Application of the LBW law

Crickey! Even the Australians are beginning to question umpire bias in favour of their own players. This article in the Sydney Morning Herald points out that over the past five years visting batsmen have been 58% more likely to be given out LBW than Australian batsmen. In that time LBW has been the mode of dismissal for 11.7% of Australians and 17% of visitors. John Buchanan can't chalk this one up to the fact that dirty foriegners appeal for everything while good. honest Aussies only appeal when someone is clearly out either - because Australians are strangely prone to being dismissed LBW as often as anyone else outside those sandy shores.

One interesting side to the SMH's analysis is that they have looked at the world for comparisons and found that umpires who visit New Zealand are prone to give locals out LBW far more often than anyone else - 20% of New Zealand batsmen are given out that way in New Zealand compared to 12.7% of visitors. How depressingly predictable.