LBW stands for "Leg Before Wicket" and is related to the sport of cricket. It is one of the ten ways in which a batsman can be dismissed in a cricket match. The umpire may rule a batsman out LBW if the ball hits the batsmans leg or pad and the ball would have gone on to hit the wicket if the leg or pad was not there. The LBW rules are furnished under Law 36 of the Marylebone Cricket Club’s (MCC) Laws of Cricket, which governs the rules of the game. The earliest known version of Laws of Cricket, dating back to 1744, however, doesn’t have any mention of LBW directly.