Bye & leg bye
Byes are runs taken when the ball passes the batter without touching bat or body. Leg byes are runs taken after the ball hits the batter's body.
What you need to know
- Byes and leg byes are extras: they count for the team, not the batter, and aren't charged to the bowler.
- Leg byes only count if the batter was trying to play the ball with the bat, or trying to get out of its way.
- If the batter made no attempt to play or avoid the ball, the umpire won't allow runs from it.
- A bye or leg bye that reaches the boundary is worth 4.
Examples
Specific situations
The ball hits the batter and goes to the boundary
It's 4 leg byes — but only if the batter tried to play the ball with the bat, or tried to get out of its way. If they did neither, no runs are scored at all.
- When a delivery first hits the striker's body, runs count only if the striker attempted to play it with the bat or tried to avoid being hit (Law 23.2.1).
- If so, a boundary allowance is scored as leg byes (Law 23.2.3) — or credited to the striker if the ball then touched the bat (Law 23.2.2.1).
- If neither, the umpire waits until the ball reaches the boundary, then calls dead ball and disallows everything (Law 23.3).
Source: MCC Law 23 · MCC Law 19
The ball hits the batter and they run
The runs count as leg byes — if the batter tried to play the ball or tried to get out of its way. If they did neither, the umpire disallows the runs once the first run is completed.
- Runs off the body count only if the striker attempted a shot or tried to avoid the ball (Law 23.2.1); they are scored as leg byes (Law 23.2.3).
- Otherwise the umpire delays the dead-ball call until the first run is completed, then disallows all runs and sends the batters back (Law 23.3).
Source: MCC Law 23
The ball beats the keeper and goes to the boundary
4 byes. They're added to the score as extras — not the batter's runs, and not charged to the bowler.
- A delivery that passes the striker without touching bat or body gives byes for runs or a boundary (Law 23.1).
- A ball that reaches the boundary after bouncing, or without being hit by the bat, is a boundary 4 (Law 19.7.2).
Source: MCC Law 23 · MCC Law 19
Official source
The Laws of Cricket, 2017 Code 4th Edition (2026). Summary in Inswing's own words — follow the link for the official text.
Related: Scoring runs · Boundaries