Baseball vs Cricket: a Comparison

Baseball vs Cricket: a Comparison

Two of the most popular sports in the world are baseball and cricket. These pastimes are enjoyed not only in one region of the world but sweep it far and wide. Fans of each of these cannot help but immediately notice the similarities between these two sports, though their upbringing and traditions normally have them familiar with at most just one of them. So how similar or how different are these sports? That is precisely what we’ll be exploring in today’s article.

These are very popular pastimes as well among those who like to bet on:

Background

The reason why people are usually familiar with how one works but not the other or don’t understand either one of them is because, though international, these are highly regionalized sports. Baseball originated in the 19th century United States. The first league was the National Association of Baseball Players in 1857. Since then, it expanded to all over Latin America, where it is a big hit in many countries, including:

• Puerto Rico

• Venezuela

• Mexico

This has no doubt been a result of the vast influence and economic involvement the United States has had in the rest of the Americas. Beyond the Western hemisphere, it has also become an immense hit in Japan.

Cricket on the other hand has a much older history, originating in England in the 16th century, the first recorded match taking place in 1709. With its immense empire, which covered the entire Indian subcontinent, it spread this sport to the region where it remains immensely a truly beloved pastime. 

Other countries steeped in the sport are:

• Australia

• Saudi Arabia

• Guyana

• the Caribbean

As both sports find their roots centuries ago in England, it is clear that they do share a common origin. In fact, interestingly, the same is true for European and American football, which both started out being called football, because they involved the advancement of a ball on foot, as opposed to on a horse.

The similarities

When a fan of one sport lays eyes on a match taking place in the other sport for the first time, they are logically led to assume that there may only be slight differences. Indeed, there are many aspects of these games that they share.

Batter, or the Batsman

In both sports, the objective is to hit a ball traveling at varying, often high, speeds heading to the player tasked with hitting the ball with the goal of scoring runs. The same term is used to denote points in both.

Pitcher, or the bowler

Both baseball and cricket involve a specialized art of throwing the ball in different ways with the end goal of fooling the batter to get him out. They throw the ball sometimes slow, sometimes fast, sometimes straight, sometimes with movement on the ball as it travels. The way this movement is created is by holding the ball in different grips, causing different spins.

Catcher, or wicketkeeper

In both cases, there is also a defender standing behind the batter, which is called by different names. However, in both cases, his job is to catch the ball moving at high speeds and in all varieties of motions. 

Umpire

There is an official standing behind the catcher in both cases enforcing pitching (bowling) rules.

Protective gear

As the ball is moving at a high speed, the two sports require the batter, the catcher, and the umpire to wear protective gear, including a helmet and shinguards.

Homeruns, or boundary shots

Knocking a ball really far outside the field of play results in runs in both sports.

Need to eliminate batters and runners over innings

Innings are the format in which the offense in both sports attempts to score runs over a particular session before the other team gets a shot. During this time, it is the defense’s objective to eliminate the batters or runners.

The safe area

In cricket, the crease is a safe area where he cannot be dismissed if he remains inside it. In baseball, the same applies to the three bases they can remain at after making it to one of the bases following a successful hit.

The differences

That is more or less where the similarities end. Here are some of the biggest differences

1. Firstly, although in both professional sports, wooden bats are used on the ball, in college baseball, metal bats are allowed to be used. 

2. The bowler, or the pitcher, is supposed to bounce the ball off of the ground, while in baseball, this would be illegal. Meanwhile, a bowl in cricket does not allow the bowler to bend his arm. In baseball, this is a required part of the pitch (throw).

3. The playing field: this is one of the most striking differences. In baseball, there is a diamond-shaped infield facing the batter’s box and beyond that is the outfield. To the left and the right of the playing field is the foul area where a player cannot hit a ball or he will be given a “strike” (up to two maximum). In cricket, the ball can be hit in any direction at which point the fielders are required to defend the ball.

4. Run are easier to come by in cricket and require less running. Baseball has 4 bases while cricket requires exchanging creases with another player.

5. Innings length: in baseball, to end the inning for the other team, what the defense has to do is get three players out. In cricket, an innings continues until 10 out of the 11 players have been dismissed or the designated number of overs (series of 6 bowls) has been bowled. 

More on innings and overs

The duration of an inning in baseball is normally either 9 or 8½, no matter what the league. The only time that it’s shortened by half an inning is if the second team to bat already has more runs than the other team that finished their ninth inning of batting. However, if at the end of 9 innings, the score is tied, the innings will continue one by one until there’s a winner.

In cricket, it’s based on overs, which depends on the match format:

More on run-scoring

Baseball has four bases: home plate, first base, second base, and third base, which the batter must subsequently make his way around to get back to home plate, at which point he scores a run if he succeeds. 

In cricket, a run is scored when a batsman hits the ball and runs between the wickets, with both batsmen switching ends to complete the run. A boundary, cricket’s version of a home run, awards four runs if it hits the ground before crossing or six runs if it clears the boundary before hitting the ground.

Dismissals, or getting players out

In baseball, the pitcher, catcher, and fielders get the batters, or runners, out in different ways. 

These include:

• The pitcher striking the batter out (throwing a total of three strikes) when the batter either misses or doesn’t swing at a “good pitch” in the “strike zone” observed by the umpire.

• A fly ball being caught in mid-air.

• A ball being thrown to the base a runner is forced to run to in order to advance.

• The player being tagged by a defender holding the ball in his glove. 

In cricket this can be done in a variety of other ways:

• Being bowled: the ball hits the stumps, or the wicket situated in both safe zones, thus knocking down the bails sitting on top of them while the player is not in the crease – the safe area. 

• A fly ball is caught before hitting the ground.

• A leg before wicket: the ball would have hit the stumps (the wicket), but the batsman’s leg was in the way.

• A run out: the batsman is outside of their crease and the fielding team successfully dislodges the bails at the stumps.