Cricket and Baseball…..Is there any similarity at all?
February 10th, 2007 by prashantHave you ever tried to explain Cricket in America by saying it is kind of like Baseball? Living in US for a few years now, it gets interesting whenever I try to strike a conversation about cricket with an “american”. Most people think that it is a game that is played for days together 
True but then there is ODI and Twenty20 now. Most people however follow baseball and try to compare to see if that helps understand cricket. I am making an attempt here to see if there are any similarities between these two very popular sports.
Similarities:
0. They are both a National Pastime (Cricket is a national passtime in India for sure)
1. They both involve bat and a ball.
2. Both games have a concept of innings.
3. There are runs to be scored in both of them.
4. There are fielders, including a catcher (wicket-keeper) and a bowler (pitcher)
5. When the ball is hit out, it’s either a home-run or a six.
Differences:
0. Cricket has a “Match”. Baseball has a “Game”.
1. In my mind Baseball is a pitchers game, Cricket is a Batsman’s. What I mean, in Cricket, Batsman does not have much room for error and in Baseball one mistake from a pitcher can cost his team the game.
2. In baseball batsman gets to bat multiple times , as opposed to just once in Cricket ODIs.
3. Baseball has 9 innings, Cricket has one.
4. There is toss in Cricket to decide who bats first. In baseball the home team always bats second (bottom of the inning as it is called)
5. There are 4 bases in baseball as opposed to 2 in Cricket.
6. The “Game” starts with just one “hitter” at the “Home” plate. Cricket “Match” starts with 2 “Batsmen”, one at the “Striking” and the other at “non-striking” end.
7. The playing strip is in the middle of the Cricket ground. In baseball the playing “diamond” is at one end of the ground, with all the area “behind” it considered as a foul territory.
8. In Baseball, if the ball is “fair”, meaning not foul, the the “hitter” has to run. No such thing in cricket. The batsman has a choice of whether to run or not after hitting the ball.
9. The number of runs scored in baseball is very small compared to Cricket.
10. Cricket has World Cup, Baseball has World Series.
Now right off the “bat”, the differences “outscore” the similarities by the ratio of 2:1. So my advice to anyone trying to explain Cricket…Make sure you do not start by saying it is kind of like Baseball……
February 10th, 2007 at 12:16 pm
Hehe interesting analysis prashant and I will definitely keep that in mind before I start explaning about this national pass time for Indians to anybody who is knowledgeable about Baseball.
February 10th, 2007 at 2:05 pm
Yes, but there are also other similarities… they both have rules that say that if the ball is caught in the air then that peson is out. they both have an umpire who have the final say, also they both have some sort of dirt or sand on the field.
February 11th, 2007 at 5:59 am
I follow both the sports and am a huge fan of both the games. But I hardly see any similarities. The problem comes when people try to see one sport as the other. Lovers of Baseball hate the fact that cricket goes on for the whole day, but they do not understand that that is the whole essence of the game. People (quite a few of my friends) who love Cricket cannot accept the fact that there are so few runs scored in baseball. These two games are fundamentally different. One can enjoy both these games only if they dont compare them to each other. Once the comparison starts, you can never like the other game, and hence you lose out on a lot of fun and excitement.
More differences:
11. In cricket, the ball is pitched, in baseball it isnt.
12. In cricket the length where the ball is pitched is also important, as is the height where it reaches the batsman. In baseball, only the height matters.
13. In cricket, the seam of the ball is very pronounced and runs along the longest diameter of the ball. This results in the ball not being a perfect sphere (it protrudes out at the seam). In baseball the seam is not linear and the ball is almost completely a sphere.
14. In cricket the bowler can run a long as he wants before he bowls. In baseball the pitcher can only take one step
15. In cricket, the bowler cannot bend his hand and throw the ball. In baseball the pitcher can do so!
There are hundreds of other differences… but probably the biggest difference is … in baseball if a batter fails 7 times out of 10, he is considered a great player…. in cricket, the batsman gets only one chance!
The two games are completely different. Trying to understand one by comparing with the other never works and will never make someone like the other game.
Go India… Go Yankees!