# List of unusual dismissals in international cricket

In cricket, a player is dismissed when they lose their wicket. At this point, the batsman must discontinue batting and leave the field permanently. A batsman can be dismissed in a number of ways, the most common being bowled, caught, leg before wicket (LBW), stumped, run out and hit wicket. Much rarer are hit the ball twice, obstructing the field, retired out and timed out. These are regarded by analysts as unusual ways of dismissals in cricket, where the bowler is denied any credit. Handled the ball was a previously a separate method of dismissal, now incorporated into obstructing the field. As of November 2024, there have been 33 instances of players being dismissed unusually in international cricket: 10 in Test cricket, 17 in One Day Internationals (ODIs), four in Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) and two in Women's One Day International cricket.

## Test cricket

In Tests, England batsman Leonard Hutton was the first player to be dismissed for obstructing the field, while playing against South Africa in August 1951. Between January 1957 and March 2001, six different players were dismissed for handling the ball, the most common form of an unusual dismissal. Sri Lanka cricketers Marvan Atapattu and Mahela Jayawardene are the only Test players to be dismissed retired out, when playing against Bangladesh in 2001. Sri Lanka's captain, Sanath Jayasuriya, received strong criticism for the team's act.
Russell Endean, the South African wicketkeeper, was involved in both of the first two unusual dismissials. First came his involvement in Len Hutton's "obstructing the field" dismissal: Endean was prevented from attempting a catch, when Hutton used his bat to prevent the ball landing on his stumps after he had edged it up in the air. (Guarding his stumps being the only circumstance in which a ball can legally be hit twice: so Hutton came close to that form of dismissal too, if the umpire had ruled that the ball was not in fact headed towards the wicket.) Six years later, in similar circumstances after edging the ball up in the air and seeing it drop towards his stumps, Endean used his free hand instead of his bat to intercept the ball, and was given out "handled ball". The second "handled ball" dismissal was more unfortunate: Andrew Hilditch, at the non-striker's end, picked up the stationary ball to hand it back to a fielder, the only instance of a non-striker suffering this dismissal. All subsequent instances of "handled the ball" have been more similar to Endean's, with a batsman using his free hand to guard his stumps.
In December 2023, Mushfiqur Rahim became the first person in test cricket to be dismissed for obstructing the field since the rule for handling the ball was subsumed into this law in October 2017.
| No. | Player | Dismissal | Runs | Team | Opposition | Venue | Match | Date | Result |
| 1 | Leonard Hutton | Obstructing the field | 27 | England | South Africa | The Oval, London, England | 5th Test | 16 August 1951 | Won |
| 2 | Russell Endean | Handled the ball | 3 | South Africa | England | Newlands Cricket Ground, Cape Town, South Africa | 2nd Test | 1 January 1957 | Lost |
| 3 | Andrew Hilditch | Handled the ball | 29 | Australia | Pakistan | W.A.C.A. Ground, Perth, Australia | 2nd Test | 24 March 1979 | Won |
| 4 | Mohsin Khan | Handled the ball | 58 | Pakistan | Australia | National Stadium, Karachi, Pakistan | 1st Test | 22 September 1982 | Won |
| 5 | Desmond Haynes | Handled the ball | 55 | West Indies | India | Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, India | 4th Test | 24 November 1983 | Drawn |
| 6 | Graham Gooch | Handled the ball | 133 | England | Australia | Old Trafford Cricket Ground, Manchester, England | 1st Test | 3 June 1993 | Lost |
| 7 | Steve Waugh | Handled the ball | 47 | Australia | India | M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai, India | 3rd Test | 18 March 2001 | Lost |
| 8 | Marvan Atapattu | Retired out | 201 | Sri Lanka | Bangladesh | Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo, Sri Lanka | 2nd Test | 6 September 2001 | Won |
| 9 | Mahela Jayawardene | Retired out | 150 | Sri Lanka | Bangladesh | Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo, Sri Lanka | 2nd Test | 6 September 2001 | Won |
| 10 | Michael Vaughan | Handled the ball | 64 | England | India | M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore, India | 3rd Test | 19 December 2001 | Drawn |
| 11 | Mushfiqur Rahim | Obstructing the field | 35 | Bangladesh | New Zealand | Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur, Bangladesh | 2nd Test | 6 December 2023 | Lost |

