Rog, it always used to be that runners were allowed but the ICC abolished this rule in 2011, due i believe to to some teams/players taking the pee. That is to say the batsman in question who requested a runner may not have been as indisposed as was made out.
I have been at games where the batsman who sustained an injury was, shall we say, somewhat portly. The "substitute runner" was almost always the batting team's answer to Usain Bolt !
And i concur, it will always be batsman as far as i am concerned.
Rog, it always used to be that runners were allowed but the ICC abolished this rule in 2011, due i believe to to some teams/players taking the pee. That is to say the batsman in question who requested a runner may not have been as indisposed as was