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Boundary Catching
In cricket a catch is considered to be fair, if the fielder is within the field of play
and the ball hasn't touched the ground before he catches it. The fielder must have complete
control both over the ball and his own movement.
Can a batsman be caught over the boundary?
Well, this being cricket -- the answer is yes, and no.
If the fielder catches the ball like this, with part of his body grounded outside the
field of play...
Then the lucky old batsman is not only not out, but also scores a six!
However, if, in the same situation, the fielder had leapt for the ball from within the boundary,
but not from outside it, caught it whilst airborne over the boundary, but managed to
throw it up in the air before touching the ground, he can then step back into the field
of play to complete the catch.
It doesn`t matter if the fielder throws it to a team-mate, or to himself. In this scenario,
the same batsman who just scored six would in fact have been out!
As they frequently say, it's a funny old game....
For oodles more detail on this subject, take a look at laws 19.4 and 32.4 in MCC's : The
Laws of Cricket.