The USA a baseball country is a co-host to an International Cricket event – T20 Cricket World Cup 2024. Interestingly, USA played the first ever international match, against neighbours Canada in 1844. However, cricket never made a base and baseball became the USA’s bat and ball game of choice.
For avid readers Allsportspk knowledge minds present an interesting juxtaposition of Cricket and Baseball.
Cricket and Baseball may be similar when it comes to hitting the ball with a bat, however, the nature of these two sports are extremely different from each other. Whether it is the rules, equipment or terminologies, both these sports are different from each other in almost all of the aspects in which they are played.
A Brief History
- Cricket, A Historical View
Surprisingly, cricket has a history that dates back to the late 16th century. No one knew at that time that a game that has originated from south-east England would become a global sport in the 19th, 20th and now in the 21st century.
The longest format of this game was first played in the 18th century as Test Cricket began in 1844 and was officially recognized in 1877. Long after the era of Test Cricket, came One-day cricket and then came twenty over cricket and a revolution of T20 leagues in the world.
- Baseball, An Uncertain History
The exact origin of this sport is not known, however, traces of using a bat and a ball go back 2000 years ago to Egypt. But, the real origin of this game came in the mid-19th century.
Baseball was mix of two games, cricket and rounders (A game popular among children and brought to New England by the colonists). And, it was during the time of the American Revolution that this game was properly invented.
Also, the first club of this sport was found in the city of New York and was known as New York Knicker Bocker Baseball Club. But, it was not until 1846 that this game was properly set into the American culture and is now a huge part in the American tradition.
Geographic Locations and Popularity
Baseball is most popular in America; however, it is also played in countries like Cuba, Canada, Mexico, Panama, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Italy and Holland.
Cricket on the other hand is much more popular as it is played by 116 countries and watched by over 2 billion people all around the world.
Teams and Innings Format
Baseball is played between two teams of nine players each. Each game is divided into nine innings, each divided into two halves. In the first half of the inning, one team bats and tries to score as many runs as possible, while the other team is in the field and attempts to stop the batting team from scoring. In the second half, the teams switch places. The team which scores the most runs at the end of nine innings is the winner.
Cricket is played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a 22-yard (20-metre) pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. Each game comprises of two innings. After the toss a team is the batting side and the other is the bowling/fielding side. After the prescribed overs the teams switch their roles. The ultimate goals is same as Baseball to score as many runs and win.
How Many Forms Are There In These Games?
- Cricket Forms
A total of three main formats are a part of this game and more formats are popping its head every now and then.
Every match consists of an over and every over has a total of 6 balls. The frequency of the overs depend on the format of cricket which is being played.
Cricket started from the longest format i.e. Test Cricket that went to almost 4 or 5 days of straight play. However, eventually One-Day Cricket came and as evident by the name, the cricket match is over in 1 day. Also commonly known as ODI.
Then came the era of T20 cricket in which 20 overs are played by each team and the match time duration is between 4-5 hours.
- Baseball Forms
There is only one form in which the Baseball game is played. in a series of innings and each of these innings is divided into 2 halves. The team playing on it’s home are always supposed to play defense while their opponents play the role of offense.
Baseball games only last from 2.5 to 4 hours much similar to the time taken for a T20 match to finish.
Playing Terminologies
Both games are different in nature and there is no reason as to why their terminologies would not be different. So, apart from one every terminology used in both these games is different.Have a look:
| General Term | Cricket | Baseball |
| Delivering The Ball | Bowler | Pitcher |
| Striker Of the ball | Batsman | Batter |
| Person Behind The Striker | Wicket-keeper | Catcher |
| Person Who Fields The Ball | Fielder | Fielder |
Differences in Field Formation
- Cricket Ground And Pitch
The ground in which cricket is played is an Oval ground and the pitch is a rectangular area in the middle of it. The size of a cricket pitch is about 20.1 meters or 22 yards.
The boundary sizes differ from ground to ground and apart from the two square boundaries of 65 meters no specific distance has been set by the ICC.
- Baseball Ground And Pitch
A Baseball ground is a diamond-shaped field and this sport is played in a quadrant of fair territory between foul lines.
The minimum distance kept from the far edge of the territory and home plate is about 250 ft while the recommended distance is about 325 ft.
Equipment
- Bat, Ball, Gloves
Baseball bats are round and narrow as a batter’s intent is always to hit the ball for a home-run. And, in cricket the bat is wide and flat as a batsman does not intend to hit every ball with the same intensity. Both bats also vary in size and weight as the intricacies of each sport require them to be.
Baseball ball is much larger in size than the cricket ball which has a smaller circumference area. Another main difference is also the leather which in the baseball’s case is somewhat thicker.
- Gloves
Apart from the wicket-keeper and the batsmen no other cricket player on the field wears any sort of glove on his hand. This is not the case for Baseball where it is common to see players wearing a glove on one hand to help them catch the ball.
Play
- Main Aim
Both games have the same aim i.e. to score runs and prevent the other team from scoring more than them. However, the scoring policies are completely different in both games.
- Scoring in Cricket
In cricket, a batsman has to strike the ball and make a run to the non-striker’s end upon which the other batsman also runs and as both of them switch ends, this constitutes 1 run.
Now, to score more the batsmen can run any amount of times without getting run-out. Moreover, to score more a batsman has to hit a boundary which allots him 4 runs and upon sailing the ball over the boundary he gets 6 runs.
- Scoring in Baseball
Each player starts from the home plate and their objective to earn the run by running to the next base, after hitting the ball. They have to continue this and finally return to their original position after which a point is earned.
To get an added advantage on the scoreboard a player has to hit the ball in the outfield and this earns him a “home run” which substitutes to 1,2,3 or even 4 runs. But, it all depends on how much runs have been scored on other bases.
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