Comparison of baseball and cricket
Baseball has a number of rules, terminology and strategies which are very similar to cricket. Although the origins of baseball remain uncertain, it may be derived from cricket, or the two may share similar predecessor games.
Play
Baseball games have far lower scores than cricket matches; therefore moments of poor pitching (bowling) and individual defensive mistakes are more costly. A player who is a good batter but who is not a competent fielder will not play regularly, or only in the designated hitter position in leagues that use it. Perhaps the most striking fielding difference between baseball and cricket is in throwing. Baseball requires hard throws with shallow arcs, with multiple fielders getting in the action if the ball has to brought in from the outfield. In cricket, outfielders tend to throw the ball with a much higher arc usually so that it can make it all the way to the wicket-keeper without further intervention.
Cricket batsmen display far more variety in their approach than baseball batters, using a wider variety of batting strokes to direct the ball in many directions into a field which provides much more open space.
Cricket bowlers, since they are not restricted to a small strike zone as their target, also use a wide variety of approaches which are not available to baseball pitchers (many involving unpredictable movement caused by contact with the ground on the pitch before the ball reaches the batsman). Bowlers are grouped into different categories based on their bowling style: pacemen, seamers, off-spinners, leg-spinners, wrist-spinners (as opposed to finger-spinners), etc. It's not unusual for bowlers to fall under more than one category. Baseball pitchers, by contrast, must use changes in ball speed and movement caused only by air friction and spin to deceive batters, as most pitches which come near touching the ground are ineffectively allowed to pass as balls.
"Baseball is to cricket, what checkers is to chess," has become a common adage among those familiar with both the sports. That statement refers to the wide-array of factors that affect the cricket game (from composition of the pitch soil to weather conditions -- wind, moisture) and the equally numerous strategies that can be employed to exploit these different factors. No restrictions on fielding placement (not even for the wicket-keeper), a variety of bowling styles, 360 degrees of open field, a wide bowling area (target zone), and so on provide for a lot more strategical play (look at Bodyline for an infamous instance). More importantly, in cricket, coaches cannot intervene or direct gameplay. It's upon the captain to make all the calls once the players are out on the field, and the coach is reduced to a mere spectator.
Baseball games are also much shorter than cricket. While baseball games last a few hours (upwards of 6 hours if a games goes into several tie-breaker innings), cricket games can last upto days. The shorter version of the game (termed ODIs - One Day Internationals) lasts for a day, while the longer version (termed Test matches) lasts for five days.
Equipment
Baseball players use thin, round bats and wear gloves to field, while cricketers use wide, flat bats and field barehanded.
Another difference between the two sports involves the condition of the ball as a match progresses. In cricket, if a ball is hit into the stands, the spectators must return it to the field. Also, a ball that is scuffed or scratched will continue in use; a ball must be used for a minimum number of overs (currently 80 in Test cricket) before it can be replaced. If a ball is damaged, lost, or illegally modified, it is replaced by a used ball of similar condition to the old one. Finally, cricketers are allowed to use natural substances (e.g. saliva and sweat) to modify the ball, and may polish it on their uniforms, although they cannot deliberately scratch the ball. In major league baseball, a ball that is hit into the stands is not returned to play unless caught by a fielder before it touches the ground; spectators are free to keep any balls that come into their possession. Baseball rules prohibit the deliberate scratching or scuffing of a ball, or the application of any foreign substance that could conceivably affect the flight or visibility of a ball. Balls that become scuffed or scratched due to normal game play are immediately removed from play and never reused. The current rules regarding the condition of baseballs did not come into effect until 1920, and were not consistently enforced for several decades afterwards; before then, they were far closer to those still present in cricket. Because of financial or practical limits on the supply of fresh balls, enforcement of these rules is much more limited in minor league and amateur baseball games, where balls become worn and scuffed in the course of play; even so, deliberate scratching or polishing of the ball (or use of the spitball) is universally forbidden.
Similarity in terminology
Terms shared between the two sports:
- Break
- Drive
- Fielder
- Infield
- Innings
- Lineup
- Out
- Outfield
- Pinch hitter
- Runs
Comparisons
| Term | Cricket | Baseball |
|---|---|---|
| Each team's turn | An innings (singular) | A half-inning (singular) or innings (plural) |
| Person who delivers the ball and throwing | Bowler — Bowling | Pitcher — Pitching |
| Person who faces the ball | Batsman | Batter |
| Distance between above two players | just under 18 m | just over 18 m |
| person behind the player batting | Wicket-keeper | catcher |
| scoring over the fence | six runs (sixer) | home run |
| hits inside the field | one or more runs, though above four are extremely rare | runners advancing, with possibility of a runner reaching home for a run |
| catching the ball in flight | a catch | fly out |
| hitting the ball | shot or stroke | a hit, a drive |
| a player batting | (batting) innings | plate appearance |
| a dismissal type | Run out | Ground out |
| fielding miscues | overthrows | errors |
| curving in the air type delivery (away from batsman) | outdipper | curveball/slider/cut fastball (if batter and pitcher use same hand) |
| curving in the air type delivery (towards batsman) | indipper | screwball (if batter and pitcher use same hand) |
| hitting the ball in a specific area | placement | place hitting |
| central playing arena | pitch | diamond |
| pitched out of the playing zone | a wide | a ball |
Different meanings
| term | Cricket | Baseball |
|---|---|---|
| inning(s) | always ends in 's', is when a team bats | singular, a set of two batting innings |
| Pitch (cricket) |
|
the act of throwing the ball |
| Lineup | flexible | rigid |
| Break | A delivery that changes direction after pitching due to imparted spin. | A pitched ball that curves in the air |
| Drive | A powerful shot hit with the face of the bat | A powerful hit, usually hit deep into the outfield |
| Pinch hitter | A batman promoted up the batting order to score runs quickly in a one-day game (cricket deliberately borrowed the baseball term). | A substitute for a batter. |
| a 'ball' | a legitimate delivery | an illegitimate delivery |
| a delivery that the batsman/batter can't reach | a 'wide' delivery | a 'ball' |
| substitution | injured players can be replaced for fielding purposes only | players are replaced in lineup |