Editing Fair and unfair play (section)

{{Short description|Law of the sport of cricket}}
{{EngvarB|date=October 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2017}}
{{More citations needed|date=October 2008}}

'''Law 41''' of the [[Laws of Cricket]] covers '''unfair play'''.<ref name=Law41>{{cite web |url=https://www.lords.org/mcc/laws-of-cricket/laws/law-41-unfair-play/ |title=Law 41 – Unfair play |publisher=MCC |access-date=29 September 2017}}</ref> This law has developed and expanded over time as various incidents of real life unfair play have been legislated against.

The first section of Law 41 makes clear that the [[captain (cricket)|captain]]s of the two teams have the responsibility for ensuring that play is conducted according to the [[Spirit of Cricket|spirit]] and traditions of the game, as well as within its Laws. This leads to a statement that the [[Umpire (cricket)|umpires]] are the sole judges of fair and unfair play. It contains an override of the Laws of Cricket: if either umpire considers an action that is not covered by the laws to be unfair, he can intervene and call the ball [[Dead ball (cricket)|dead]].

Fair and unfair play can also refer simply to conventions of the game that are often seen to conform with the [[Spirit of Cricket]].<ref>{{Cite news|date=2005-08-25|title=Fair and unfair play|language=en-GB|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/cricket/rules_and_equipment/4183306.stm|access-date=2020-09-09}}</ref>