No balls and Wides
MCC · 2017 Code · 4th edition · 2026Illegal or unreachable deliveries, one-run extras, replacement balls and the dismissals that remain possible.
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Law 21 — Fair deliveryLaw 21 — Other No ballsLaws 21–22 — Effects of the callsLaw 22 — Judging a WideLaw 21 — Fair delivery
The bowler must tell the umpire their bowling hand and whether they bowl over or round the wicket, including a change. Underarm bowling needs special agreement before the match. A delivery must not be thrown: after the arm reaches shoulder level, the elbow must not straighten before release, although wrist movement is permitted.
In the delivery stride, the back foot must land inside and not touching the relevant return crease. Some part of the front foot, raised or grounded, must be behind the popping crease and on the correct side of the imaginary line joining the middle stumps. A breach is a No ball. Throwing or unauthorised underarm bowling brings a first and final warning; repetition by that bowler in the innings brings suspension from bowling for the rest of that innings.
Law 21 — Other No balls
A delivery is a No ball if, before touching the striker, it bounces more than once or rolls before the popping crease, or first lands or subsequently bounces even partly off the pitch before the striker’s wicket. A ball stopping in front of that wicket, or so far away that the striker must leave the pitch to play it, is No ball followed immediately by Dead ball.
Other triggers include the bowler breaking their wicket within the specified delivery period, premature contact by a fielder, illegal wicket-keeper or fielding positions and dangerous bowling under Law 41. Particular Dead ball events revoke a No ball; distraction normally does too, except for a No ball caused by the bowler breaking the wicket.
Laws 21–22 — Effects of the calls
A No ball or Wide gives the batting side 1 extra run and does not count in the over. Neither call alone makes the ball dead. Additional runs and penalties can still accrue, and No ball overrides Wide. The MCC provisions here do not automatically add a free hit to the next delivery.
From a No ball, dismissal is possible only through Hit the ball twice, Obstructing the field or Run out. From a Wide, the possible dismissals are Hit wicket, Obstructing the field, Run out and Stumped. Other requirements of the dismissal still have to be satisfied.
Law 22 — Judging a Wide
A Wide is beyond a normal cricket stroke from both the striker’s relevant position after the ball came into play and a normal batting position. Moving away cannot manufacture a Wide, and moving within reach can prevent one. A bounced delivery passing above the head of the striker standing upright at the popping crease is also a Wide, unless a No ball rule takes precedence.
The umpire calls Wide after the ball passes the striker’s wicket. It is revoked for contact with the striker’s bat or person before contact with a fielder, or if No ball is called. All running or boundary runs from a Wide, together with its one-run penalty, are recorded as Wides and charged to the bowler; separate 5-run penalties remain separate.
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