sport Sport pertains to any form of Competition, competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and Skill, skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to specta ...

s, a line call occurs when there is doubt as to whether a specific and significant event took place, for example, whether the ball in

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

touched the line rather than landing outside the court. The phrase ''line call'' is more generally used to indicate any decision in which the correct course is uncertain. The official rules of most sports indicate how line calls are to be resolved. The actual phrase ''line call'' may or may not appear in the official rules.

Cricket

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

, uncertainty is generally resolved in the manner most favourable to the

batsman In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the cricket ball, ball with a cricket bat, bat to score runs (cricket), runs and prevent the dismissal (cricket), loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since Septembe ...

. Thus, if the umpires are not sure whether a dismissal actually occurred, the batsman is deemed not out. Similarly, if the umpires are unsure as to whether the bowler's action was legal for a particular delivery, a

no-ball In cricket, a no-ball is a type of illegal delivery to a batter (the other type being a wide). It is also a type of extra, being the run awarded to the batting team as a consequence of the illegal delivery. For most cricket games, especially ...

is called. Sports terminology {{sport-stub