Overs to Balls Converter

Balls to overs and back, with the part-over notation made explicit. A scorecard’s 19.4 is 118 balls and 19.667 overs, never 19.4 overs. The historical over lengths are here too, because six balls has not always been the number.

Last updated 12 Oct 2026

Balls and overs, both ways

Balls ⇄ overs

Balls or overs

Open in balls and read the overs off, or switch the unit and go the other way. The overs figure here is a TRUE DECIMAL: 118 balls is 19.667 overs, which a scorecard writes as 19.4 because an over is six legal balls (MCC Laws of Cricket, 2017 Code, Law 17.1). Enter 19.4 as overs and you will get 116.4 balls, which is the right answer to the wrong question.

19.667oversExample

118 balls — the figure a scorecard writes as 19.4

The conversion, and the notation it exists for

overs = balls ÷ 6 · balls = completed overs × 6 + balls in the unfinished over

6: an over is six legal balls: MCC Laws of Cricket, 2017 Code, Law 17.1, “the ball shall be bowled from each end alternately in overs of 6 balls”, and clause 17.1 of both the ICC Men’s ODI and the ICC Men’s T20I Playing Conditions in identical words. The factor is definitional and exact
legal balls only: Law 17.3.3: “only valid balls shall count towards the 6 balls of the over”. A wide or a no-ball is re-bowled and does not advance the count, so an over can contain more than six deliveries and still be six balls
19.4 is not 19.4 overs: the scorecard figure counts balls out of six after the point, so it only ever runs from .0 to .5. 19.4 is 19 + 4/6 = 19.667 overs and 118 balls. The figures 19.6 to 19.9 cannot appear at all, because the sixth legal ball completes the over
8-ball, 5-ball, 4-ball: historical over lengths, kept here because old scorecards use them. Test overs originally had four balls, five from 1889 and six from 1900; Australia used eight-ball overs, and ESPNcricinfo dates the six-ball over as “the standard since 1979-80”. The factors are exact by definition of the over length, whatever the dates
not a rate: this page converts a count, not a rate. For runs per over use the run rate page, which takes the overs and the balls as two fields so the notation cannot be mis-entered at all

Worked example

118 balls — the figure a scorecard writes as 19.4

The part-over notation in full

Only .0 to .5 exists. There is no 19.6: the sixth legal ball completes the over and the figure becomes 20.0. A single-field calculator that accepts 19.7 and returns a number is answering about a match that cannot have been played.
Scorecard	Means	True overs	Balls
0.1	1 ball	0.167	1
1.3	1 over 3 balls	1.500	9
9.4	9 overs 4 balls	9.667	58
17.2	17 overs 2 balls	17.333	104
19.4	19 overs 4 balls	19.667	118
42.3	42 overs 3 balls	42.500	255
49.5	49 overs 5 balls	49.833	299

An innings in balls, by playing condition

These are playing conditions, not conversions, and they belong to a competition rather than to cricket: the ICC revises them between seasons and national boards and franchise leagues write their own. The six-balls-to-an-over factor this page converts with is a Law and does not move; everything in this table can. Read from the ICC’s own clause pages on 12 October 2026.
Innings	Overs	Balls	Who sets it
Men’s One Day International	50	300	ICC Men’s ODI Playing Conditions clause 13.6.1
Men’s Twenty20 International	20	120	ICC Men’s T20I Playing Conditions clause 13.6.1
Minimum for an ODI result	20 to the side batting second	120	ICC Men’s ODI Playing Conditions clause 13.7.2
A bowler’s quota, ODI	10	60	ICC Men’s ODI Playing Conditions clause 13.9.1
A bowler’s quota, T20I	4	24	ICC Men’s T20I Playing Conditions clause 13.9.1

Over lengths through history, and where the sources disagree

The two sources read for this page do not agree about when Australia’s eight-ball overs began, and neither is a governing body, so neither reading is presented as settled. They do agree on the end: six balls has been universal in Test cricket since 1979-80. The conversion factors above are exact whatever the dates — an eight-ball over is eight balls by definition.
Balls per over	Where and when	Source
4	Test cricket originally, to 1888	ESPNcricinfo; Wikipedia gives England 1880–1888
5	England from 1889 to 1899	ESPNcricinfo and Wikipedia agree
6	from 1900 in England, and universal from 1979-80	ESPNcricinfo: “the standard since 1979-80”
8	Australia — ESPNcricinfo says from 1922-23; Wikipedia’s table gives 1924/25 and then 1936/37 to 1978/79	the two sources disagree and both are printed
8	South Africa 1938-39 to 1957-58, Pakistan 1974-75 to 1977-78, England 1939 only	ESPNcricinfo

The notation that is not a decimal

Cricket counts overs in a notation that looks like decimal and is not. The figure before the point is completed overs; the figure after it counts balls out of six. So a scorecard reading 19.4 means nineteen overs and four balls, 118 legal balls have been bowled, and the true number of overs is 19 + 4/6 = 19.667. Only .0 through .5 can appear, because the sixth legal ball completes the over and the count rolls to the next whole number. There is no 19.6.

