High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! In the sport of cricket, leg before wicket (LBW) is one of the ways in which a batsman can be dismissed. An umpire will rule a batsman out LBW under a series of circumstances which primarily include the ball striking the batsman`s body (usually the leg) when it would otherwise have continued on to hit the batsman`s wicket (here referring to the stumps and bails). The LBW rule is designed to prevent a batsman simply using his body to prevent the ball from hitting the wicket (and so avoid being bowled out) rather than using his bat to do so.