{{unreferenced, date=November 2008 In

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

, a single is scored when the

batsman In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the ball with a bat to score runs and prevent the loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since September 2021, officially referred to as a batter (historically, the ...

take one

run Run(s) or RUN may refer to: Places * Run (island), one of the Banda Islands in Indonesia * Run (stream), a stream in the Dutch province of North Brabant People * Run (rapper), Joseph Simmons, now known as "Reverend Run", from the hip-hop group ...

, either following a successful

shot Shot may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Shot'' (album), by The Jesus Lizard *''Shot, Illusion, New God'', an EP by Gruntruck *'' Shot Rev 2.0'', a video album by The Sisters of Mercy * "Shot" (song), by The Rasmus * ''Shot'' (2017 f ...

(with the run attributed to the on-strike batsman) or when running for a bye or

leg bye In cricket, a leg bye is a type of extra. It is a run scored by the batting team if the batter has not hit the ball with their bat, but the ball has hit the batter's body or protective gear. It is covered by Law 23 of the Laws of Cricket. Scori ...

(counted as an

extra Extra or Xtra may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film * ''The Extra'' (1962 film), a Mexican film * ''The Extra'' (2005 film), an Australian film Literature * ''Extra'' (newspaper), a Brazilian newspaper * ''Extra!'', an American me ...

). Unlike when a

boundary Boundary or Boundaries may refer to: * Border, in political geography Entertainment *Boundaries (2016 film), ''Boundaries'' (2016 film), a 2016 Canadian film *Boundaries (2018 film), ''Boundaries'' (2018 film), a 2018 American-Canadian road trip ...

is hit (and the run are scored even if the batsmen don't leave their creases), scoring a single requires the batsmen to physically run between the

wicket In cricket, the term wicket has several meanings: * It is one of the two sets of three stumps and two bails at either end of the pitch. The fielding team's players can hit the wicket with the ball in a number of ways to get a batsman out. ...

s. This introduces the risk of being

run out Run out is a method of dismissal in cricket, governed by Law 38 of the Laws of Cricket. A run out usually occurs when the batsmen are attempting to run between the wickets, and the fielding team succeed in getting the ball to one wicket befo ...

, so effective communication between the batsmen is vital. If one batsman attempts to run and the other stays put, then a humiliating run out is likely, but quick and well attuned batsmen may be able to run "quick singles" when other batsmen would not. In general, singles are much easier to score when the

field Field may refer to: Expanses of open ground * Field (agriculture), an area of land used for agricultural purposes * Airfield, an aerodrome that lacks the infrastructure of an airport * Battlefield * Lawn, an area of mowed grass * Meadow, a grass ...

is set further out, but bringing more fielders in makes it easier for the on-strike batsman to hit boundaries. Singles usually rotate the strike in a

partnership A partnership is an arrangement where parties, known as business partners, agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests. The partners in a partnership may be individuals, businesses, interest-based organizations, schools, governments o ...

, but because the bowling end changes at the end of an over, singles deliberately only taken at the end of an over are used by quality batsmen to keep the strike when they are batting with the tail-enders, who are unlikely to survive for long against quality bowling and whom an experienced batsman will normally try to protect.

See also