In the sport of cricket, bowling is the action of propelling the ball toward the wicket defended by a batsman. A player skilled at bowling is called a bowler.

A single act of bowling the ball towards the batsman is called a ball or a delivery. Bowlers bowl deliveries in sets of six, called an over. Once a bowler has bowled their over, one of their team mates will bowl an over from the other end of the pitch.

There are rules in the Laws of Cricket governing how a ball must be bowled. If a ball is bowled illegally, an umpire will rule it a no ball. If a ball is bowled too wide of the stumps or high for the batsman to be able to hit it, an umpire will rule it a wide.