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Most explanations of the free hit rule are one paragraph long: a no-ball earns the batting side a free hit, the batter can’t be dismissed except by run out, done. That’s not wrong, but it skips three things that actually matter once you’re scoring or captaining rather than just watching — where the rule comes from, what happens when the free-hit ball is itself illegal, and what changes in the book rather than just on the field.
This guide covers all of it: the exact Law behind the dismissal restriction, why the free hit isn’t technically a Law at all, the 2007-to-2015 history most sites get slightly vague on, and the scoring detail that almost nobody writes about.
What a Free Hit Actually Is
When a bowler oversteps the crease, bowls above waist height on the full, or breaks one of several other no-ball conditions, the umpire calls “no ball” — one run is added to the batting side’s total, and the delivery is re-bowled. In limited-overs cricket, that no-ball also earns the batting side a bonus: the next legal-or-not delivery is a “free hit,” during which the batter faces almost no risk of getting out. The umpire signals it by circling one arm above their head, a signal covered alongside every other umpire call in our umpire signals guide.
Why the Free Hit Is Not One of the 42 Laws
This trips people up because the restriction on dismissals sounds exactly like a Law, and in one sense it is — just not the part everyone assumes. Law 21 of the Laws of Cricket (maintained by MCC and applying to every format, from a Test match to a Sunday friendly) states that when a no-ball has been called, neither batter can be out except under Law 34 (hit the ball twice), Law 37 (obstructing the field), or Law 38 (run out). That covers the no-ball itself. It says nothing about the delivery that follows it.
The “free hit” — extending that same restriction to the next ball — is a separate playing condition that ICC applies to limited-overs internationals, and that most T20 leagues and ODI-style domestic competitions copy. Playing conditions sit on top of the Laws rather than inside them: a competition can adopt, modify, or drop a playing condition without touching the Laws themselves, which is exactly why Test cricket has no free hit (Law 21 still applies to a no-ball in a Test, but no competition has ever added the free-hit playing condition to the longest format) while limited-overs cricket does. This is the one distinction almost every generic “free hit rules” page skips, and it’s the reason the same no-ball produces a materially different outcome depending on which format it’s bowled in.
Which Dismissals Are Still Possible
Because the free hit borrows Law 21’s restriction rather than inventing a new one, the answer is identical to “what can get you out off a no-ball”:
| Dismissal | Possible on a free hit? |
|---|---|
| Bowled | No |
| Caught | No |
| LBW | No |
| Stumped | No |
| Hit wicket | No |
| Run out | Yes |
| Hit the ball twice | Yes |
| Obstructing the field | Yes |
A batter backing up too far and getting run out at the non-striker’s end, or a batter who deliberately blocks a fielder’s throw, can absolutely be given out on a free hit — the “free” part only protects against the bowler and the fielding side’s normal wicket-taking dismissals.
The 2007-to-2015 History
The free hit entered international cricket in October 2007, and its first-ever delivery is well documented: South Africa’s Makhaya Ntini overstepped bowling to India’s Robin Uthappa in an ODI at the New Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg on 23 November 2007, and Uthappa faced cricket’s first free hit. At that point, though, the rule only applied to front-foot no-balls — a bowler who oversubstepped the popping crease. A no-ball for height, for too many fielders outside the circle, or for any other reason didn’t earn a free hit at all.
That changed in 2015, when ICC’s white-ball playing conditions were widened so that a free hit follows any type of no-ball, not just a front-foot one — a waist-high full toss, a fielding-restriction breach, or a back-foot infringement all now produce the same next-ball bonus. Most casual explainers describe the modern rule correctly but gloss over the fact that it wasn’t always this broad, which matters if you’re reading commentary or scorecards from before 2015 and wondering why a clearly-illegal delivery back then produced no free hit at all.
What Happens If the Free-Hit Ball Is Also a No-Ball
The free hit doesn’t expire just because the bowler oversteps again. If the delivery bowled during a free hit is itself a no-ball or a wide, the free hit carries forward to the following delivery, and the umpire signals it again. There’s no cap — a bowler who repeatedly oversteps under pressure can, in principle, hand the batting side a string of consecutive free hits. This is also where the DRS interacts with the free-hit rule in a way most explainers never connect: if a review overturns an on-field no-ball call to a legal delivery (or the other way around), it can retroactively change whether the following ball should have been a free hit — see the scorer’s-eye section of our DRS guide for exactly how that plays out mid-innings.
