Cricket

[Fatal9]

Is there a reason for baseball to exist when a much better alternative has existed for nearly two centuries? When whoever created baseball decided to rip ideas from cricket, he could have at least come up with a better game. Anyways...4 reasons off the top of my head on why cricket is superior to baseball:

1. The Batting - In baseball, you swing like a retard hoping you connect with the ball. In cricket, you have to use footwork, ball placement, angles on the bat and you see hell of a lot more variety of balls. There is a lot more skill to appreciate. Red Sox even wanted to sign Adam Gilchrist of Australia to their batting order but he declined.

2. The Bowling (Pitching) - Pitching might be the best thing baseball has going for it because it's the only time you get decent variety in the game. But even then, cricket has that and much more. You have swing bowling from fast bowlers, off/leg-spin bowling from spinners, change of pace, and unlike baseball you can experiment with the length of the ball (don't have to bowl towards a specific zone).

Some example of great cricket deliveries:

Change of Pace (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFJOdUvES_U)
Swing Bowling by the GOAT (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fezEkfXCqhA)
Note the Swing (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtnHBkJSA6w)
Leg Spin (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oc5gm0xU5Kk)

3. The Fielding - The pussified game of baseball uses gloves to help fielders catch the ball. The media goes crazy when someone makes a bare handed catch, except that happens in every cricket match (and the catches they make aren't softly lobbed up). Not only do you use your bare hands in cricket but it's also played with a harder ball.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_69iSfwx0Y
Catching from the Slip Position (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K73kviJuD2c)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_BuSVZwq6M

4. The International Flavor - Cricket is very much a global sport, while the same cannot be said for baseball. You have England, the Caribbean, Southern Africa (SA, Zimbabwe, Kenya), Australia/NZ and the Sub-Continent all into cricket, while how many countries play baseball? Canada/USA, Cuba and Japan :confusedshrug:. When was the last time anyone watched the world cup of baseball?

There's more reasons too, the history of cricket is richer for example (and this is something baseball prides itself on too) but I'll stop here.

I don't get to follow cricket that much, though usually cheer for Australia/NZ in world cups. I feel lucky to have played it when I've been overseas and followed it from my dad from a young age. Otherwise living in N.A. I would have never been introduced to the sport. I'm sure posters with decent exposure to both sports feel the same way.

If we have any posters from England/Australia/Carribbean/Sub-Continent, post your favorite cricket players. For me it's McGrath, Steve Waugh, Fleming and Klusener. Haven't been able to keep up much with the current players but I'm glad guys like Ponting, Kallis and Tendulkar are still beasting.

Same goes for Rugby vs. NFL, and Nascar vs. Formula 1 btw.

[bladefd]

I used to play Cricket when I was MUCH younger (like 6-7) when I used to live in India. I was a big cricket fan like my dad, but after moving to USA, I have not seen or heard of anyone playing Cricket here. It is an unknown sport in this country, and I have not even watched a cricket game since then. I don't remember the very basics myself (except the bowling style, hitting the ball and making sure it doesn't take down the wickets, running back and forth with the other cricketeer to score runs).

It is a huge sport over in the countries playing it. I mean it leads to riots much like Soccer. I know that hate between countries is also fought with a game of cricket (India vs. Pakistan nowadays. In the British-ruled India days, it would be Indian players taking their anger and rage out during a cricket game vs British professional players).

[bballer]

I played a bit of cricket in Jamaica. Was pretty fun.

[Se]

I hate cricket and baseball.
What I particularly hate about cricket is they can play for 4 days, and then the 5th day is rained out and it's ruled a draw. So stupid, what a waste of time. One day cricket is okay, only slightly better than boring-ass baseball.

I agree that Rugby League and Rugby Union are far superior products to NFL. The Americans love drawn out productions with a bunch of corny ads with assholes with horrible accents selling crap products full of sugar. It's the American way. NFL has a bunch of guys that would not be athletes in other sports, a lot of the players are so one-dimensional. Offensive linemen could be sumo wrestlers, but what else? Kickers? They couldn't play any other type of football. All they do is come in and kick. Too many pads and helmets for me.

I've tried to like cricket, being from NZ, but I hate it. I just can;t get into watching a game that from the sky looks like a bunch of sheep grazing on a paddock in the middle of a stadium. What kind of man wears a white woolen jersey in the summer, and stops for a "tea-break"?

[Lebron Bryant]

Cricket looks like a sport I would like.

