Wide ball
A wide is a delivery the batter can't reach with a normal cricket shot. The batting side gets 1 run and the ball is bowled again.
What you need to know
- The umpire judges it against where the striker is standing — and where they have stood since the ball came into play — as well as a normal batting position.
- A ball that passes, or would have passed, over the head of a batter standing upright is also a wide.
- The 1-run penalty is added straight away and stays even if a batter is then out.
- Any runs the batters run, or a boundary, are added — and all of them are scored as wides, charged to the bowler.
- A wide doesn't count as one of the 6 balls of the over.
- Off a wide a batter can only be out Hit wicket, Obstructing the field, Run out, or Stumped — never bowled, caught or LBW.
Examples
Specific situations
A wide on a free hit
The free hit carries over. If the free-hit ball is a wide (or a no-ball), the next ball is a free hit as well.
- ICC 21.19.1: if the free-hit delivery is not a legitimate delivery, the next delivery becomes a free hit.
- On the wide itself you still can't be stumped — the free-hit protection applies even if it is called wide (ICC 21.19.2).
- The wide's 1-run penalty is added as normal (Law 22.6).
Not a Law: Free hits are an ICC playing condition, not an MCC Law. In a local match there is a free hit only if the organizer says so; without one, the ball after a no-ball is an ordinary delivery.
Source: ICC T20I clause 21.19 · MCC Law 22
Run out off a wide
Yes — you can be run out off a wide. The 1-run penalty and any runs completed before the run out are all scored as wides.
- Off a wide, a batter can only be out hit wicket, obstructing the field, run out or stumped (Law 22.9).
- All runs completed off a wide, plus the penalty, are scored as wides and charged to the bowler (Law 22.7).
- The run in progress when the wicket is broken doesn't count (Law 38.5).
Source: MCC Law 22 · MCC Law 38
Bowled, caught or LBW off a wide
No. You can't be bowled, caught or LBW off a wide.
- Off a wide, a batter can only be out hit wicket, obstructing the field, run out or stumped (Law 22.9).
- A ball that touches your bat or body as it passes you isn't a wide in the first place (Law 22.4.2) — so if it did, the umpire judges the dismissal as on any other ball.
Source: MCC Law 22
Running on a wide
Every run counts — all as wides. A wide where the batters run 3 is 4 wides (1 penalty + 3 runs), all charged to the bowler, and the ball is bowled again.
- The ball isn't dead on a wide (Law 22.5); the 1-run penalty is added to any runs completed (Law 22.6).
- All of it is scored as wides and debited to the bowler (Law 22.7).
- A wide doesn't count as one of the over (Law 22.8).
Source: MCC Law 22
A wide that goes to the boundary
5 wides: the 1-run penalty plus 4 for the boundary, all scored as wides and charged to the bowler.
- On a wide, all runs and any boundary allowance are scored as wides together with the penalty (Law 22.7).
- A ball that wasn't hit by the bat and reaches the boundary is worth 4 (Law 19.7.2).
Source: MCC Law 22 · MCC Law 19
A ball that bounces over head height
Under the Laws it's a wide — any delivery that, after bouncing, passes over the head of the striker standing upright at the crease.
- Law 22.1.3.
- Repeated short balls that are dangerous or unfair are dealt with separately (Law 41.6).
Not a Law: Competitions often have their own short-ball rules (for example a limit on bouncers per over) — check your tournament's rules.
Source: MCC Law 22 · MCC Law 41
Official source
The Laws of Cricket, 2017 Code 4th Edition (2026). Summary in Inswing's own words — follow the link for the official text.