Byes and Leg Byes: Extras That Neither Batsman nor Bowler Caused
How byes and leg byes are scored in cricket — the difference between a bye (the ball passes the bat without touching the batsman) and a leg bye (the ball deflects off the batsman's body without touching the bat), the conditions under which leg byes are and are not allowed, how the wicket-keeper's role affects bye rates, and how byes and leg byes affect the bowling figures versus the team total.
Byes: When the Ball Beats Both Bat and Body
A bye is scored when the batsman plays a legitimate shot (or leaves the ball) and the delivery passes both the bat and the batsman's body without contact — the ball reaches the boundary or allows runs to be run without the batsman touching it at all. Byes are credited to the extras column of the batting side's score, not to the bowler's figures (they do not affect the bowler's economy rate or runs conceded — extras are tracked separately). However, byes do count toward the team's total score. The wicket-keeper is primarily responsible for preventing byes — a delivery that passes the bat and body should be gathered cleanly by the keeper. High bye counts per innings suggest the keeper is struggling with the bowling (perhaps with unusual swing, bounce, or turn that is also beating the bat).
Leg Byes: The Deflection Off the Body
A leg bye occurs when the ball deflects off the batsman's body (pad, thigh, hip, arm, helmet) without touching the bat, and the batsmen run or the ball reaches the boundary. Leg byes are recorded in the extras column like byes, but with an important condition: leg byes are only awarded if the batsman attempted to play a shot or was attempting to avoid the ball (i.e., genuinely ducking away from a bouncer). If the batsman deliberately uses their pad or body to deflect the ball (padding away without attempting a shot), the umpire signals 'no leg bye' and the runs from that delivery are not scored — even if the ball reaches the boundary. This law prevents batsmen from deliberately using their pads as an extra bat to score runs.
Impact on Bowling Figures
Byes and leg byes are not charged to the bowler — they appear in the extras section of the scorecard and do not affect the bowler's runs conceded. A bowler who delivers a ball that beats the bat and bounces over the keeper for 4 byes has delivered an excellent ball (it beat the bat) that was not gathered by the keeper — this is not the bowler's failure. Similarly, a delivery that deflects off the batsman's pad for 4 leg byes is credited to extras, not the bowler's analysis. This distinction matters for bowler evaluation: a bowler with a low economy rate may still be conceding significant team runs through extras that another team member is responsible for. Wide balls are also extras but are charged to the bowler (they appear in the bowler's figures); byes and leg byes are not.
Frequently asked questions
Do byes count toward the bowler's over?
Yes — a delivery that results in byes is still a legal delivery (assuming it was not a no-ball or wide) and counts as one of the six deliveries in the bowler's over. The ball happened, runs were scored (as byes), but those runs are not added to the bowler's figures — they go to the extras column. The bowler still uses one delivery from their over. The only deliveries that don't count toward the over count are no-balls and wides (these require an extra delivery to complete the over), but byes and leg byes are legal deliveries that count normally.
If a ball goes for a bye and also would have been a wide, what happens?
A wide is called before considering whether byes occur — if a delivery is outside the width for the batsman to hit (wide), it is called wide regardless of whether the ball also goes past the keeper for byes. The wide call takes precedence: the penalty (1 extra run) is applied as a wide, and the byes (if the ball runs away further) are also credited — but the entire scenario is recorded as extras (wide + byes, both in extras, neither charged to the bowler's economy beyond the wide penalty). In practice, a very wide delivery that also eludes the keeper gives the batting side the wide penalty plus any runs taken — all as extras.
Can byes be scored from a no-ball?
Yes — if a no-ball is bowled and the ball passes the bat and body (no batsman contact) and runs are taken or the ball reaches the boundary, those runs are byes off a no-ball. The no-ball penalty (1 run) is included in extras as a no-ball extra; the additional byes from the ball running away are also byes extras. So a no-ball that goes for 4 byes gives the batting side 5 extras total (1 no-ball penalty + 4 byes). None of this is charged to the bowler's normal economy figures — the no-ball run is recorded as a no-ball extra, and the byes as bye extras. The no-ball itself is noted in the bowler's analysis (no-balls bowled) but the runs from byes off a no-ball are not the bowler's 'runs conceded.'