Following the recently completed Test match cricket series between the sport's oldest rivals, England and Australia (the 2013/14 Ashes series), and on the eve of another World Series baseball season, we list why Test cricket comes out on top as the "better" of the two sports.
The following list has been written and compiled by an Australian who has spent 12 months in the US and has been to approximately three baseball games and countless cricket matches.
1.Longer games
A Test cricket match is played over five days, with two innings per team allowed. There is approximately six hours of play per day. This gives batsmen (or batters as they would be referred to in the US) time to craft an innings, hitting the ball around the ground and collecting runs for their team. None of this, "three strikes and you're out", nonsense.
2. World Series?
The 2014 Major League Baseball series will culminate in the World Series, in which just one country participates. There are currently ten nations competing in Test cricket (granted there is no World Series... yet).
3. Bare hands
Cricket balls and baseballs are roughly the same size and weight, yet in cricket, only one player is permitted to wear gloves while fielding (the wicketkeeper, or catcher, as he would be referred to in baseball). Both balls travel off the bat at speeds in excess of 90 miles per hour, the real skill is catching it or picking it up at this pace without the use of any protective gear.
5. Watch the ball
When a cricket ball is bowled (the baseball equivalent of a pitch), it bounces off a grass pitch, there is variation in the bounce off the pitch in addition to the variation in the way it travels in the air. As the match continues, the movement is even more difficult to predict. The skill for the batsmen is to anticipate both variables as the ball is coming towards them at speeds in excess of 90 miles per hour.
6. Scoreboard influence
Whether it is one run, or a wicket (getting a batsman out), every player can contribute to the team cause and often does. Not so in baseball, where the end of game score can be something like, 4-2, spread out over how many innings?
7. Ways to be "out"
Cricket has 11 ways to be "out" and they vary from the common, (caught or bowled) to the rare (timed out). This keeps the players, spectators and umpires on edge for the entire five days. Baseball has a far simpler approach to getting batters "out", strikeout, fly outs, tag outs and force outs.
8. Teamwork
Cricket has two batsmen working in partnership together trying to score as many runs as possible from the bowlers. There are two bowlers working in tandem to try and get the batsmen out. It is teamwork at its best.
9. Famous names
Test cricket, having been played since 1877, is rich in history. There are countless famous names to have graced the cricket fields in that time. Starting with, Sir Don Bradman, statistically the greatest sportsman in the history of sport (yes it is true), to the more modern day names of Viv Richards, Shane Warne and Sachin Tendulkar.
Picture sources:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/christopherbryant/2201254159/in/photolist-4mw1aV-9VGKpJ-t5G3Y-e4LqcD-PMqYX-cimUY1-J1dve-9sGjoT-a9c9yG-54oGWE-6SEgrH-fnRX1V-a7mNoj-4fVyiL-af7JhJ-af4X1Z-af7Hc9-af7HHE-af4XrP-6LEN8Y-6SRvTu-548LSD-fo7cny-yEEaF-5EKEdv-39Mc3r-ycrYq-6c6Jem-42RwU-a9bMVy-a9bMCh-7u1yVG-vAz56-vAyJd-a3u7dY-a3rhuZ-a3riKF-a3u3tG-a3r9VV-a3u3Sm-a3rcgV-a3u6Zb-a3u9N3-a3u4D9-a3r9Q6-a3u5wE-a3rdav-a3ube3-a3u4vU-a3riEc-a3u4Kd/lightbox/
Caption: Hands up if you think cricket is better than baseball. (Photo : Chris.Bryant/Flickr & Ian Broyles/Flickr)
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