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Byes can be defined as a result of the
wicketkeeper's folly, and in some cases, umpiring
errors. If the striker fails to connect a delivery
with his bat or any part of his (body) person, and
if any runs still result, such runs are signalled
and recorded as byes, if the delivery is not a no
ball. In case it is a no ball, then the runs scored
by the batting side are entered into the scorebooks
as 'no-balls'.
Byes are generally scored when the wicketkeeper is
unlucky to get a bad bounce, or if he is simply
inefficient. Of course, there are times when the
keeper fails to gather wide deliveries that somehow
do not catch the umpire's attention. The keeper's
reaction is worth noting whenever this happens, and
the umpire ends up signalling byes instead of a
wide.
The fielding side tends to concede more byes when
the regular keeper gets injured and has to be
replaced behind the wickets by someone who is not
well-versed with the job.
There was a Test at the Oval in London in 1934,
wherein Leslie Ames, England's regular keeper,
sustained an injury and was replaced by the 47
year-old Frank Woolley, who was a great batsman but
not too used to wicketkeeping. His inexperience
showed up as he conceded 37 byes in Australia's
first innings, which is still a record.
On the other hand, India's Syed Kirmani holds the
sensational distinction of not conceding a single
bye in two successive Tests against Pakistan at
Faisalabad. Pakistan scored 503 in the first of
those games in 1978-79, and amassed 652 in the
second four years later. It was a keeping
performance that deserved a gold medal!
Leg-byes accrue to the score when runs are scored
after the ball ricochets off the striker's person
(body), be it off his pads, hips, arm-guard or even
helmet. However, the deflection has to be
unintentional.
Leg-byes can also be scored if the striker's hand
comes off the bat and then the ball hits it. The
striker obviously cannot be given out caught if
this happens and a fielder catches the deflection
on the full.
In all cases, the umpire has to be satisfied that
the striker has made a genuine attempt to play at
the ball. Byes that the striker may attempt to take
by deliberately padding away the ball or allowing
it to strike his body will be disallowed.
I had the opportunity to take a call on a peculiar
incident that occurred in a one-dayer between
Pakistan and Sri Lanka at Shajah in 1990. Saeed
Anwar of Pakistan padded up to Champaka Ramanayake,
who was bowling from my end. The ball had pitched
well outside off-stump and hence there was no
possibility of a leg-before. It was also obvious
that Anwar had made no attempt to play the ball.
The ball hit his pads and went towards Aravinda De
Silva, who was fielding in the point region. When
this happened, the non-striker Zahid Fazal rushed
down the pitch for a run rather stupidly. Anwar
rightly sent him back. By then, De Silva had
fielded the ball and thrown it at my end in an
attempt to run Fazal out. However, he missed the
stumps and the ball in fact crossed the mid-wicket
boundary. I called "Dead Ball" and disallowed those
runs. But if the ball had hit the stumps, then
Zahid would have been declared run out as he was a
long way outside the crease.
Leg-byes can also be scored if the striker gets hit
while taking evasive action to avoid injury. There
have been instances of the ball going to the
boundary after ricocheting off the helmet of a
batsman who has ducked into a bouncer. Four
leg-byes will be added to the score if this happens
I remember a Duleep Trophy match at Nagpur in 1978
wherein Anil Deshpande of the Central Zone ducked
under a bouncer bowled by Roger Binny of the South
Zone, and the ball went off his shoulder to the
third-man boundary. I promptly signaled four
leg-byes. Members of the media asked me later how
runs could be scored when the batsman had not made
an attempt to play the ball. They were satisfied by
my explanation, as was Brijesh Patel of South Zone,
who was standing nearby.
As stated earlier, byes or leg-byes scored off
no-balls get added to the no-ball row in the
'Extras' section of the scorebook. The batting side
will get one run for the no-ball, plus the number
of runs they score thereafter.
If the ball goes to the boundary, the umpire
signals no-ball, bye and boundary to the scorers,
in that order. I know that no wicketkeeper is happy
to see the umpire flash his palm in the direction
of the scoreboard to indicate byes, but if the
bowler has delivered a no-ball, he need not worry!
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