Cricket in : The pitch, stumps and creases

Runs are the currency of cricket. Batters score by hitting the ball and running to the opposite crease before the fielders can break the wicket; each completed length of the pitch is one run, and they may run several. A ball that reaches the boundary along the ground is worth four; one cleared on the full is worth six. Batters need not run and will often defend or leave deliveries, waiting for a scoring chance. The two batters swap ends on odd numbers of runs, deciding who is on strike.

An over consists of six legal deliveries bowled from one end by a single bowler, after which play switches to the other end and a different bowler takes over. No bowler may bowl two overs in succession. In limited-overs cricket each bowler is capped, ten overs in a fifty-over ODI, four in a T20. Bowlers vary pace, swing, seam, and spin to beat the bat, and are judged on wickets taken and on economy, the average runs conceded per over.

There are ten ways to be out, but a handful dominate. Bowled: the ball hits the stumps. Caught: a fielder catches the ball before it bounces. Leg before wicket, or LBW: the ball would have hit the stumps but strikes the batter's pad first. Run out: the wicket is broken while batters are between creases. Stumped: the keeper removes the bails with the batter out of his ground. Rarer dismissals include hit wicket, obstructing the field, and timed out.