page_title: Comparison of baseball and cricket
section_title: Batting
hierarchical_section_title: Comparison of baseball and cricket / Play / Batting
context_page_description: Baseball and cricket are the best-known members of a family of related bat-and-ball games.
  Despite their similarities, the two sports also have many differences in play and in strategy. A comparison between baseball and cricket can be instructive to followers of either sport, since the similarities help to highlight nuances particular to each game.
context_section_description: The ball may be hit out of the field without bouncing to automatically score runs. (In baseball, a batter must run around all of the bases on a home run, but is under no risk of being out while doing so. In cricket, the batsman scores 6 runs, which while not technically being the maximum number of runs scorable off a single ball, is practically so).
  A cricket batter has significantly fewer restrictions than a baseball batter. They may swing and miss, or not swing, as many times as they like (so long as the ball isn't going toward the wicket), don't have to run if they hit the ball, may face as many deliveries (pitches) as they want to even after scoring runs (until they get out), and they have much more room between fielders to hit the ball to, given that there are no foul areas and the fielding team only has 2 more fielders to cover the significantly larger area of a cricket field than they would have in baseball.
  One of the main differences between baseball and Test cricket is the primary intent of the batsman. Usually, in Test/First Class cricket, wickets come at a far higher premium, since survival is of primary importance. While nine innings per side are played in a baseball game within a few hours, only two per side are played in Test cricket over five days (thirty hours), so the cost of a dismissal is far higher in cricket. It should be kept in mind that a batsman in cricket is not obligated to take a run after striking the ball, nor is there any penalty for swinging at the ball and missing unless it hits the stumps (i.e., the wicket) (or, as often happens, makes a glancing contact with the bat and is caught) and there is no limit to the number of deliveries a batsman can face; a batsman with the required concentration, determination and technical ability often bats for several hours (occasionally days) without being dismissed. By contrast, in baseball a batter takes a serious penalty (a "strike") if he swings and misses: three strikes result in an out, and if the batter hits the ball inside fair territory he must run. This contrast means that in cricket, unlike baseball, the quality of a batsman's defensive game and footwork are of the utmost importance. The nuances of batting technique are also greater in cricket, since the interplays between bowling variations, field placements and scoring strengths are more dynamic. Since cricket is played over an extended duration, the bowler and the fielding captain have time to "work over" a batsman (e.g., trying several different bowlers). Thus, cricket batting requires a very tight technique and the ability to withstand sustained examinations.
  The area for legal deliveries is much larger in cricket than it is in baseball, overlapping the batsman's entire body. Deliveries that reach the batsmen at rib or shoulder height are legal, and quite common. Depending on the form of the game, more or fewer deliveries can be bowled to reach the batsmen at throat or head level. Any fear or hesitation can lead to a batsman playing a poor shot which may result in him giving away his wicket (being dismissed).
  Since the cricket bat is wide and flat, while the baseball bat is narrow and round, on the whole cricket batsmen find it easier to hit and direct the ball than baseball batters, resulting in many more runs being scored in a cricket match. While bowlers can influence the ability of the batsmen to do so, perhaps the most famous episode being the Bodyline tactic, cricket batsmen can use a wider variety of batting strokes to direct the ball in many directions into a field which provides much more open space than in baseball. Keeping in mind, cricket batsmen are under no obligation to attempt to score a run after any stroke, but must strike balls to prevent them from hitting the wicket or their pads. Many strokes are in fact defensive in nature against a well-bowled ball and the quality of defensive batting is often the determining factor of a batsman's success over his career, especially in the longer forms of the game.
  By contrast, the balance of power is largely reversed in baseball. 
caption: The follow-through in the baseball swing of Barry Bonds.
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