[LJJ]

[QUOTE=Se

[bdreason]

Not a fan of either.

[Fatal9]

[QUOTE=Se

[DoubleTech]

How long does a Cricket match take?

/Thread

[vapid]

4. The International Flavor - Cricket is very much a global sport, while the same cannot be said for baseball. You have England, the Caribbean, Southern Africa (SA, Zimbabwe, Kenya), Australia/NZ and the Sub-Continent all into cricket, while how many countries play baseball? Canada/USA, Cuba and Japan :confusedshrug:. When was the last time anyone watched the world cup of baseball?

Taiwan and Korea both watch it as well.

[takeittothehoop]

How long does a Cricket match take?

/Thread
2-3 hours (TwentyTwenty):D U mad?

[bisk]

Muralitharan = GOAT bowler:bowdown:

[Quizno]

1. The Batting - In baseball, you swing like a retard hoping you connect with the ball.

i stopped reading there :oldlol:

meh, you clearly wouldn't even bother to learn the intricacies of baseball or understand the game. i guess it's difficult for you to comprehend that different things appeal to different people. you think cricket's better than baseball. i think baseball's better than cricket. blah blah.

[1manfastbreak]

LOL @ op, do u even watch baseball? baseball is not a global sport? are you serious? like quizno said baseball is a very intricate game, in which most people don't even bother to try and learn and understand, rather just write it off and say its stupid or boring.

[Kobe Jnr]

Muralitharan = GOAT bowler:bowdown:


Shane Warne! :lol

[brwnman]

Wasim Akram - GOAT bowler

Either way, baseball and cricket are both great sports in their own right...

[TheAnchorman]

I've played some cricket in the past, it's quite fun when played with the right people who know what they're doing. In order for the appeal to increase they have to market the kind of cricket that only takes a couple of hours instead of the kind that takes... a whole day.

[jbot]

keep that crap overseas w/ your tea and crumpets.

[shafir]

I play cricket on the regular- medium pace bowler, I normally bowl more full then short-

I also happen to love baseball- they're two different sports with different skill sets required to play- liking one doesn't mean you must hate the other -_-

[Manute for Ever!]

Shane Warne! :lol

Booyah! The 'Ball of the Century': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOVei8iTyM8

[AJ2k8]

I prefer some of these to the one Manute posted, bad sound quality though..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAMX045hjL0&feature=related

Anyway on the subject, i love cricket played it lots as a kid. Don't mind baseball but don't like the fact that batters don't stay in even though they haven't got out, makes no sense to me, if a pitcher can't get someone out they should be punished to the extent of the batters abilities. Also cricket being played on a whole 360 degree field brings more strategy to the field placements imo.

[Manute for Ever!]

I prefer some of these to the one Manute posted, bad sound quality though..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAMX045hjL0&feature=related

The first two were awesome.

[playtetris]

i played cricket for a number of years, and was an opening (fast) bowler and a lower order batsman.

test match cricket is a beautiful thing... there is honestly no better thing to soothe a hangover than to watch a day's cricket. it is the ultimate test of concentration for a batsman; they are exposed to a variety of deliveries and tactics over a period of several hours. bowlers can use different approaches than they can in one day/20-20 cricket.

it's still my favourite form of the game, although i have love for all types.

[pete's montreux]

I prefer some of these to the one Manute posted, bad sound quality though..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAMX045hjL0&feature=related

Anyway on the subject, i love cricket played it lots as a kid. Don't mind baseball but don't like the fact that batters don't stay in even though they haven't got out, makes no sense to me, if a pitcher can't get someone out they should be punished to the extent of the batters abilities. Also cricket being played on a whole 360 degree field brings more strategy to the field placements imo.

This didn't make sense to me.

[AJ2k8]

This didn't make sense to me.
Yeah reading back on it it's a little rough:hammerhead:

Basically i think when a batter scores i think they should go and bat again straight away, i know the format of the game doesn't support being able to bat continuously like cricket does but I don't think they should have to wait for the rest of the team to bat until they can again.

Hope that explains it better...

[Quizno]

This didn't make sense to me.
same. can you clarify AJ?

[Quizno]

oh, gotcha. not sure how to argue against that, i guess that's just the way our game's played. just one of the rules. like in basketball, if you make a shot, your team doesn't get the ball back to have an opportunity to make another shot.

it's just a rule i guess :confusedshrug:

[pete's montreux]

Yeah reading back on it it's a little rough:hammerhead:

Basically i think when a batter scores i think they should go and bat again straight away, i know the format of the game doesn't support being able to bat continuously like cricket does but I don't think they should have to wait for the rest of the team to bat until they can again.

