Dead ball is a term in manyball sports in which the ball is deemed temporarily not playable, and no movement may be made with it. Depending on the sport, this event may be quite routine, or more uncommon.
Inbasketball, most or any time play is stopped the ball is considered dead, such as when a foul has been committed and called by a referee, a foul shot has been attempted and another one is yet to be attempted, or the ball has gone out of bounds. Player substitutions may then be made.Section IV of the NBA rule book contains the official definition of a dead ball.[1][2][3]
Inbaseball, when theball is dead, no runners may advance beyond the respective bases they are entitled to, and no runners may be put out. The ball becomes dead when:[4]
In general, the ball does not automatically become dead after playing action ends. So, for example, although the recording of a third out generally winds down a half inning, the ball is not automatically dead. If it is to the advantage of the defense to attempt to record afourth out for any reason, the ball is live and such a play is permitted.
After a dead ball, the ball becomesalive again when the pitcher stands on thepitcher's plate ready to pitch, the batter, catcher and umpire are ready, and the umpire calls or signals "Play."
Players and coaches may ask an umpire for "time", but they themselves may not call "time" and cause theball to become dead. Nevertheless, "time" is usually granted by the umpire when asked, and thus, colloquially, it is often said that players or coaches indeed can "call time". Unlike sports which have clocks to time the play, the phrase "time out" is not used in baseball. Likewise, there is no limit to the number of times a team can "call time".
In baseball, the term "dead ball" is also used in the context of thedead-ball era, a phase during the early history of the game in the early 1900s. In this context, the ball was not actually "dead" but for various reasons tended to be difficult to hit for distance, resulting in low scores and few home runs by modern standards.
The term "dead ball" has been a fundamental part of cricket's laws for centuries, though its formal introduction came in 1798. Before that, the concept existed implicitly in various [governing] the game. The 1798 law explicitly introduced "dead ball" when it imposed a penalty of five runs if a fielder stopped the ball with his hat. This rule reinforced fair play andprevented unfair advantages. Over time, the dead ball rule evolved to cover various stoppages in play, maintaining the integrity of the game.
"The words 'dead ball' were first used in the laws in 1798", in relation to a new law imposing a penalty of five runs if the fielder stopped the ball with his hat. "Before 1798 the words 'dead ball' were not used but the meaning was implicit in some of the other laws of the day."[8]
The ball, referring to thecricket ball, becomeslive when thebowler begins their run up in preparation tobowl at the batter. In the live state, play occurs with the batters able to score runs and get out.
The ball becomes dead when any of the following situations occur:
Umpires may also call dead ball at their discretion, in the case of a series for events for which there is no provision in either theLaws of Cricket or agreements made prior to the match. This happened on 9 October 2005, when Australian batterMichael Hussey hit the retracted roof at theTelstra Dome. What would have beensix in an open stadium was ruled a dead ball, and no runs were awarded.
Note that the ball becomes dead as soon as a batter is out, so it is not possible to dismiss the other batter immediately. Thus thebaseball concept of adouble play cannot occur in cricket.
If necessary to make it clear to the players and scorers that the umpire considers the ball to be dead, the umpire signalsdead ball by crossing and uncrossing his arms in front of his body.
Inassociation football (soccer), the term "dead ball" refers to a situation when the ball is not in play, e.g. when play has not been restarted after the ball has gone out of bounds or a foul has been committed. It also applies before each kick-off, either at the start of each half or after a goal has been scored. In a dead ball situation, players can position the ball with their hands prior to restarting play. Furthermore, even though the ball is not in play, the referee may still issue cautions or ejections (yellow or red cards) for any incident that occurs off the ball. Fouls, on the other hand, can occur only while the ball is in play.
Ingridiron football, a dead ball is a condition that occurs betweenplays. Due to rule differences between leagues, the specific conditions which trigger a dead ball vary slightly, howeverin general a dead ball typically occurs after any of the following events:
Depending on the league, there may be additional situations which trigger a dead ball. For example, in theCFL, the ball becomes dead if it makes contact with an official, while underNCAA rules, it does not.[12][11]
During the time in which the ball is dead, the offensive team may not attempt to advance it. The ball remains dead until it issnapped to begin the next play. The clock may or may not be stopped during this time, depending on the specific conditions triggering the dead ball.
Various rule changes over time have altered when a ball may become dead. For example, in theNFL, the ball used to become dead if it came into the possession of the defense for any reason during atry after a touchdown. This rule was changed before the2015 season, allowing the ball to remain live so that the defense could attempt to return it for a defensivetwo-point conversion.
Each end of a rugby league field has a dead ball line; when the ball (or player in possession) crosses or touches this line, the ball is said to have gone dead. This results in a goal line drop out if the defending team had caused the ball to go dead; otherwise, a 20-metre restart ensues.
A dead ball is declared in the game ofpickleball when any of the following occur; one of the players commits a fault, the ball hits apermanent object, or ahinder is declared. When a player commits a fault, the other side wins thepoint. If the ball strikes a permanent object, such as the net post, a referee, or fence, the ball is declared dead, but the point is awarded based on whether or not the ball bounced on the opposing side before hitting the permanent object. If the ball does not bounce on the opposing side's court before hitting the permanent object, the opposing side wins the point. If the ball bounces on the opposing side's court prior to hitting the permanent object, the side that last hit the ball wins the point. If a hindrance results in a dead ball, such as when a person, errant ball or other object enters the court, the serve is restarted with no penalty to either side.[13]
