In
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 ...
, a penalty run is a type of
extra
Extra or Xtra may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Film
* ''The Extra'' (1962 film), a Mexican film
* ''The Extra'' (2005 film), an Australian film
Literature
* ''Extra'' (newspaper), a Brazilian newspaper
* ''Extra!'', an American me ...
. It is a
run awarded to one team for various breaches of the Laws by the other team, generally related to
unfair play or player conduct. Many of these penalties have been added since 2000. Penalties are awarded under Law 41 for Unfair Play and, since 2017 under Law 42 for Players' Conduct
It has been suggested that penalty runs could be imposed for slow
over rate
An over rate is the average number of overs bowled per hour by the bowling team in cricket. When calculated by Test match officials, allowances are made for wickets taken (2 mins per wicket), drinks breaks (4 mins each), DRS reviews, treatment fo ...
s.
History
The 1798
Laws of Cricket
The ''Laws of Cricket'' is a code which specifies the rules of the game of cricket worldwide. The earliest known code was drafted in 1744 and, since 1788, it has been owned and maintained by its custodian, the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in Lond ...
introduced a new law that stated 'that a penalty of five runs would be awarded to the batting side "if the fieldsman stops a ball with his hat"'. The current laws have a direct equivalent, under Law 28, with the same penalty.
Penalty runs awarded under Law 28 The Fielder
Five penalty runs are awarded to the batting team if:
* The ball strikes a
fielder's helmet when it is on the field but not being worn (e.g. when temporarily taken off and on the field behind the wicket keeper). For example:
# On
12 September 2002 in Colombo, Pakistan were awarded five penalty runs after
Rashid Latif
Rashid Latif (born 14 October 1968), is a Pakistani cricket coach and former cricketer who played for the Pakistan national cricket team in Tests and One Day Internationals from 1992 to 2003 as a right-handed wicket-keeper batsman. He also serve ...
's delivery hit Sri Lankan wicket-keeper
Kumar Sangakkara
Kumara Chokshananda Sangakkara ( si, කුමාර් චොක්ශනාද සංගක්කාර; born 27 October 1977) is a Sri Lankan cricket commentator, former professional cricketer, businessman, ICC Hall of Fame inductee and the ...
's helmet.
# On
3 January 2010 in Cape Town, South Africa were awarded five penalty runs after
Graeme Swann
Graeme Peter Swann (born 24 March 1979) is an English former cricketer who played all three formats of the game. Born in Northampton, he attended Sponne School in Towcester, Northamptonshire. He was primarily a right-arm off-spinner, and also ...
's delivery hit English wicket-keeper
Matt Prior
Matthew James Prior (born 26 February 1982) is a South African-born English former cricketer, who played for England in Test cricket and for Sussex County Cricket Club in domestic cricket. He was a wicket-keeper and his aggressive right-handed ...
's helmet.
# On
22 October 2016 in Chittagong, England were awarded five penalty runs after
Shakib Al Hasan
Shakib Al Hasan (Bengali: সাকিব আল হাসান; born 24 March 1987) is a Bangladeshi cricketer and current captain of the Bangladesh national cricket team in Tests and T20Is. He plays for Barishal in domestic cricket as an all- ...
's delivery hit Bangladeshi wicketkeeper
Mushfiqur Rahim
Mushfiqur Rahim ( bn, মুশফিকুর রহিম; born 9 May 1987) is a Bangladeshi cricketer and the former captain and vice-captain of the Bangladesh national cricket team. He is a right-handed middle-order batsman and wicket-keepe ...
's helmet.
# On 8 January 2018 in Sydney (
2018 Ashes; 5th Test), England were awarded five penalty runs after the ball from
Nathan Lyon
Nathan Michael Lyon (born 20 November 1987) is an Australian international cricketer. He made his Test debut in 2011 and plays domestic cricket for New South Wales. Lyon is an off spin bowler and a lower-order right-handed batsman. Considered ...
to batsman
Tom Curran passed the wicketkeeper and hit a helmet.
# On 24 October 2022 in Hobart (
2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup
The 2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup was the eighth ICC Men's T20 World Cup tournament. It was played in Australia from 16 October to 13 November 2022. Although originally scheduled to be held in 2020, in July 2020, the International Cricket Counci ...
, 18th Match), Zimbabwe was awarded five penalty runs after the ball touched the glove of de Kock when
Lungi Ngidi
Lungisani True-man Ngidi (born 29 March 1996) is a South African professional cricketer who plays for the South Africa national cricket team. In the 2018 South African Cricket Annual Awards, he was named as one of the five Cricketers of the Year ...
threw back the ball to South African wicketkeeper
Quinton de Kock
Quinton de Kock (born 17 December 1992) is a South African cricketer and former captain of the Proteas in all three formats. He currently plays for South Africa in limited overs cricket, Titans at the domestic level, and Lucknow Super Gian ...
while he had taken one of his gloves off it on the ground.
