Denis Compton and Bill Edrich keep to the straight and narrow after completing an Ashes-clinching win © Central Press/Getty Images

A run is cricket's journey and its destination - the currency that unites batters, bowlers, and fielders, and in the sport it shows up in many, many forms.

In the picture above, the surroundings at The Oval were made for anything but running, after England won the final Test of the 1953 Ashes to take the series 1-0. It called for a pitch invasion, of course, but the crowd politely made room for Denis Compton and Bill Edrich, the unbeaten batters, to jog back to the pavilion.

"Me and Leachy [Jack Leach] could have literally had a conversation, he was that close to me," Ben Stokes said, at the press conference after the Headingley Test in 2019. Stokes had single-handedly scored 71 of the 73 needed for England to emphatically, if not miraculously, chase down 362 and level the series 1-1. A misjudged attempt at a single landed Jack Leach at the wrong end and would have seen England lose their final wicket and the Test by one run. Nathan Lyon fumbled and Leach ran free, as did England.

Once more unto the Leach: a stop, a drop and a run Alex Davidson / © Getty Images

Fast bowling's optics are as mesmerising as their effects are intimidating. Watching cricket on a screen often doesn't capture those feelings. Imagine you're at the ground, or in the Colombo nets watching Diana Baig practice for the ODI World Cup, or more alarmingly, that you're at the other end facing Baig. She runs in with a weapon that can move sideways or up and down, at pace. "Watch the ball", they say, and it's easier said that done when a fast bowler is steaming in at you.

Weaponry in motion: looks fast, feels faster Matthew Lewis / © ICC/Getty Images

New Zealand's Mark Richardson was given the nickname "Rigor" - short for rigor mortis - by Shane Bond in 1996 as a testament to his agility on the field and speed between wickets. He was given a chance to redeem himself on the final day of what would be the last Test he ever played for his country, against Australia in Adelaide in 2004. Just not on the field.

In what had become a tradition, Richardson would often race the slowest members of the opposition in a 100 metre run while his team-mates took bets on it. For his final race, he faced off against an equally speedy Darren Lehman - and won. It was the only one Richardson won in the five or six races he ran.

Slow off the Mark? Richardson begs to differ Hamish Blair / © Getty Images

After a long year of isolation and empty stadiums and social distancing, you can feel the palpable joy in Mohammad Rizwan and Co getting the run of the Queenstown Events Centre during their tour of New Zealand in 2020.

Nature is heeling: Pakistan's players run beyond the boundary James Allan / © Getty Images

Sometimes the drink is in you, and sometimes you are in the drink. Victoria players sprint for cover at the SCG during the Sheffield Shield in 1981 as the skies open.

Dry run: Victoria players exit stage left as rain hits the SCG Kenneth Stevens / © Fairfax Media/Getty Images

Running for cover means slightly different things in cricket, such as for this member of the ground staff in Bengaluru in 2024. It was only the beginning of a deluge of misfortune for hosts India who went on to collapse for 46 against New Zealand there, before losing their first home Test series in 12 years.

Shower to cover: Ground staff sprint to save the pitch from the rain Idrees Mohammed / © AFP/Getty Images

One of the moments of pure joy, rare and fleeting as it may be, is watching an opposition batter get run out. It's almost always avoidable, it's often a free wicket and certainly warms the cockles of the fielders' hearts. Here's the wicketkeeper enjoying that very feeling as a batter runs to his dismissal in a scenic evening near the India Gate in Delhi.

Running isn't easy when you have to share a pad with the keeper Tom Shaw / © Getty Images

A bunged toe from a Mitchell Starc yorker ended Shamar Joseph's knock in West Indies' second innings at the Gabba in 2024. He headed out for scans and did not bowl on the third evening. He might not have come to the ground at all on the fourth day but to-be-made history had other plans.

Shamar's first over came 28 overs into the innings, with Australia 93 for 2. His 71st ball ended the game as his 7 for 68 bowled Australia out for 207. It was West Indies' first Test win in Australia since 1997, and Joseph's joy was visible in his sprint past the boundary in celebration, broken toe and all.

Takes toe to tango, but not to run, evidently Albert Perez / © CA/Cricket Australia/Getty Images

The group run is a mandatory ritual after a particularly significant win. The Women's Asian Games in 2010 was historic for Japan. They beat Nepal twice to make the bronze medal match. They then beat hosts China in Guangzhou after Kurumi Ota, Shizuka Kubota, and Ema Kuribayashi, all right-arm seamers, gave away just eight runs in each of their four-over quotas. China made 65 for 6, which was chased down by Japan with five balls to spare, leading to this surging celebration.

Japan's players run onto the field after beating China in the Asian Games Mark Baker / © Associated Press

What "see ball, hit ball" is to cricket, "one foot in front of the other, with power" is to running, coined by once fastest man, and always a cricket enthusiast, Usain Bolt, who put Australian players through their paces in a promotional campaign at the MCG in 2017. When Usain Bolt says run, you run.

On your marks, get set, Bolt: Maxwell, Finch, Handscomb, and Agar see run, run run Quinn Rooney / © Getty Images

Starting a tour in Australia is never easy, especially if you come into the first Test at the WACA after losing to a second XI side in a tour game a fortnight ago. From there, things only got worse for Pakistan in 2004 as they lost another multi-day tour game and went on to concede a first-innings deficit of 202 runs in the Test.

And Pakistan were bedevilled by birds for much of it - first by Glenn "Pigeon" McGrath, who went on to take career-best figures of 8 for 24, and then by the veritable army of seagulls that roost on the field during the day, making bird strikes a real hazard when running on the field.

The WACA's seagulls made sure Pakistan's game never got off the ground Ryan Pierse / © Getty Images

It's called a single, and it's seemingly a simple run between wickets, but can often turn into an obstacle course as you dodge fielder and bowler alike to get to the other end before the ball. If you can't leap over the obstructions, run around them, as Pathum Nissanka did in Auckland.

Pathum Nissanka deals with the tall ask of running around Will O'Rourke © Associated Press

Ekanth is a sub-editor with Cricinfo

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