 To address the problem , and <unk> the balance for bowlers , the MCC made some alterations to the laws . The size of the ball was reduced in 1927 , and that of the stumps increased in 1931 , but the changes had little effect . Between 1929 and 1933 , county authorities conducted a trial in which a batsman could be lbw if he had hit the ball onto his pads . Then , in 1935 , an experimental law was introduced in which the batsman could be dismissed lbw even if the ball pitched outside the line of off stump — in other words , a ball that turned or swung into the batsman but did not pitch in line with the wickets . However , the ball was still required to strike the batsman in line with the wickets . The umpire signalled to the scorers when he declared a batsman out under the new rule , and any such dismissal was designated " lbw ( n ) " on the <unk> . 
