In Cricket, Extras Are Runs Nobody Scored
Extras are additional items. In cricket the word names runs credited to the team but to no batter.
Extras are additional things beyond the basic provision — optional features, additional charges, background actors in a film. Cricket gives the word its oddest use: extras are runs added to a team's total that no batter is credited with, arising from the bowling side's errors. A team can win on runs that nobody actually scored.
- Additional items. *The extras cost more.*
- Background actors. *Hired as extras.*
- Cricket runs not credited to a batter. *Fifteen extras.*
- Extra — additional. *An extra day.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Plural noun | extras | Optional extras. |
| Singular | extra | One extra. |
| Adjective | extra | Extra time. |
| Adverb | extra | Extra careful. |
| Related | extraordinary | An extraordinary result. |
How it is used in a sentence
- Extras are charged separately.Commerce.
- He worked as an extra for years.Film.
- Extras won them the match.Cricket.
Cricket extras
- Wide — a delivery too far from the batter to hit
- No-ball — an illegal delivery, usually an overstep
- Bye — a run taken when the ball passes without being hit
- Leg bye — a run after the ball hits the batter's body
- Penalty runs — awarded for breaches of the laws
A shortening of Latin *extra*, outside or beyond, itself a form of *exterus*, outward. The film sense dates from the early twentieth century.
What are cricket extras?
Runs added to the total from wides, no-balls, byes, leg byes and penalties, credited to the team rather than a batter.
Is extra Latin?
Yes. It means outside or beyond, and English uses it as a prefix in extraordinary and extraterrestrial.