Cricket Bye and Leg Bye Explained
What is a bye and leg bye in cricket? Understand how these extras are scored, recorded in the scorecard, and differ from wides and no-balls.
What Is a Bye?
A bye is a run scored when the ball passes the batter without touching the bat or any part of the batter's body, and the wicketkeeper fails to collect it — allowing batters to run. Byes are added to the team's total as extras but are not credited to the batter's individual score or the bowler's figures.
What Is a Leg Bye?
A leg bye is scored when the ball hits any part of the batter's body (other than the hand holding the bat) and the batters run. The batter must have been attempting to play a shot or be trying to avoid the ball. Leg byes are also extras — credited to the team total, not the batter.
Conditions for a Leg Bye
Leg byes are not awarded if the batter made no attempt to play the ball and was not trying to avoid it — the umpire signals dead ball in this case. This prevents batters from deliberately padding deliveries and running easy runs. However, if the ball hits the body of a batter who is genuinely playing a stroke, leg byes are awarded.
How Byes and Leg Byes Appear in Scorecards
In scorecards, extras are listed in a row below the batting list as: b (byes) + lb (leg byes) + w (wides) + nb (no-balls) + p (penalties). A total extras line shows the sum. Byes reflect poorly on the wicketkeeper; leg byes are simply a consequence of ball-body contact.
Boundary Byes and Leg Byes
If a bye or leg bye reaches the boundary without being fielded, four extras are awarded (no five-run penalty — only six runs are added when the ball hits a fielder's equipment or clothing at the boundary). Four byes to the fence on a missed wide leg delivery is one of the most frustrating moments for a wicketkeeper.
Frequently asked questions
Are byes counted in the bowler's figures?
No. Byes are not counted against the bowler's economy rate or runs conceded. They are debited to the wicketkeeper. Only runs hit off the bat, no-balls, and wides count in the bowler's figures.
What is the difference between a bye and a wide?
A wide is a delivery that passes too far from the batter to be reached — the umpire signals wide and a penalty run is added even without running. A bye is a normal delivery that the batter misses (or leaves) and the keeper also misses, allowing runs to be taken by physical running.
Do leg byes affect the over being a maiden?
No. Because leg byes are not charged to the bowler, they do not prevent an over from being called a maiden. An over with one leg bye but no runs off the bat and no wides or no-balls is still a maiden.