* A fielder fields the ball illegally, by using anything other than his person (for example, using a cap or other item of clothing, or by discarding a piece of clothing, equipment or other object which subsequently makes contact with the ball). For example:
# On 15 June 2017 in Edgbaston (
ICC Champions Trophy; Semi-final), Bangladesh were awarded five penalty runs after the ball bounced off the strewn left glove in a
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 ...
attempt by Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Penalty runs awarded under Law 41 for Unfair Play
Penalty runs awarded to the batting team
Five penalty runs are awarded to the batting team if:
* The ball is touched by a fielder who has returned to the field without the umpire's permission.
* The fielding team deliberately distract or obstruct the batsman. (If the distraction or obstruction occurs before the striker receives the ball, the fielding team must first receive a warning, however penalty runs are awarded for the first instance of such an infringement after the striker has received the ball.)
* After being warned, the fielding team damage the
pitch or deliberately waste time between overs, thus ignoring the warning.
Penalty runs awarded to the fielding team
Five penalty runs are awarded to the fielding side if the batting team:
* Attempt to "steal" a run or deliberately run short. For example:
#On
15 November 2018 in Kandy, England were awarded five penalty runs after Sri Lanka were judged to have deliberately run a short run.
* Deliberately waste time after having been warned
* Damage the
pitch after warning.
The penalty runs are added to the fielding team's score in their previous innings, unless they have not yet batted, in which case the runs are added to their next innings.
Penalty runs awarded to either team
*Either team may be penalised five runs if the umpires decide that the team have illegally changed the condition of the ball, known as
ball tampering. For example:
# On 20 August 2006
England were awarded five penalty runs for ball tampering after umpires
Darrel Hair
Darrell Bruce Hair (born 30 September 1952) is an Australian former Test match cricket umpire, from New South Wales. He stood on the International panel of umpires from 2002 to 2003, before he, along with fellow Australian Simon Taufel, and Ne ...
and
Billy Doctrove
Billy Raymond Doctrove (born 3 July 1955) is a Dominica former international football referee, but is best known as an international cricket umpire.
Career as a FIFA referee
During his time as a referee Doctrove took charge of several internat ...
judged, in the 56th over of the 4th day's play in the fourth Test Match at the Oval, London, that Pakistan had altered the condition of the ball. Because that judgement implied that Pakistan had cheated, considerable fallout resulted. The judgement was overturned by the ICC Code of Conduct hearing 28 September 2006, which concluded that, "The charge of ball-tampering is therefore dismissed." but that ruling could not and did not expunge the penalty runs recorded.
# On
25 October 2013 in Dubai, Pakistan were awarded five penalty runs after
Faf du Plessis
Francois "Faf" du Plessis ( ; born 13 July 1984) is a South African professional cricketer and former captain of the South Africa national cricket team. He is considered one of the greatest fielders of all time and is among the best all-forma ...
rubbed the ball on a zipper of his trouser pocket which was deemed to be ball tampering.
*Either team may be penalised five runs after warning for practising on the pitch on match days, on the rest of the square unless authorised by the umpires, or on the outfield during play except by the fielders, who can only use the match ball, and must not change its condition or waste time.
*Law 41 contains a final catch-all (Law 41.19) which empowers the umpire to award five penalty runs for any action that he judges unfair, which is not otherwise covered.
Penalty runs awarded under Law 42 for Players' Conduct
Under Law 42 five penalty runs are awarded to either team if the umpire judges the conduct of their opponents unacceptable. For Level 1 offences the umpire will warn the offending team first, and award penalties on any repeat occurrence by the same team. After any Level 2, Level 3 ("yellow card") or Level 4 ("red card") offence, no warning is given before awarding penalty runs for the offence, or before awarding penalty runs for any subsequent Level 1 offence by the offending team.
Level 1 offences are:
* wilfully mistreating the cricket ground, equipment or implements
* dissent at an umpire’s decision by word or action
* obscene, offensive or insulting language
* excessive
appealing
* advancing in an aggressive manner towards an umpire when appealing
* any other action the umpire considers an equivalent offence
Level 2 offences are:
* serious dissent at an umpire’s decision by word or action
* inappropriate and deliberate physical contact with a player
* throwing the ball at a player, umpire, or anyone else, in an inappropriate and dangerous manner
* using obscene or seriously insulting language or gesture to any other person
* any other action the umpire considers an equivalent offence
Level 3 offences are:
* intimidating an umpire by language or gesture
* threatening to assault a player or any other person except an umpire
Level 4 offences are:
* threatening to assault an umpire
* making inappropriate and deliberate physical contact with an umpire
* physically assaulting a player or any other person
* committing any other act of violence
Examples of some cases are rare in professional cricket to date. One reason for this is that such an award on the pitch by the umpires will be a judgement of a wilful act, and hence of cheating, which the umpires are unable to determine conclusively at the time, or prefer to be made by the Match Referee at more leisure. Some of the recent Law changes are specifically intended to curb deteriorating behaviour in recreational cricket and hence address the retention of umpires
Umpire signal
{{see also, Umpire (cricket)#Penalty runs
References
Cricket laws and regulations
Cricket terminology
Scoring (cricket)
Sports penalties