Scoring (cricket)

Run is a term used in cricket for determining the score. A single run (known as a "single") is scored when a batsman (known as the "striker") has hit the ball with his bat and directed it away from the fielders so that he and his 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. In order to complete the 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.

Method

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". There are rare instances of "fours" being all run when the ball does not reach the boundary. The batsmen stop running when the ball is being returned to either the bowler or the wicketkeeper. In addition to runs, the team total is incremented by extras, also known as "sundries", which are awarded as a form of penalty against the fielding side, either because the bowler has broken the rules or because the fielders have failed to control a loose ball which did not make contact with the bat. Extras are not added to the batsman's individual score.

If, when attempting to turn for an additional run, one of the batsmen fails to ground his bat behind the popping crease, the umpire declares a "short run" and this is not added to the score. A short run is also called if one of the batsmen drops his bat when running and does not recover it before completing the run. The umpire can, at his discretion, warn the batsman if he considers a short run to have been a deliberate act. In that event, the umpire will cancel all runs made following the last delivery and will instead impose a five-run penalty on the batting team, reducing their score by five: this is an extreme course of action that is rarely undertaken.

History

In the written records of cricket, "run" is as old as "cricket" itself. In the earliest known reference to the sport, dated Monday, 17 January 1597 (Julian date), Surrey coroner John Derrick made a legal deposition concerning a plot of land in Guildford that when (c.1550):

"a scholler of the Ffree Schoole of Guildeford, hee and diverse of his fellowes did runne and play there at creckett and other plaies".

It may well be that in this context, "runne" meant running in general. For a long time, until well into the 18th century, the scorers sat on the field and increments to the score were known as "notches" because they would notch the scores on a stick, with a deeper knick at 20, which of course represented a score. The same method was used by shepherds when counting sheep. In the earliest known Laws of Cricket, dated 1744, one of the rules states:

"If in running a Notch, the Wicket is struck down by a Throw, before his Foot, Hand, or Bat is over the Popping-Crease, or a Stump hit by the Ball, though the Bail was down, it's out".

In the 1774 version, the equivalent rule states:

"Or if in running a notch, the wicket is struck down by a throw, or with the ball in hand, before his foot, hand, or bat is grounded over the popping-crease; but if the bail is off, a stump must be struck out of the ground by the ball".

Bibliography

• Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC): Laws of Cricket. MCC (2018).