which were drawn up by the London Cricket Club and are believed to be based on a much earlier code that has been lost.[2]
The first definite record of a batsman being dismissed for hitting the ball twice occurred in the Hampshire v Kent match at Windmill Down on 13–15 July 1786. Tom Sueter of Hampshire, who had scored 3, was the player in question, as recorded in Scores and Biographies.[3]
This method of dismissal is the second rarest after timed out, recorded on 23 occasions in first-class cricket and twice in List A cricket.[4] [5]
The last incident of the dismissal in English cricket occurred in 1906 when John King, playing for Leicestershire against Surrey at The Oval tried to score a run after playing the ball twice to avoid getting bowled. Had he not tried to score a run, he would not have been out.[6] [7]
Kurt Wilkinson was dismissed in this manner when playing for Barbados against Rest of Leeward Islands in the 2002–03 Red Stripe Bowl. The dismissal was controversial as there was doubt as to whether Wilkinson had "wilfully" struck the ball twice as required under the relevant law of cricket.[8]
The only occurrence of this dismissal in international cricket was when Malta's Fanyan Mughal got out against Romania in the 2023 Men's Continental Cup on 20 August 2023.[9] Mughal missed a pull shot, causing the ball to hit him and land nearby on the ground. He then knocked the ball away with his bat — moving it away from the wicket-keeper, who was running in to collect the ball in order to attempt a run-out of the non-striker who was well out of his crease. Because of this, Romania appealed and Mughal was given out by the umpires.