Wide Ball in Cricket – Types, Rules & Everything Explained

The umpire stretching both his arms sideways and signaling a ‘wide ball’ is rather a common sight in cricket.

A wide ball is considered as an ‘extra’ in cricket language or in other words, not a legal delivery or ball to be counted.

Speaking of the impact of a wide ball, suppose India is batting and the score is 145/2 in 25.2 overs, that is 145 runs scored at the loss of 2 wickets after 25.2 overs, and then a bowler bowls a wide ball. So the consequence will be, that ball will not be counted and a run will be added to India’s total score. Hence the score will become 146/2 after 25.2 overs.

There are a few permutations and combinations which go into consideration before the umpire calls it a wide ball, which can get the viewers confused. Here, in this article, all the factors and rules that go behind the umpire judging a wide are discussed as follows –

1. When the ball is too much away from the batsman

The bowler shouldn’t bowl a ball that is too far from the reach of the batsman, otherwise, it would become an unfair contest so as to speak. So the obvious question now comes up is how far is too far?

To determine the answer to the above question, there are two straight white (or blue in some cases) lines are drawn at a bit of a distance on either side of the wicket inside the pitch.

Taking a right-handed batsman as an example, the ball should reach the batsman anywhere within the leg stump of the batsman and that straight white line which is to the right-hand side of the wicket behind him. If it lands outside this margin towards the right-hand side of the batsman, then it would be called a wide.

Similarly, for a left-handed batsman, the ball should reach the batsman anywhere within the leg stump of the batsman and that straight line which is to the left-hand side of the wicket behind him. If it lands outside this margin towards the left-hand side of the batsman, then it would be called a wide.

An important point to note is, irrespective of how wide the ball is, if the batsman somehow makes contact with the ball be it with the bat or his body, then it will not be considered wide.

Another very important thing to note is if the ball reaches the batsman behind him, that is it goes down the further left side of the leg stump and it doesn’t touch the batsman’s body anywhere then also it will be called a wide ball.

An exception to the above rule

There is an exception to the above rule. If the batsman moves towards his offside before the bowler releases the ball, then the straight white line drawn to determine the wide line in a way ceases to exist, meaning since the batsman has moved towards the offside, the wide line will also be imaginarily pushed further towards the offside and it is left to the umpire to decide how far is too far to be called a wide.

There is also a bit of relaxation for the bowlers in Test Cricket with respect to this rule of the wide ball. If the ball lands outside the periphery of the white line by a small margin or goes down the leg side of the batsman without touching him by a small margin, then the umpire does not call it wide. But, if it is too far wide on either side of the wicket, then the umpire does call it wide. Again, it’s left for the umpire to decide how far is too far.

Also, if the umpire feels that the bowler is intentionally bowling very wide constantly, then he can declare a wide ball.

2. Above the head high

The ball should reach the batsman at an ideal length of his body for fair play purposes. Ideally, if the ball bounces once on the pitch and reaches the batsman at a level below his shoulder, then it is a perfect delivery. If it reaches the batsman above his shoulder level but not above his head, then it is called a bouncer.

Now, if the ball bounces on the pitch once and reaches the batsman at a height above his head, then that delivery is considered a wide ball plus also a bouncer or bounce. Thus, the ball should not be above the head high of the batsman if it has to be a legitimate delivery and not a wide.

Here also in Test Cricket, there is a relaxation for the bowlers in this rule, that is if the ball is above the head of the batsman by a small margin, then it is not called a wide generally, but a bouncer is definitely signaled.

Now here is the interesting fact, in Test Cricket and ODI cricket, a bowler is allowed to bowl a maximum of 2 bouncers and in T20 cricket the maximum number of bouncers a bowler can bowl is 1. If the bowler bowls more than the allotted number of bouncers then it will be called a no ball and not a wide. For example, the 3rd bouncer in an over of Test and ODI Cricket and the 2nd bouncer in an over of T20I cricket will be called a no ball.

Going by the above cricket rule, suppose the bowler bowls 2 above the head high bouncers in an over, then in ODI cricket, both will be called as wide plus as bouncers as well. The next time the bowler bowls an above-head high delivery, it will no more be called as a wide and as a bounce, but straightaway it will be called as ‘no ball’. Similarly, for T20I cricket, the 1st above-head high bouncer will be called as wide plus one bounce, and the second above-head high bouncer will be a no ball.

These are the 2 reasons for a wide ball.

Few Key points related to the wide ball in cricket

1. If a wide ball is bowled and the wicket-keeper cannot catch the ball, then the batsman can take a run or two or more if possible depending upon the situation. It will be declared as a wide plus ‘byes’. If the ball reaches the boundary, then it is called ‘5 wides’.
2. Since a wide ball is out of reach of the batsman, the possibilities of bowled, catch out, and lbw is out of the equation, however, a batsman can get stumped out or run out in a wide ball.
3. If a ball is bowled so wide that it goes out of the periphery of the pitch before it reaches the batsman, then it will be called a no ball and not a wide.

That is all that the term ‘wide ball’ is about in cricket. Here are 10 ODI matches with the most wide balls being bowled-

Most wide balls in an ODI match

Sl. No.	Match	Date	Venue	Total number of wide balls
1	India vs Kenya	1999	Nairobi	52
2	Pakistan vs Scotland	20th May 1999	Chester-Le-Street, England	50
3	Pakistan vs West Indies	1989	Lahore	50
4	Bangladesh vs Pakistan	31st May 1999	Northampton Ground	49
5	India vs Pakistan	8th November 2007	Mohali	47
6	Pakistan vs West Indies	19th September 1999	Toronto Cricket Ground	46
7	India vs Australia	17th October 2007	Wankhede stadium	46
8	India vs Zimbabwe	19th May 1999	Leicester Cricket Ground	45
9	India vs Australia	8th October 2007	Chandigarh	44
10	India vs Pakistan	13th September 1997	Toronto Cricket Ground	43

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