You really are no better than those idiot Americans who make idiotic comments about soccer, out of ignorance. Yes baseball does not have the variables of the pitch surface and bounce that make cricket interesting, but you have everything else completely wrong. Cricket is a batsmen's game. A batsman is expected to score, and score often, in cricket. It is difficult to get a batsman out and thus it is a big deal when it happens. In baseball it is the exact opposite; baseball is the pitcher's game and the pitcher is expected to get most batters out. A good batter is doing well to hit .300, that is, more than two thirds of the time when he swings, he misses. Hitting a baseball pitch is not easy and anyone who compares a baseball pitch to cricket's "slog" does not know what he is talking about. Also the batter in baseball does not have the luxury of choosing which ball to hit; he must swing or he will be struck out. He does not have the luxury of a big flat paddle to hit the ball with, either. Here is a book you need to read: http://www.amazon.com/Playing-Hard-...4719848?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1182574304&sr=1-1 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Playing-Har...0217219?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1182575200&sr=8-1 The rest of your comments are equally silly and ill-informed. There is no point in responding to them. You simply don't know what you are talking about. Until you know both sports well, you simply shouldn't try making these silly comparisons.
A balanced post and one I agree with for the most part being a huge fan of both sports. However, I take issue with this fact - a .300 batting average means the batter gets on base 3 out of every 10 at-bats NOT that he connects on 3 of 10 swings. In fact a batter in baseball connects far more often with the ball. Sometimes it is fouled off (in cricket a batsmen can use this to his advantage, not so in baseball). He can also hit it into play but to a fielder who catches or throws him out - this does not mean he has swung on and missed the pitch either, merely he has not played it into a gap well enough to advance to first base. In cricket the field of play has 4 times the area of play (ie it is a 360 degree open field versus the 90 degree field in baseball - that measure may be wrong but you get my meaning). This makes field placement a lot more restrictive in baseball and a lot easier to defend against. Also in cricket you do not have to run, in baseball you do. If you could pick and choose when you run in baseball, batting averages would be much higher. Finally your point about a batter in baseball having to swing or he strikes out is also not 100% accurate - he only strikes out if he already has 2 strikes against him. In cricket the ball is not always arrowed towards the stumps but chances are if a cricketer swings and misses he'll be out, bowled, lbw or nicked behind. There are no absolutes on either side of the argument. But at the end of the day, hitting a round ball with a round bat is bloody hard to do well. As is amassing a test average of 50+. My hats off to all the top class sportsmen who do this well. Oh and for the record I was at the University of Kent in the late 90's and both Smith and Dean Headly used to frequent our gym - both top class geezers.
See, I was very pleased with your posts to this point. It was an intelligent response. Ho-Hum. I think that the sports of baseball and cricket have a lot in common and are indeed comparable. not silly at all
Ah, yes a wonderful sport, would be great to play it on ice though. . . btw - I actually had a relative in the 1888 US tour y'know
You stated that baseball was played by more than just "Americans". I was simply pointing out that "America" is a continent and people from "America" can be considered "American". In the same way I can be considered European, being, as I am, from Europe.
"America" is not a continent. South America and North America are continents. Someone from Mexico is Mexican and North American but not "American".
Derbyshire just beat the West Indies ahead of the series with England. Are they worse than Zimbabwe at this stage? Bangladesh? It's pretty embarrassing to see the fall from Ambrose and Walsh just a few years back.