This page exists because that notation breaks arithmetic in a specific and predictable way. Divide runs by 19.4 and the answer is 1.37% too high. Subtract 49.5 from 50 and you get 0.5, where the truth is one ball. Add 24.3 and 25.4 and you get 49.7, which is not a figure that can exist. Converting to balls first makes all three work: 118, 299, and 147 plus 154 equals 301 balls, which is 50 overs and one ball.

The factor is a Law rather than a playing condition, and that distinction runs through this whole section of the site. An over is six legal balls — MCC Laws of Cricket, 2017 Code, Law 17.1, in the words “the ball shall be bowled from each end alternately in overs of 6 balls”, repeated as clause 17.1 of both the ICC Men’s ODI and the ICC Men’s T20I Playing Conditions. Law 17.3.3 adds that only valid balls count, so a wide or a no-ball is re-bowled and an over can contain eight deliveries while still being six balls. None of that changes between competitions or seasons. How many overs an innings has, how many a bowler may have, and how many fielders may stand outside the circle all do change, which is why they are in a table above with their clause numbers rather than in the converter.

Six has not always been the number, which is why the historical over lengths are offered here. Test overs originally had four balls, England moved to five in 1889 and six in 1900, and Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan and briefly England all used eight-ball overs at some point. The two sources read for this page disagree about when Australia’s eight-ball era began — ESPNcricinfo’s 2008 history says 1922-23, Wikipedia’s table gives 1924/25 and then a long run from 1936/37 — so both readings are printed above rather than one being chosen quietly. They agree that it ended after 1978-79 and that six balls has been universal in Test cricket since 1979-80. An eight-ball over is eight balls whichever reading is right, so the conversion is unaffected.

For the arithmetic rather than the conversion, the cricket run rate calculator and the bowling economy, average and strike rate calculator both take the overs and the balls as two separate fields, which removes the problem rather than converting around it. The net run rate calculator needs a true decimal, because a group aggregate is a sum of overs and cannot be written in the notation at all — that is the page this converter is most often wanted for.

Frequently asked questions

How many balls are in 19.4 overs?

118. The figure means nineteen completed overs and four balls, so 19 × 6 + 4 = 118 legal balls, and the true number of overs is 19.667.

Why is 19.6 overs not a thing?

Because the sixth legal ball of an over completes it and the count becomes 20.0. The figure after the point counts balls out of six, so it only ever runs from 0 to 5. Nothing between .6 and .9 can appear on a scorecard.

How many balls are in an over?

Six legal balls. MCC Laws of Cricket, 2017 Code, Law 17.1: “the ball shall be bowled from each end alternately in overs of 6 balls”, and clause 17.1 of both the ICC Men’s ODI and Men’s T20I Playing Conditions says the same. Law 17.3.3 adds that only valid balls count, so a wide or no-ball is re-bowled without advancing the six.

Were overs always six balls?

No. Test overs originally had four balls, England used five from 1889 and six from 1900, and eight-ball overs were used in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan and briefly England. ESPNcricinfo dates Australia’s adoption to 1922-23 while Wikipedia’s table gives 1924/25 and then 1936/37 onwards; both are shown above. Six balls has been universal in Test cricket since 1979-80.

Can I just type 19.4 into the overs field?

You can, and you will get 116.4 balls, which is arithmetically correct and the wrong answer to your question. The overs field here is a true decimal. Type 118 into the balls field instead, or use the run rate page, which takes the overs and the balls as two separate fields.

Related calculators

References

Marylebone Cricket Club. The Laws of Cricket, 2017 Code — Law 17.1, “The ball shall be bowled from each end alternately in overs of 6 balls”, and 17.3.3, only valid balls count towards the six. lords.org (read 12 Oct 2026). The MCC’s Laws index lists the current edition as the 2017 Code 4th Edition (2026), while the individual Law pages still carry a 2017 copyright line.
International Cricket Council. Men’s ODI Playing Conditions, clause 17: The Over — 17.1, “overs of 6 balls”. icc-cricket.com (read 12 Oct 2026).
International Cricket Council. Men’s T20I Playing Conditions, clause 17: The Over — 17.1, “overs of 6 balls”. icc-cricket.com (read 12 Oct 2026).
International Cricket Council. Men’s ODI Playing Conditions, clause 13: Innings — 13.6.1 (50 overs), 13.7.2 (minimum 20 overs for a result), 13.9.1–13.9.3 (10 overs a bowler, one fifth of a reduced total). icc-cricket.com (read 12 Oct 2026).
ESPNcricinfo. That’s the over, 6 June 2008 — four-ball overs originally, five from 1889, six from 1900; Australia chose eight-ball overs in 1922-23, South Africa used them from 1938-39 to 1957-58 and Pakistan from 1974-75 to 1977-78; the six-ball over “has been the standard since 1979-80”. espncricinfo.com (read 12 Oct 2026).
Wikipedia. Over (cricket) — cited only because it DISAGREES with ESPNcricinfo on the Australian eight-ball seasons, giving 1924/25 and then 1936/37 to 1978/79 rather than a continuous run from 1922-23. Both readings are printed on this page rather than one being chosen quietly (read 12 Oct 2026).