The law was codified at the very latest by 1744 and had likely been introduced earlier than that due to injuries and deaths occurring from double hit attempts in the 1600s and 1700s.
This had fatal consequences on more than one occasion and strict rules were gradually introduced to prevent the batsman from physically attacking the fielders, to keep them at their crease, and only allowing one attempt to hit the ball even if they missed it with the bat the first time.
There were three reasons for the prosecution: one was that it contravened a local by-law; another reflected concern about church windows which may or may not have been broken; the third was that "a little childe had like to have her braines beaten out with a cricket batt".
In 1624, a fatality occurred at Horsted Keynes in East Sussex when a fielder called Jasper Vinall was struck on the head by the batsman, Edward Tye, who was trying to hit the ball a second time to avoid being caught.
[2] 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.
[6][7] Kurt Wilkinson was dismissed in this manner when playing for Barbados against Rest of Leeward Islands in the 2002–03 Red Stripe Bowl.
[8] The only occurrence of this dismissal in international cricket was when Malta's Fanyan Mughal got out against Romania in the 2023 Men's Continental Cup on 20 August 2023.