who was trying to hit the ball a second time to avoid being caught. Vinall is thus the earliest known cricketing fatality. The matter was recorded in a coroner's court, which returned a verdict of misadventure. In 1647, another fatality was recorded at Selsey, West Sussex, when a fielder called Henry Brand was hit on the head by a batsman trying to hit the ball a second time. It is not known when the rules were changed to outlaw striking for the ball a second time or when the offence of obstructing the field was introduced, but both those rules were clearly stated in the 1744 codification of the Laws of Cricket, which were drawn up by the London Cricket Club and are believed to be based on a much earlier code that has been lost. The first definite record of a batsman being dismissed for hitting the ball twice occurred in the Hampshire v Kent match at Windmill Down on 13–15 July 1786. Tom Sueter of Hampshire, who had scored 3, was the player in question, as recorded in Scores and Biographies. Unusual dismissal An example of the dismissal occurred in 1906 when John King, playing for Leicestershire against Surrey at The Oval tried to score a run after playing the ball twice to avoid getting bowled. Had he not tried to score a run, he would not have been out. Based on the history of the game, this method of dismissal is the second rarest after timed out, recorded merely on twenty-one occasions, although in modern times timed out has become more common. One relatively recent example of a batsman being out "Hit the ball twice" was Kurt Wilkinson's dismissal when playing for Barbados against Rest of Leeward Islands in the 2002–03 Red Stripe Bowl. The dismissal was controversial as there was doubt as to whether Wilkinson had "wilfully" struck the ball twice as required under the relevant law of cricket. See also List of unusual dismissals in international cricket References External sources The official laws of cricket Cricket laws and regulations Cricket terminology