Overthrows in Cricket: How Boundary Overthrow Runs Count

What an overthrow is

An overthrow happens when a fielder throws the ball, usually at the stumps or to the keeper, and nobody stops it. The ball keeps travelling, and the batters are free to keep running. It is not a separate type of extra. The extra runs are simply added to whatever the delivery was already producing.

That means the credit follows the original delivery. If the striker hit the ball, every overthrow run is hers. If it was a bye, the overthrows are more byes. If it was a wide, the overthrows are more wides and they are charged to the bowler. There is no overthrow column in a scorebook.

Overthrows are dealt with in Law 19, which covers boundaries. Overthrows that stay inside the field need no special rule, because the batters simply keep running and you count completed runs. The interesting part is what happens when the throw reaches the boundary.

Overthrows that stay in the field

Suppose the striker pushes to cover and the batters run one. The fielder shies at the stumps, misses, and nobody is backing up. The batters run two more before the ball is returned. That is 3 runs to the striker. The batters have run three times, so they have changed ends.

Scorecards do not usually separate these runs from the rest. A batter credited with 3 off that ball has 3 runs whether they came from a well-placed push and two overthrows or a hard run three. For your purposes, count completed runs and you are done.

Note that a deflection off the stumps after a throw is still live, and so is a throw that hits a running batter by accident. The batters can keep running. Only a deliberate obstruction by a batter changes that, and the umpire would deal with it as obstructing the field.

Boundary overthrows: the formula

Law 19.8 says that when an overthrow, or any wilful act of a fielder, sends the ball to the boundary, the batting side scores the boundary allowance plus the runs already completed, plus the run in progress if the batters had already crossed at the instant of the throw. Any penalty runs, such as the wide or no-ball penalty, are added as well.

The key phrase is "at the instant of the throw". It is not when the ball crosses the rope, and it is not when the throw passes the stumps. Picture the moment the ball leaves the fielder's hand. Had the batters passed each other on the current run? If yes, that run counts. If no, it does not.

In practice the boundary allowance is almost always 4. It cannot be 6, because the six is only for a ball struck by the bat that clears the rope on the full.

The 2019 World Cup final

The most famous overthrow in cricket came in the 2019 men's World Cup final at Lord's. With England chasing, a throw from the deep deflected off Ben Stokes's bat as he dived for the crease and ran away to the boundary. The umpires awarded 6 runs. Replays later suggested the batters had not crossed on their second run at the instant of the throw, and several experts, including former umpire Simon Taufel, said 5 would have been the correct award.

For local scorers the lesson is useful. Even top umpires under pressure can get the crossing wrong. You record what the umpire signals and awards, but knowing the formula means you can quietly check and raise it at the end of the over if something looks off.

Not every boundary after a fumble is an overthrow

If the ball is hit to mid-on, the fielder misfields, and it rolls through his legs to the rope, that is not an overthrow. No throw was made. It is a boundary 4, and any runs the batters were completing are replaced by the boundary, unless they had already run more than four. Similarly, a keeper who fumbles a ball that runs to the boundary has given away 4 byes, not overthrows.

A separate rule applies if the ball hits a fielder's helmet lying on the ground. The ball becomes dead and the batting side receives 5 penalty runs, plus any runs already completed. That is a penalty, not an overthrow.

Local rules and scorer habits

In gully, box and tennis-ball cricket, overthrow rules vary a lot. These are common local variations, not Laws, so confirm them before the toss. In box cricket, where the ball can rebound off the netting, there is often a fixed rule about how many runs a rebound can produce.

On Cricket Score Counter, overthrows are just runs. If the ball was hit, enter the total runs off the bat; if it was a bye, enter the total byes. There is no need to split out the overthrow part.

• No overthrow runs at all: the ball is dead once the throw passes the stumps.
• Boundary overthrows count only 4, ignoring completed runs.
• A maximum of one overthrow run per ball.
• Watch the batters at the instant of the throw if a boundary overthrow looks possible.
• Credit overthrow runs to the batter or the original extra, never to a separate column.