Index
LAW 23 CHANGES
Under the previous Law, any Byes or Leg byes which occurred off No balls, and indeed any Byes which occurred off Wides, were scored wholly as No ball extras or Wides, as appropriate
However there are several instances of No balls being called for offences that are not the bowler’s fault, so it was felt unfair to penalise the bowler in these situations when Byes or Leg byes occur
A change has therefore been made. When a No ball has been bowled, one run is recorded for the No ball, as a No ball extra; any other runs are scored either as runs to the striker (when the ball hits the bat) or as Byes or Leg byes, as appropriate. This is more logical and is easier for umpires to signal and for the scorers to record. This means that scorecards will reflect how many No balls a bowler has actually bowled, rather than the total number of No ball extras conceded by the bowler
Whilst the benefit of recording runs off a No ball in this way is widely appreciated, applying the same principle to a Wide ball was not felt to be appropriate. If a Wide delivery goes to the boundary, then it is more likely to be the bowler’s fault and so it will continue to be recorded as 5 Wides against the bowler
Under the previous Law, any Byes or Leg byes which occurred off No balls, and indeed any Byes which occurred off Wides, were scored wholly as No ball extras or Wides, as appropriate
However there are several instances of No balls being called for offences that are not the bowler’s fault, so it was felt unfair to penalise the bowler in these situations when Byes or Leg byes occur
A change has therefore been made. When a No ball has been bowled, one run is recorded for the No ball, as a No ball extra; any other runs are scored either as runs to the striker (when the ball hits the bat) or as Byes or Leg byes, as appropriate. This is more logical and is easier for umpires to signal and for the scorers to record. This means that scorecards will reflect how many No balls a bowler has actually bowled, rather than the total number of No ball extras conceded by the bowler
Whilst the benefit of recording runs off a No ball in this way is widely appreciated, applying the same principle to a Wide ball was not felt to be appropriate. If a Wide delivery goes to the boundary, then it is more likely to be the bowler’s fault and so it will continue to be recorded as 5 Wides against the bowler