A bye is scored when the ball gets past the batter without touching their bat or body. A leg bye comes from the ball touching the batter’s body, provided the conditions for a leg bye are met.
Two balls, two different extras
Suppose a delivery goes past the outside edge and the batters run one. That can be a bye. Now imagine the ball strikes a pad and the batters run. A leg bye can be allowed if the striker tried to hit the ball or tried to avoid being hit. If they did neither, the umpire does not simply award the run.
Getting the score right
The umpire signals byes or leg byes as appropriate and can call dead ball when runs are not allowed. The scorer puts the runs in extras, not in the batter’s personal score. Byes and leg byes are not charged to the bowler in the usual bowling figures.
Contact with the bat matters
Be careful with a ball that touches both bat and body. The order of contact matters. So does whether a glove was holding the bat.
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 23, 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.