Caught

Laws

This method of dismissal is covered by Law 33 of the Laws of Cricket, which reads: *The striker is out Caught if a ball delivered by the bowler, not being a No ball, touches his/her bat without having previously been in contact with any fielder, and is subsequently held by a fielder as a fair catch,..., before it touches the ground.*This means that the batsman cannot be out caught if:

• The ball is called a no-ball or dead ball.
• The batsman does not hit the ball with his bat or a gloved hand holding the bat.
• The ball, having been hit, makes contact with the field before a fielder catches the ball.
• The ball does not remain under the control of the fielder.
• The ball is hit and lands beyond or on the boundary; (six runs).
• A fielder taking the catch makes contact with the boundary rope or the area outside the boundary, with any part of his body, equipment, when touching the ball.
• An airborne fielder taking the catch, having not previously legally touched the ball, had his last contact with the ground not entirely within the boundary.

A catch is not completed until the fielder catching the ball obtains complete control over both the ball and his/her own movement (Law 33.3).

Note that if a batsman could be given out both caught and by another method, 'caught' takes precedence, unless the other method is bowled.

If a batsman is out caught, any runs scored off that delivery are voided.

If a batsman is caught, the bowler is credited with the batsman's wicket and the catching fielder is credited for the dismissal; there are no catch assists for saving boundaries before a catch, or deflecting the ball to a different fielder in the slips cordon. If the two batsmen cross each other, in attempting to take a run, before the catch was taken, the non-striking batsman at the time remains at the opposite end of the pitch as the new incoming batsman comes to the crease at his former end. This means, unless it is now a new over, he is now on strike and the incoming batsman is not.

Adjudication

If the catch taken is pronounced or obvious, the players need not appeal to the umpire; the batsman normally chooses to acknowledge the dismissal himself. However, if the ball brushes the edge of the bat, or the catch is taken very close to the ground, or the ball appears to have bounced off the batsman's foot (so it has not touched the ground), or the ball appearing to come off the bat very close to the pitch surface (bump ball), or if the batsman is reluctant to accept that he has been dismissed, then the fielding team has to appeal to the umpire for this decision. In international competition, if neither field umpire can clearly decide if a catch has been made or not, they may refer to the third (television) umpire for a review. The third umpire may also be used if the Umpire Decision Review System is available and a team wishes to dispute a call concerning a possible catch.

Celebration

Before 2000, the Laws of Cricket defined a catch as being completed when the player had "complete control over the further disposal of the ball". In the very strictest sense, this meant that the player did not finish catching the ball until he threw it away, though the player doesn't have to throw the ball to anyone in particular in so doing.

For this reason, even today many cricketers celebrate a catch by lobbing the ball into the air. In a Super Sixes match in the 1999 Cricket World Cup, South African Herschelle Gibbs caught Australian captain Steve Waugh on 56, but Waugh was given not out when Gibbs was ruled to not have control of the ball when attempting to throw the ball in celebration. Waugh went on to score a match-winning 120 not out to qualify his team for the semi-finals; Australia went on to win the tournament.

Records

Test matches

The wicket-keepers with the highest number of catches taken in Test matches are as follows. Note: this list excludes catches made while not fielding as a wicket-keeper.

Source: Cricinfo Statsguru. Last updated: 20 June 2024.

The non-wicket-keepers with the highest number of catches taken in Test matches are as follows. Note: this excludes any catches made while fielding as a wicket-keeper.

Source: Cricinfo Statsguru. Last updated: 8 January 2026.

One Day Internationals

T20 Internationals

First Class cricket

References

References

1. (26 August 2005). "Ways of getting out: Caught".
2. (13 December 2004). "Runs for Vaughan but England caught short".
3. "Analysing Test dismissals across the ages". espncricinfo.com.
4. "Most catches in career".
5. "Joe Root: England batter breaks world record for most Test catches".
6. "Law 33 - Caught".
7. "{% DocumentName %} Law {{!}} MCC".
8. "Law 32 (Caught)".
9. "Australia v South Africa".
10. "9th Super, ICC World Cup at Leeds, Jun 13 1999 - Match Summary - ESPNCricinfo".