cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

, an overthrow (sometimes called a buzzer) is an additional run scored by a

batsman In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the cricket ball, ball with a cricket bat, bat to score runs (cricket), runs and prevent the dismissal (cricket), loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since Septembe ...

as a result of the ball not being collected by a fielder in the centre, having been thrown in from the

outfield The outfield, in cricket, baseball and softball is the area of the field of play further from the batsman or batter than the infield. In association football, the outfield players are positioned outside the goal area. In cricket, baseball a ...

. Overthrows usually occur when a fielder aims unsuccessfully at the

stumps In cricket, the stumps are the three vertical posts that support the bails and form the wicket. '' Stumping'' or ''being stumped'' is a method of dismissing a batsman. The umpire ''calling stumps'' means the play is over for the day. Part of ...

in an attempt to

run out Run out is a method of dismissal in cricket, governed by Law 38 of the Laws of Cricket. A run out usually occurs when the batsmen are attempting to run between the wickets, and the fielding team succeed in getting the ball to one wicket befo ...

a batsman, although sometimes they are due to handling errors by the fielder receiving the ball. Runs scored in this manner are counted in addition to any runs already scored before the fielding error took place, and are credited to the batsman. If the ball reaches the

boundary Boundary or Boundaries may refer to: * Border, in political geography Entertainment * ''Boundaries'' (2016 film), a 2016 Canadian film * ''Boundaries'' (2018 film), a 2018 American-Canadian road trip film *Boundary (cricket), the edge of the pla ...

as a result of an overthrow then the four runs for the boundary are added to the number of completed runs before the overthrow, which can lead to the unusual event of a batsman scoring more than six runs off a single ball. It is considered an overthrow run if a ball hits a wicket while the batsman is inside the popping crease and then the batsman runs. There have been at least four instances in

Test cricket Test cricket is a form of first-class cricket played at international level between teams representing full member countries of the International Cricket Council (ICC). A match consists of four innings (two per team) and is scheduled to last fo ...

of eight runs being scored off a single ball. The most recent was by

Andrew Symonds Andrew Symonds (9 June 1975 – 14 May 2022) was an Australian international cricketer, who played all three formats as a batting all-rounder. Commonly nicknamed "Roy", he was a key member of two World Cup winning squads. Symonds played as a ri ...

for

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

against

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

in November 2008, when the batsmen managed to run four runs before the ball was thrown back over the wicket keeper's head for a four-run boundary. It is possible for the ball to be thrown over more than once from the same ball, leading to even more runs being scored. In theory there is therefore no limit to how many runs may be scored off a single ball.

Deflections

A throw that reflects off the batsman or bat and goes to the boundary is sometimes also considered an overthrow. A notable incidence of this was in the 2019 Cricket World Cup Final, where six runs were scored off a deflection from Ben Stokes's bat. A similar incident repeated in the first test of the New Zealand tour of England in 2022, with the throw deflecting off Ben Stokes' bat at the same venue (Lord's) and with the ball being bowled by the same bowler,

Trent Boult Trent Alexander Boult (born 22 July 1989) is a New Zealand international cricketer who has played for New Zealand national cricket team, New Zealand cricket team. He currently plays in various T20 leagues around the globe as a Fast bowling, fas ...

, only the ball not going to the boundary.

References

Fielding (cricket) Cricket terminology {{cricket-term-stub