SRSport Rules
Cricket

Extras change the ball, the score, and the dismissal.

No-balls and wides are easy to hear but harder to score correctly. They add penalty runs, affect whether the delivery counts in the over, and change which dismissals remain available.

Quick ruling: a no-ball overrides a wide, both usually add one extra and do not count as a valid ball, and a free hit is a limited-overs playing-condition consequence rather than a base Law of Cricket rule.
Decision path

How the umpire checks it

  1. Check for no-ball first: front foot, back foot, delivery mode, height, fielding restrictions, and other unfair delivery issues.
  2. If it is not a no-ball, decide whether it is wide based on the striker's reach and the competition's wide guidance.
  3. Add the penalty run and any completed runs or boundary allowance.
  4. Decide whether the ball counts in the over. No-balls and wides normally do not.
  5. Apply the right dismissal list, because no-ball, wide, and free-hit deliveries restrict how the batter can be out.
No-balls

What usually triggers one

  • Foot fault: the bowler fails the front-foot or back-foot landing requirements.
  • Dangerous height: a delivery reaches the batter at an illegal height under the Laws or playing conditions.
  • Illegal delivery: throwing, underarm bowling without agreement, or failing to tell the umpire about a change in mode can produce a no-ball.
  • Fielding breach: too many fielders in a protected area can also create a no-ball under relevant playing conditions.
Wides

Why reach matters

A wide is not just a ball that misses the bat. The umpire asks whether it passed wide of where the striker stood and would also have passed wide of a normal batting position, beyond the reach of a normal cricket stroke. Limited-overs cricket often applies stricter guidance.

Free hits

What changes next ball

In many limited-overs formats, a no-ball gives the striker a free hit on the next delivery. The batter cannot be out in most ordinary ways on that ball, but run out, obstructing the field, and a few other dismissal routes can still apply.

Common argument

"It was a wide and a no-ball"

The no-ball call takes priority. If the same delivery could look wide as well, it is scored as a no-ball, not both. That matters for the scorebook, the over count, and any free-hit consequence.