## Men's One Day International cricket

In men's ODIs, eleven players have been dismissed on twelve occasions in an unusual manner. The first such occasion was when India's Mohinder Amarnath was given out for handling the ball, against Australia in February 1986. The following year, Pakistan cricketer Rameez Raja became the first player to be given out for obstructing the field in ODIs: with the match lost, but himself on a score of 98, he attempted two runs off the final ball and used his bat to deliberately block a run-out attempt when going for the second run that would have got him a century. In 1989, Amarnath was dismissed in a similar fashion, kicking the ball away to prevent a run-out attempt, while playing in a match against Sri Lanka, thus becoming the first player to be dismissed by two different unusual methods. Obstructing the field has been the most common method of unusual dismissal in men's ODIs, happening on eight of the twelve occasions.
Sri Lanka's Angelo Mathews became the first person to be dismissed Timed out in international cricket during a group stage match against Bangladesh in the 2023 Cricket World Cup.
| No. | Player | Dismissal | Runs | Team | Opposition | Venue | Match | Date | Result |
| 1 | Mohinder Amarnath | Handled the ball | 15 | India | Australia | Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Australia | 2nd Final | 9 February 1986 | Lost |
| 2 | Rameez Raja | Obstructing the field | 99 | Pakistan | England | National Stadium, Karachi, Pakistan | 2nd ODI | 20 November 1987 | Lost |
| 3 | Mohinder Amarnath | Obstructing the field | 28 | India | Sri Lanka | Gujarat Stadium, Ahmedabad, India | ODI | 22 October 1989 | Won |
| 4 | Daryll Cullinan | Handled the ball | 46 | South Africa | West Indies | Kingsmead Cricket Ground, Durban, South Africa | 3rd ODI | 27 January 1999 | Won |
| 5 | Inzamam ul-Haq | Obstructing the field | 16 | Pakistan | India | Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar, Pakistan | 1st ODI | 6 February 2006 | Won |
| 6 | Mohammed Hafeez | Obstructing the field | 0 | Pakistan | South Africa | Kingsmead Cricket Ground, Durban, South Africa | 4th ODI | 21 March 2013 | Won |
| 7 | Anwar Ali | Obstructing the field | 0 | Pakistan | South Africa | St George's Park, Port Elizabeth, South Africa | 2nd ODI | 27 November 2013 | Won |
| 8 | Ben Stokes | Obstructing the field | 10 | England | Australia | Lord's, London, England | 2nd ODI | 5 September 2015 | Lost |
| 9 | Chamu Chibhabha | Handled the ball | 18 | Zimbabwe | Afghanistan | Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe | 3rd ODI | 20 October 2015 | Won |
| 10 | Xavier Marshall | Obstructing the field | 34 | United States | United Arab Emirates | Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah, UAE | ODI | 8 December 2019 | Won |
| 11 | Danushka Gunathilaka | Obstructing the field | 55 | Sri Lanka | West Indies | Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua, Antigua and Barbuda | 1st ODI | 10 March 2021 | Lost |
| 12 | Angelo Mathews | Timed out | 0 | Sri Lanka | Bangladesh | Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi, India | World Cup | 6 November 2023 | Lost |

