No Ball in Cricket—Every Aspect And No Ball Rules Clearly Explained 

A ‘No ball in cricket’ is an interesting delivery that leads to an extra run for the batting team. 

If you are a deep fan of the sport of cricket and have watched cricket matches, you have often heard the word no ball from the commentators. It gives another push to the sport of the cricket. Further, no ball is a beneficial part of the game for the batting team. 

Are you familiar with the word extras in cricket? If your answer is no, let’s first understand it. Extras are a tip, or you can say good fortune. It gives scores to the batting team. 

 The point is that it does not affect the batter’s score. Basically, these are runs awarded to the batting side for total scores. Further extras are sundries. There are five types of extras in the sport of cricket. 

Following are these extras:

1. No balls
2.  Wides
3.  Byes
4.  leg byes 
5.  penalties 

In this post, I will explain to you one of the types of extras, which is ‘no ball in cricket’. There are several varieties of the no-ball. Types of no-ball awareness are very essential to a complete understanding of the game of cricket.

Definition of no ball in cricket

The type of delivery that includes extras and an addition to the batting team total score and is considered a free hit in limited over cricket is called no ball. 

As you know, the bowler has six legal deliveries to complete an over. More importantly, the no ball is not part of these six deliveries. Further, the no ball in limited over cricket is followed by a free hit.

15 Types of No Ball

There is a lot of variance in the no-ball in cricket.  For a good answer to this variance, you should be aware of the types of no-balls in cricket. 

Following are some types of no-ball rules in cricket!

No Ball for Front Foot

A legal delivery demands that part of the bowler’s foot be behind the popping crease. If you don’t know about the crease, let’s first understand it. Crease is a line that is four feet parallel to the stumps.

So if the bowler’s foot does not have any part behind the crease, the delivery is considered a no-ball. Therefore, the unpire called it front foot no ball.  

Back Foot, No Ball

At the time of delivering the ball, when the bowler’s foot cuts the return crease, the umpire signals that there is no ball. What is a return crease? The answer is that the return crease is basically two lines on either side of the wicket. These lines are perpendicular to the popping crease. 

No ball Waist Height

If the bowler bowls the full toss delivery and it moves above the waist height, then it will be a no ball in cricket. 

Ball Bouncing Over The Head No Ball

If you watched the match earlier, you are well aware that the delivery that moves above the head is so dangerous. So in the sport of cricket, there are several rules regarding it.

 According to MCC’s Law 21.10, when the ball is bowled by the bowler, it passes over the head of the striker, and then the umpire signals no ball. 

Anyhow, as per Laws 41.6 and 41.7 of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), when bowlers consistently try to bowl dangerous deliveries, the on-field umpire calls it no ball.

No ball; If Ball Bounces Many Times, The Crease

If the ball bounces multiple times with the popping crease before touching the bat of the batsman, as per Law 21.7 of the MCC, the ball is considered no ball. 

Ball Pitching Outside No ball

When the ball pitches outside the playing area before going to the crease, the umpire declares it a no-ball in cricket. 

Wicket Breaking No Ball 

If a bowler delivers a ball and it breaks the wicket, then the umpire also declares it a no-ball. 

Ball Chucking, No ball

Chucking is an illegal bowling action in the game. According to cricket rules and regulations, the bowler is allowed to bowl the ball with an angle of fifteen degrees in their bowling arm. Alternatively, if he straightens his bowling arm, then the ball that was delivered is declared a no-ball in cricket. 

Underarm No-Ball Delivery

Underarm bowling, or lob bowling, is illegal bowling. So when the bowler delivers the underarm ball, the umpire calls it an underarm no ball.   

Before Delivery Toward Striker, Movement of Ball 

When the bowler bowls the ball toward the striker before his delivery stride, the umpire exclaims, No ball. 

No Ball When Bowler Not Explain His Delivery To Umpire

    If  the bowler cannot explain his delivery to the umpire and is confused, it is also called a no-ball. Whether the bowl spins fast or slowly, 

No Ball When Wicketkeeper Is In Front of Stump

According to cricket law 27.3.1, if the wicketkeeper is in front of the stump or stump line, the ball is declared a no-ball in cricket. 

13.  When ball comes to rest without touching the bat
14. As per cricket law 21.7, when the ball comes to rest before coming close to the batsman or touching the bat, it will be a no ball in cricket. 

No ball for Increasing Fielders on on-side

As per Law 28.4 of the MCC, from the fielding side, a maximum of two fielders, excluding wicketkeepers, are allowed to stand behind a square leg. Otherwise, when the number of fielders exceeds the limit, it is considered a no-ball.