In cricket, a wide is a type of illegal delivery to a batter that is judged by the umpire to be too wide or too high to be hit by the batsman by means of a normal cricket shot). It is also a type of extra, being the run awarded to the batting team as a consequence of such an illegal delivery). A delivery is not a wide if the ball hits the bat or batsman, or if the batsman, by moving, causes the ball to be out of reach). If a ball qualifies as a no-ball as well as a wide, the umpire will call it a no-ball, and not a wide).

The umpire signals a wide by straightening both arms to form a horizontal straight line). If the batsman does a switch hit, then the ball may be bowled to either side of them within the standard distance without being called a wide). When a wide is bowled, one extra run is added to the teams total, but not added to a batters total). Wide balls are considered to be the fault of the bowler, and all wide runs conceded are recorded against the bowler in the bowlers bowling analysis).

In summary, a wide ball in cricket is a type of illegal delivery that is too wide or too high to be hit by the batsman by means of a normal cricket shot. It is a type of extra run awarded to the batting team as a consequence of such an illegal delivery. The umpire signals a wide by straightening both arms to form a horizontal straight line. When a wide is bowled, one extra run is added to the teams total, but not added to a batters total.