Baseball vs. Cricket- The Battle Between the Bat and Ball Games

Cricket and baseball are the best-known members of the bat and ball games. While they seem similar in many aspects, they have many differences in strategy and play. That they differ in their field size, number of players, paying equipment, terminologies, and rules, among other things. 

Here is a comparison between the games of the bat and ball family that will help you understand the nuances particular to each sport. 

Core Differences: 

• Baseball is played on a diamond-shaped field with bases at the corners, whereas Cricket is played on a section of a field known as the ‘pitch’ with batsman at each end. 

• In baseball, when the player runs and covers all four bases of the diamond field, he gets a run. In Cricket, the batsmen run between the two ends of the pitch. When both the batsmen safely exchange the positions, they score a run. 

• There are three wooden sticks called wickets or stumps on each end of the pitch. In baseball, there is only a single home plate. In Cricket, forcing an out is regarded as taking a wicket.

• Baseball’s strike zone is implicit and left for the umpire to interpret. In Cricket, the strike zone consists of wickets and is explicit. 

• Cricket is played between two teams with 11 players on each side. Baseball is played between two teams with 9 players on each side. 

• A baseball game consists of 9 innings but can be reduced to 4.5 if the weather condition doesn’t allow the play. In Cricket, there are three types – ODIs, T20s, and Test matches.