A no ball is an illegal delivery. There are several instances when it is called. These are the following: - A bowler bowls without some part of his/her front foot behind the crease
- A bowler bowls with his/her back foot not entirely inside the crease.
- A bowler throws the ball instead of bowling it.
- A bowler bowls underarm (unless it is agreed that this is allowed).
- A bowler changes which arm they are bowling with without notifying the umpire.
- A bowler bowls on the opposite side of the wicket without notifying the umpire.
- A bowler throws the ball towards the striker's wicket before starting his/her delivery stride.
- A bowler bowls a ball that does not bounce and is at a certain height. For a fast bowler this height is the batsman's waist, for a slow bowler their shoulder.
- A bowler bowls a ball that bounces twice (or rolls) before reaching the striker's crease.
- A bowler bowls a ball that stops before the striker's crease.
- No balls can also be awarded for balling too many bouncers (a ball that bounces above the batsman on strike's shoulder). The limit on amount and frequency, vary on the competition.
- A wicket keeper moves in front of the wicket before the ball has passed that wicker, or has been hit by the batsman (by bat or person).
- If a fielder goes onto the pitch before the ball passes the batsman's wicket or has been hit by the batsman.
- If there are more than two fielders (excluding wicket keeper) behind the batsman's crease on the leg side, when the delivery is made.
- There are other fielding restrictions in one day cricket that may invoke a no ball.
Once a no ball has been delivered a penalty number of runs are awarded to the batting team. The number of runs vary depending on the competition. For tests and one day internationals, one run is awarded. In some one day competitions the award is two runs. These runs are added to the teams total but not the batsman's total. No balls are a negative statistic on the bowlers record. It counts as a ball faced by the batsman.
If a batsman hits the ball he/she can score runs as normal in addition to the penalty. Should the batsman not hit the ball he/she can still run but they are scored as no ball extras. So they are added to the teams total and not to the batsman's total. A batsman can attempt a more ambitious shot off a no ball. As a batsman may not be given out bowled, leg before wicket, caught, stumped, or hit wicket off it. In some one day competitions these exceptions apply to the next ball as well. |
