A spare helmet left on the field can affect the score if a live ball hits it. The usual example is a fielding-side helmet placed on the ground behind the wicketkeeper.
When play stops
A batter edges the ball past slip and the ball rolls into the spare helmet. The umpire stops play and considers the penalty under the rules for a fielding-side helmet. It is not just an ordinary bounce off another object on the field.
Who gets the runs
The umpire calls dead ball and awards the relevant five penalty runs to the batting side when the Law applies. The scorer records penalty runs separately from runs off the bat, byes and leg byes. Other runs may depend on exactly what happened before the ball touched the helmet.
Not every helmet is the same
Do not say that every helmet on the ground always gives five runs. Check whose equipment it is, where it was placed and the current wording of Law 28.
These examples explain the general MCC Laws. International matches and local competitions can use different playing conditions. For an official decision, check the full law and the rules for your match.
Check the official law
MCC reference: Law 28, 2017 Code, 4th Edition (2026). Read the official MCC Laws of Cricket.
Open the interactive Cricket Laws Centre →Cricstars independent learning resource · Source edition: MCC 2026 · Prepared 21 October 2026. Not an official MCC or ICC ruling.