Hit wicket: timing and no-ball exceptions
A batter breaking their own wicket is not always dismissed hit wicket.
The batting action matters
MCC Law 35 covers the striker breaking their wicket with bat or person after the bowler enters the delivery stride, while the ball is in play. It includes preparing for or receiving a delivery and setting off immediately for the first run after playing or playing at it.
Imagine a striker stepping back to play a legal delivery and knocking a bail off with a foot. The relevant question is whether the action meets those conditions, rather than whether the ball itself touched the stumps.
Later running is different
The Law excludes breaking the wicket during running other than setting off immediately for that first run. Trying to avoid being run out or stumped, or trying to avoid a throw, is also excluded from hit wicket.
If the striker puts down the wicket before the bowler enters the delivery stride, the specified response is dead ball. The same visible fallen bail can therefore have different meaning depending on when it happens.
No-ball changes the dismissal
A no-ball is another listed exception: the striker is not out hit wicket from that delivery. The Law does not give the same exclusion for a wide. When hit wicket is awarded, the one-run wide penalty and applicable five-run penalties can stand.
Read the final dismissal label alongside the extra and valid-ball count. Those fields help explain why an apparent wicket is removed after a no-ball check. A photograph of fallen bails alone cannot establish the final decision.