Run (cricket)

Run is a term used in cricket for the basic means of scoring. A single run (known as a "single") is scored when a batsman (known as the "striker") has hit the ball with his/her bat and directed it away from the fielders so that he/she and his/her partner (the "non-striker") are able to run the length (22 yards) of the pitch. Depending on how long it takes the fielding team to recover the ball, the batsmen may run more than once. Each completed run increments the scores of both the team and the striker. The team's total score in the innings is the aggregate of all its batsmen's individual scores plus any extras. To complete a run, both batsmen must ground their bats behind the popping crease at the other end of the pitch. Attempting a run carries a risk factor because either batsman can be run out, and thereby dismissed, if the fielding side can break the wicket with the ball before the batsman has completed the run.

Scoring runs is the subject of Law 18 in the Laws of cricket.

The act of running is unnecessary if the batsman hits the ball to the marked boundary of the field. If the ball reaches the boundary having made contact with the ground, four runs are automatically added to the scores of both the batsman and the team. If the batsman succeeds in hitting the ball over the boundary on the full (i.e., the ball does not make contact with the ground until it is beyond the boundary), six runs are added. Batsmen frequently run singles and also "twos" and "threes". If the batsmen run a single or a three, they effectively exchange positions, so the striking batsman becomes the non-striker for the next delivery, and vice versa. If the single or three is scored off the last delivery of the over, the striker having changed ends retains strike for the first delivery of the next over. There are rare instances of "fours" being all run when the ball does not reach the boundary. A "five" is possible but would almost certainly need the assistance of a mistake by the fielders, such as an overthrow. In certain situations, a five can be awarded as "penalty runs". The batsman is never compelled to run and can deliberately play without attempting to score; baseball's force out rule has no equivalent in cricket.

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