## T20I cricket

The first instance of an unusual dismissal in T20Is occurred in June 2017, when England's Jason Roy was given out obstructing the field in a match against South Africa.
The T20I between Ghana and Sierra Leone on 17 December 2023 is notable for featuring two separate unusual dismissals. First, Sierra Leone's Abass Gbla made intentional contact with Ghana's Godfred Bakiweyem while Bakiweyem was attempting to run Gbla out, resulting in Gbla being given out obstructing the field. Later, Bakiweyem himself failed to be ready to receive the next ball in the stipulated time following the dismissal of Samson Awiah and was given out timed out.
| No. | Player | Dismissal | Runs | Team | Opposition | Venue | Match | Date | Result |
| 1 | Jason Roy | Obstructing the field | 67 | England | South Africa | County Ground, Taunton, England | T20I | 23 June 2017 | Lost |
| 2 | Hassan Rasheed | Obstructing the field | 16 | Maldives | Qatar | Al Amerat Cricket Stadium, Muscat, Oman | T20I | 23 January 2019 | Lost |
| 3 | Sonam Tobgay | Retired out | 24 | Bhutan | Maldives | TU Cricket Ground, Kirtipur, Nepal | T20I | 7 December 2019 | Lost |
| 4 | Razmal Shigiwal | Obstructing the field | 10 | Austria | Czech Republic | Vinoř Cricket Ground, Prague, Czech Republic | T20I | 10 July 2022 | Lost |
| 5 | Hevit Jackson | Retired out | 38 | France | Czech Republic | Kerava National Cricket Ground, Kerava, Finland | T20I | 24 July 2022 | Won |
| 6 | Hevit Jackson | Retired out | 50 | France | Estonia | Kerava National Cricket Ground, Kerava, Finland | T20I | 30 July 2022 | Won |
| 7 | Mustapha Suwareh | Retired out | 3 | Gambia | Ghana | Rwanda Cricket Stadium, Kigali, Rwanda | T20I | 8 December 2022 | Lost |
| 8 | Fanyan Mughal | Hit the ball twice | 8 | Malta | Romania | Moara Vlasiei Cricket Ground, Moara Vlasiei, Romania | T20I | 20 August 2023 | Lost |
| 9 | Abass Gbla | Obstructing the field | 8 | Sierra Leone | Ghana | Willowmoore Park, Benoni, South Africa | T20I | 17 December 2023 | Lost |
| 10 | Godfred Bakiweyem | Timed out | - | Ghana | Sierra Leone | Willowmoore Park, Benoni, South Africa | T20I | 17 December 2023 | Won |
| 11 | Niko Davin | Retired out | 18 | Namibia | England | Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound, Antigua | T20I | 15 June 2024 | Lost |
| 12 | Christodoulos Bogdanos | Retired out | 25 | Greece | Cyprus | King George V Sports Ground, Castel, Guernsey | T20I | 24 August 2024 | Lost |
| 13 | Mohamed Azzam | Obstructing the field | 11 | Maldives | Bhutan | Gelephu International Cricket Ground, Gelephu, Bhutan | T20I | 23 October 2024 | Won |
| 14 | Htet Lin Oo | Obstructing the field | 1 | Myanmar | Indonesia | Udayana Cricket Ground, Jimbaran, Indonesia | T20I | 16 November 2024 | Lost |
| 15 | Ali Naseer | Retired out | 6 | United Arab Emirates | Saudi Arabia | West End Park International Cricket Stadium, Doha, Qatar | T20I | 20 November 2024 | Lost |
| 16 | Vinoo Balakrishnan | Retired out | 101 | Botswana | Eswatini | Nigeria Cricket Federation Oval 1, Abuja, Nigeria | T20I | 23 November 2024 | Lost |
| 17 | Selim Salau | Retired out | 112 | Nigeria | Ivory Coast | Nigeria Cricket Federation Oval 1, Abuja, Nigeria | T20I | 24 November 2024 | Lost |

## Women's ODI cricket

In international women's cricket, there have been two instances of unusual dismissals: the first came in an ODI match between Sri Lanka and the West Indies in April 2010. Sri Lanka wicket-keeper Dilani Manodara was retired out due to her slow scoring rate in her team's first innings, having taken 70 minutes and 39 balls to score 8 runs. The most recent instance of an unusual dismissal happened when India's Thirush Kamini was given out for obstructing the field in a match against West Indies in 2016.
| No. | Player | Dismissal | Runs | Team | Opposition | Venue | Match | Date | Result |
| 1 | Dilani Manodara | Retired out | 8 | Sri Lanka | West Indies | St Paul's Sporting Complex, St Paul's, St Kitts and Nevis | 1st ODI | 18 April 2010 | Lost |
| 2 | Thirush Kamini | Obstructing the field | 2 | India | West Indies | Mulupadu Cricket Ground, Vijayawada, India | 2nd ODI | 13 November 2016 | Won |