A dead ball is a state of the ball at which it is not in play and the batsmen may not run for scores and the fielders may not attempt to get batsmen out. The ball becomes dead when it is collected by the wicketkeeper or fielder and the bowler prepares to bowl the next ball or the ball gets trapped between the garments or the pads of the batsman. Also as soon as one batsman is declared out the ball is dead and cannot be used to get the other batsman out like in the case of double play in baseball.