What is extras in cricket
Cricket is a popular sport played extensively in many countries including England, India, Australia, Pakistan, South Africa and New Zealand. It has a complex set of rules that can sometimes be confusing to those new to the game. Among these are the rules regarding extras or additional runs that are scored in various ways without a batsman actually hitting the ball.
Understanding Extras
Extras, also called sundries in Australia, are part of cricket’s scoring system and involve runs added to the batting team’s total but not attributable to any specific batsman. These extra runs come from wides, no balls, byes, leg byes and penalty runs. Each has its own specifics about when and how they’re awarded which we will discuss further below.
Wides
A wide occurs when the bowler delivers a ball too far away from the striker for him to be able to play it with proper cricket strokes. This means either being too far off on either side of the stumps or over head height. Calling of wides can depend largely on umpire discretion as his judgement plays a crucial part when determining if a delivery was playable or not.
No Balls
No ball is another kind of extra which is given when an illegal delivery is made by the bowler. Some reasons for such unlawful bowlings include overstepping the crease line while delivering the ball or throwing two bounces before reaching the batsman. A no-ball results in one run plus whatever runs were scored off that actual delivery.
Full Video in Youtube
Byes And Leg Byes
Byes and leg byes are other types of extras which could occur during a gameplay. They happen when the ball hasn’t struck off the bat yet some runs are still aggregated through running between wickets or boundary hits. If this passing occurs without touching any player then they’re referred to as byes, whereas the runs are called leg-byes when the ball hits any part of a batsman’s body except his hands.
Penalty Runs
In addition to these extras, there are also penalty runs which could be awarded due to unfair play like tampering with the pitch or causing deliberate distractions. These penalties can add up significantly if left unchecked and it’s generally in a team’s best interest to closely follow rules so as not to risk accruing these costly additional charges.
Impact of Extras
Like we said before, cricket is game that can sometimes come down to just one run difference between two sides, making every single run delicately essential. In such situations, giving away extras could prove fatal for the bowling team but beneficial for batsmen who get another shot at adding more scores onto their name without even touching the ball.
The Strategy Behind Extras
While no fielding team would intentionally want to concede these extra runs, some bowlers might strategically prefer taking risks with wider balls that result into wides hoping to lure batsmen for edge shots leading to possible dismissals, thereby turning those seemingly defect outputs into advantageous moves on their end.
Cricket is indeed about technique, strategy and precision from both batting and bowling side alike. Moreover, understanding how each run is scored helps us appreciate this intricate sporting spectacle even better. Remembering that every action made on the field has consequences that greatly impact overall outcome of any given match should make watching cricket extremely exciting than ever before. Wides, no-balls, byes, leg-byes and penalties aren’t just mere methodologies but crucial parts that define nature of this unique sport itself known worldwide simply as Cricket.
