In the game of cricket, which of these deliveries is illegal?

In the terminology of the game of cricket, a beamer (less commonly beam ball) is a type of delivery in which the ball (bowled at a fast pace), without bouncing, passes above the batsman's waist height. Such a ball is often dangerously close to the batsman's head, due to the lack of control a bowler has over high full tosses. Worse, the batsman is expecting the ball to pitch on the wicket and therefore may not pick up the flight of the ball and may be struck by it.

This type of delivery can result in injuries to the batsman, and the penalty is an immediate no-ball signal given by the umpire and, in Twenty20 and one-day matches, a free hit. The use of beamers is governed under Law 42.6. The bowler is then given a warning by the umpire for dangerous bowling. Repeated or deliberate cases may result in the bowler being barred from bowling again for the remainder of the innings (or match), as happened with Waqar Younis in the 2003 Cricket World Cup. Fast or express bowlers, particularly younger players yet to fully refine their techniques, are likely to bowl such deliveries more often than other bowlers, albeit accidentally.

A beamer can severely injure a batsman, especially if the batsman's head is struck. Some cricket boards are considering introducing additional penalties in the form of monetary fines for the bowler if any batsman is injured as a result of this delivery.