How to Score a Wide: Runs, Dismissals and Local Rules

What a wide actually costs

Under Law 22 of the Laws of Cricket, a wide adds one penalty run to the batting side's total. That run is recorded as an extra, not as a run to the batter. The delivery also does not count as one of the six balls in the over, so the bowler has to bowl it again. If the score was 54/2 after 7.3 overs and the next ball is a wide, the score becomes 55/2 and the over count stays at 7.3.

The wide is charged to the bowler and appears in the runs column of the bowling figures. The batter, however, gets nothing: no run and no ball faced. If a batter has 12 off 9 balls and the bowler sends one down the leg side, she is still on 12 off 9. Team total up, bowler's runs up, batter unchanged. Most scoring errors with wides come from forgetting one of those three.

Runs taken off a wide, and wides to the boundary

If the keeper fumbles a wide and the batters run, every completed run is added as more wides. There is no such thing as byes off a wide. Two completed runs off a wide is recorded as 3 wides: the 1 penalty plus 2 run. The batters swap ends if they complete an odd number of runs, exactly as they would off the bat.

If the wide beats everyone and reaches the boundary, the batting side gets the penalty run plus the boundary allowance of 4. That is 5 wides. Scorers new to the job often write this as 4 byes, or as 1 wide and a separate 4. Both are wrong. The full 5 goes in the wides column and against the bowler.

A wide that clears the boundary without bouncing is still only 5 wides. The boundary six applies only when the ball has been struck by the bat, so a wild bouncer that sails over the keeper and over the rope is worth 4 plus the penalty.

When the umpire should call a wide

The Laws define a wide as a ball that passes so far from the striker that it is not reasonably within reach for a normal cricket stroke, judged both from where the batter is standing and from a normal guard position. If the batter moves across and brings the ball within reach, it is not a wide. If the ball touches the bat or the batter's body, it cannot be a wide either. A ball that passes over head height, or would have done had the batter stood upright, can also be called a wide.

Professional limited-overs cricket adds playing conditions on top of the Laws. The best known is the strict leg-side rule: almost any ball that passes down the leg side of the batter without touching bat or pad is called wide. Many T20 competitions also mark guide lines on the off side. These are conditions of a competition, not part of Law 22, which is why a Test match umpire allows far more width than a T20 umpire.

As a scorer, you do not decide what is a wide. You record what the umpire signals, which is both arms stretched out horizontally. In a friendly game without neutral umpires, agree before play who makes the call, normally the bowling side's umpire at the bowler's end, and stick with it.

Wickets off a wide

Because the batter does not have to play at a wide, the dismissals that depend on hitting or missing the ball cannot happen. A batter cannot be bowled, caught or lbw off a wide. But a batter who steps out of the crease and is stumped off a wide is out, and the stumping is credited to the bowler. The same goes for hit wicket. Run out and obstructing the field are also possible, as they are off almost any delivery.

When a wicket falls off a wide, the wide penalty still counts. A stumping off a wide is 1 wide and a wicket. If the batters were running and one is run out after completing a run, the score is 1 penalty plus the completed run, recorded as 2 wides, and the run in progress at the moment of the run out does not count.

The over count is still unchanged. That catches people out at the end of an over: a batter stumped off a wide on what would have been the sixth ball means the bowler still has to bowl the sixth ball to the new batter.

• Possible off a wide: stumped, run out, hit wicket, obstructing the field.
• Not possible off a wide: bowled, caught, lbw.
• Stumped and hit wicket go to the bowler's wicket tally; run out does not.

When a ball is both a wide and a no-ball

Sometimes a bowler oversteps and also sends the ball miles wide. The Laws are clear: if a delivery is both a no-ball and a wide, it is a no-ball. You record it as a no-ball, with the no-ball dismissal rules applying, so the batter can no longer be stumped off it. In limited-overs matches the next ball will usually be a free hit.

The penalty is still one run, not two. A common mistake in local games is to give 2 runs because the ball broke two rules at once. The Laws do not stack the penalties for a single delivery.

Local and gully cricket variations

In tennis-ball, box and gully cricket, wides are often handled differently from the Laws. These are common local variations, not official rules, and they only work if both sides agree before the toss. Writing them down, even as a line in a WhatsApp group, prevents most arguments.

If your group uses a variation, apply it the same way every match so the scorebook stays consistent from week to week.

• Wide lines marked with chalk or tape on a concrete or matting pitch, so the call is less of a judgement.
• No penalty run for a wide, only a re-bowl.
• A penalty run but no re-bowl in the final over, to stop games dragging on.
• No leg-side wides at all in very narrow gullies.

Mistakes to avoid when scoring wides on your phone

Most phone scorers tap too quickly. A wide comes down, the keeper fumbles, the batters run one, and the scorer taps 1 run off the bat out of habit. Now the batter has a run she did not score, a ball she did not face, and the over is one ball ahead. On Cricket Score Counter, use the wide button and add the runs taken to it, and if you tap the wrong thing, the undo button is quicker than trying to correct it three balls later.

The second mistake is losing the over count. After any wide, glance at the ball count. If the screen shows the over moved on, something is wrong. A good habit is to say the ball number out loud with the umpire: "that's still four gone".

1. Wait for the umpire's signal before tapping anything.
2. Record the wide first, then add any runs the batters completed.
3. If the ball reached the boundary, make sure the total for that delivery is 5 wides.
4. Check the ball count has not moved on.
5. At the end of the over, check the bowler's runs match what you saw.