Byes and leg byes are both extras: runs added to the batting team's total that don't come off the bat. The difference is how the ball got past.
What Is a Bye?
A bye is a run scored when the ball passes the batter and the wicketkeeper without touching the bat or the batter's body. The batters run, or the ball runs away to the boundary for four byes.
What Is a Leg Bye?
A leg bye is a run scored after the ball hits the batter's body (but not the bat or the gloved hand holding it) and runs away. The batter must either have tried to play the ball with the bat or tried to avoid being hit. If the batter made no attempt to play or avoid it, runs cannot be taken as leg byes.
How They Are Scored
Byes and leg byes are credited to the team as extras. They don't count as the batter's runs, and, unlike wides and no-balls, they are not charged to the bowler. That's why a bowler can still bowl a maiden over with byes or leg byes in it.
Byes vs Leg Byes at a Glance
- Bye: ball misses bat and body. Extra to the team.
- Leg bye: ball hits the body, not the bat. Extra to the team.
- Wide / No-ball: penalties charged to the bowler. See wides and no-balls.
More on how bowling figures are counted: What Does Conceded Mean? Or browse the Cricket Codex.
