Editing Leg before wicket (section)

===Playing no stroke===
In the 1950s and 1960s, the amount of pad-play increased, owing to more difficult and unpredictable pitches that made batting much harder. Critics continued to regard this tactic as "negative and unfair".<ref name=notes70>{{Cite web| last = Preston | first = Norman| url =http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/story/152418.html| title = Notes by the Editor | work = Wisden Cricketers' Almanack  | year = 1970 | publisher = John Wisden & Co., reproduced by ESPNCricinfo |access-date = 6 March 2012}}</ref> In an effort to discourage pad-play and encourage [[leg spin]] bowling, a new variant of the lbw law was introduced, initially in Australia and the West Indies in the 1969–70 season, then in England for 1970. Under the re-worded law, a batter would be lbw if a ball destined to hit the stumps pitched in line with the wickets or "outside a batter's off stump and in the opinion of the umpire he made no genuine attempt to play the ball with his bat".<ref name=notes70/> This revision omitted the requirement that the impact should be in line with the wickets,<ref name=notes70/> but meant that any batter playing a shot could not be out if the ball pitched outside off stump, in contrast to the 1935 law.<ref>Miller, p. 2.</ref> The editor of ''Wisden'' believed the change encouraged batters to take more risks, and had produced more attractive cricket.<ref name=notes71>{{Cite web| last = Preston | first = Norman| url =http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/story/152437.html| title = Notes by the Editor | work = Wisden Cricketers' Almanack  | year = 1971 | publisher = John Wisden & Co., reproduced by ESPNCricinfo |access-date = 6 March 2012}}</ref> However, the proportion of wickets falling lbw sharply declined,<ref name=M3>Miller, p. 3.</ref> and concerns were expressed in Australia.<ref name=notes71/> The Australian authorities proposed a reversion to the previous law. A batter could once more be out to a ball that pitched outside off stump, but a provision was added that "if no stroke is offered to a ball pitching outside the off-stump which in the opinion of the umpire would hit the stumps, but hits the batter on any part of his person other than the hand, then the batter is out, even if that part of the person hit is not in line between wicket and wicket".<ref name=notes71/> The difference to the 1935 rule was that the batter could now be out even if the ball struck outside the line of off-stump.<ref name=notes71/> This wording was adopted throughout the world from 1972, although it was not yet part of the official Laws, and the percentage of lbws sharply increased to beyond the levels preceding the 1970 change.<ref>Miller, pp. 2–3.</ref> The MCC added the revised wording to the Laws of Cricket in 1980;<ref name="www.espncricinfo.com 154185">{{Cite web| last = Preston | first = Norman| url = http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/story/154185.html|title = Notes by the Editor | work = Wisden Cricketers' Almanack  | year = 1980 | publisher = John Wisden & Co., reproduced by ESPNCricinfo |access-date = 6 March 2012}}</ref> this version of the lbw law is still used as of 2013.<ref name="lbw law"/>