No ball

In the sport of cricket a No ball is a penalty against the fielding team, usually as a result of an illegal delivery by the bowler. For most cricket games, especially amateur games, the definition of all forms of No ball is from the MCC Laws of Cricket, although youth cricket often has stricter rules on beamers, and international cricket has stricter rules on beamers, but laxer rules on bouncers.

The delivery of a No ball gives a run like a wide ball and it might give a warning under some Regulations - even a suspension if it is extreme, and an additional ball must be bowled. In addition, the number of ways in which the batsman can be given out is reduced except for run out. In Twenty20 and recently one-day cricket matches, even in some amateur cricket, a batsman receives a 'free hit' on the ball after any kind of No ball (see below). This means the batsman can freely hit the ball with no danger of being out in certain ways. No balls are not uncommon, especially in short form cricket, and fast bowlers tend to bowl them more often than spin bowlers, due to their longer run-up.