Fielding Restrictions During a Free Hit
The fielding captain generally cannot rearrange the field once a free hit has been signalled — the whole point of the rule is to hand the batting side an advantage the fielding side can’t neutralise by packing the boundary or bringing fielders up. There are two narrow exceptions:
- If the two batters cross during the no-ball itself, a different-handed batter faces the free hit, and the fielding side may make a like-for-like adjustment (moving a fielder from off side to leg side to match, for example) rather than being locked into a field set for the other-handed batter.
- A wicketkeeper standing up to the stumps for the no-ball may step back for the free hit, purely for safety, without that counting as an illegal field change.
What the Free Hit Actually Means for the Scorebook
This is the part most rules pages skip entirely, because they’re written for someone watching the match rather than someone recording it:
- The no-ball run is added regardless of what happens on the free hit. One extra run for the no-ball itself, plus whatever is scored off the free-hit delivery, exactly as with any other no-ball.
- A wicket taken on a free hit (run out, hit the ball twice, obstructing the field) is recorded as a dismissal but not credited to the bowler. The delivery is still a no-ball if the free hit itself is also illegal, or a legal delivery if it isn’t — the bowler’s over count and figures follow the ball’s own status, not the fact that it happened to be a free hit.
- Byes and leg byes are unaffected. The free hit restricts dismissals, not how runs are scored — a ball that beats the bat and runs away for byes, or strikes the pad for leg byes, is recorded exactly as it would be on any other delivery.
- A six or four off a free hit is recorded normally — there’s no special notation. The only thing that differs from an ordinary delivery is which dismissal types were legally available, which is a fact about the delivery, not something that shows up as a separate mark in the book.
For the full breakdown of how no-balls, wides, byes and leg byes appear on a scorecard more broadly, see our guide to cricket extras. New to scoring altogether? Start with the beginner’s guide to cricket scoring rules.
Free Hit by Format
| Format | Free hit after a no-ball? |
|---|---|
| Test cricket / first-class | No — Law 21 still restricts dismissals on the no-ball itself, but no competition adds the free-hit playing condition |
| ODI | Yes |
| T20I / most T20 leagues | Yes |
Club and school leagues that play limited-overs cricket generally follow the same free-hit playing condition as their format’s international equivalent, but always check your specific competition’s regulations — playing conditions are exactly the kind of detail that varies by league even when the Laws underneath stay identical.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What dismissals are possible on a free hit?
Only run out, hit the ball twice, or obstructing the field — the same three exceptions that apply to any no-ball under Law 21 of the Laws of Cricket. A batter cannot be out bowled, caught, leg before wicket, stumped, or hit wicket on a free hit, whether or not the free-hit delivery is itself legal.
Is the free hit part of the Laws of Cricket?
No. The 42 Laws of Cricket, maintained by MCC, apply identically to every form of the game and say nothing about a “free hit” as such — Law 21 only restricts dismissals on the no-ball itself. The free hit is a separate playing condition that ICC (and leagues that copy its structure) layers on top of the Laws for limited-overs cricket, extending that same no-ball restriction to the very next delivery too.
Does a free hit carry over if the next ball is also a no-ball or a wide?
Yes. If the delivery bowled during a free hit is itself called a no-ball or a wide, the free hit carries forward to the following delivery, and the umpire signals it again. There is no limit on how many deliveries in a row can be free hits if the bowler keeps overstepping or bowling wide.
Can byes or leg byes be scored off a free hit?
Yes. The free hit only restricts how the batter can be dismissed — it has no effect on runs. If the ball passes the bat and away for byes, or strikes the batter’s body for leg byes, those runs are recorded exactly as they would be on any other delivery, and they still don’t count against the bowler’s figures.
Can the fielding side change its field during a free hit?
Generally no. The fielding captain cannot rearrange the field for a free hit unless the two batters have crossed and a different-handed batter is now facing, in which case a like-for-like adjustment is allowed. A wicketkeeper standing up to the stumps for the no-ball is also permitted to step back for the free hit if they judge it safer.
When was the free hit introduced, and has it always covered every type of no-ball?
The free hit entered international cricket in October 2007, initially only for front-foot no-balls. From 2015, ICC’s white-ball playing conditions extended it to follow any type of no-ball — height, back-foot, too many fielders outside the circle, or anything else — not just overstepping.