Batsmen can attempt more than one run per ball but must have covered the entire length of the pitch before the fielding side break the stumps with the ball or else they are ‘run out’. If a batsman does this and successfully reaches the other end of the pitch, they and their team are awarded one run. That’s because the simplest way of scoring in cricket is by hitting the ball and running from one end of the pitch to the other. The first and most fundamental thing to understand as regards the question of ‘how does cricket scoring work’ is that scores are expressed as a number of ‘runs’. Most of those are related to how cricket scoring works and that’s what we’re going to explain right here. There are, after all, a whole lexicon of phrases unique to the sport and a whole host of rules which each include their own complexities, nuances and exceptions.Īt the end of the day, however, there are only a very small handful of things you really need to know in order to enjoy a day at the cricket. Like many sports, cricket can appear pretty bewildering to newcomers who might be giving it a watch for the very first time.