Hope that explains it better...
The entire game of baseball would have to be changed in order to do that. :oldlol: It wouldn't even be baseball anymore.

[AJ2k8]

Yeah i agree it's a rule and you can't change it.. It's just great (in cricket) to watch a bowling team try absolutely everything to bowl out some of the great batsmen over the course of a day or in some cases two.

Though I guess every sport will have its flaws depending on who you talk to, and i can understand why people don't like cricket:cheers:

[playtetris]

nothing better than watching chris gayle in full flight (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWd6-TMCmtU) except maybe adam gilchrist in ful flight (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPOOhFmUprA)

[Fatal9]

meh, you clearly wouldn't even bother to learn the intricacies of baseball or understand the game. i guess it's difficult for you to comprehend that different things appeal to different people. you think cricket's better than baseball. i think baseball's better than cricket. blah blah.
Well I was clearly kidding but the point remains. Batting in cricket involves much more skill than baseball. You need footwork, you see more type of bowls (pitches) thrown at you, you have to work with the angle of your bat (not always about getting the ball in the middle of the bat), plus it's more exhausting because you have to run all day in the sun and still bat. MLB teams are trying to sign cricket players but you'll never see the opposite.


i played cricket for a number of years, and was an opening (fast) bowler and a lower order batsman.

test match cricket is a beautiful thing... there is honestly no better thing to soothe a hangover than to watch a day's cricket. it is the ultimate test of concentration for a batsman; they are exposed to a variety of deliveries and tactics over a period of several hours. bowlers can use different approaches than they can in one day/20-20 cricket.

it's still my favourite form of the game, although i have love for all types.
exactly dude. watching test cricket on a weekend afternoon is beautiful. I still want to get down for one of those matches, chill in the sun and watch cricket all day. I can only really watch the ashes every two years because I get them on TV here, but I never miss them. I'm still trying to adjust to the new guys though. Don't really know who the new McGrath/Warne are or the new Tendulkar/Ponting, the new Lara etc. I think cricket needs 20-20, but I'm not really a fan. ODIs are just perfect so hopefully 20-20 doesn't make them extinct.


nothing better than watching chris gayle in full flight (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWd6-TMCmtU) except maybe adam gilchrist in ful flight (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPOOhFmUprA)
Did you used to watch Klusener? Middle order power hitter and one of the clutchest cricket players ever. What he did during the '99 World Cup is one of my favorite performances in all of sports (basically came in with SA chasing, needing an insane run rate with 3-4 wickets left, and he'd always get them there. SA would have been in the finals if Alan Donald wasn't such an idiot. I think his performances are up on youtube, I watched them recently again.)

[Quata]

adam gilchrist and andy bichel = goat. I remember when bichel was 12th man for the test team you used to see him on the side of the field baiting some lures for his next fishing trip. Also andrew symonds missed practice cause he was fishing and was drunk during some practices.

[lovethetriangle]

Well I was clearly kidding but the point remains. Batting in cricket involves much more skill than baseball. You need footwork, you see more type of bowls (pitches) thrown at you, you have to work with the angle of your bat (not always about getting the ball in the middle of the bat), plus it's more exhausting because you have to run all day in the sun and still bat. MLB teams are trying to sign cricket players but you'll never see the opposite.


exactly dude. watching test cricket on a weekend afternoon is beautiful. I still want to get down for one of those matches, chill in the sun and watch cricket all day. I can only really watch the ashes every two years because I get them on TV here, but I never miss them. I'm still trying to adjust to the new guys though. Don't really know who the new McGrath/Warne are or the new Tendulkar/Ponting, the new Lara etc. I think cricket needs 20-20, but I'm not really a fan. ODIs are just perfect so hopefully 20-20 doesn't make them extinct.


Did you used to watch Klusener? Middle order power hitter and one of the clutchest cricket players ever. What he did during the '99 World Cup is one of my favorite performances in all of sports (basically came in with SA chasing, needing an insane run rate with 3-4 wickets left, and he'd always get them there. SA would have been in the finals if Alan Donald wasn't such an idiot. I think his performances are up on youtube, I watched them recently again.)


didn't he also perform the greatest choke job in the histrory of the sport? klusener?

[Se]

GOAT cricket batter - Lance Cairns

GOAT cricket bowler - Shane Warne (longevity)

That Mufusala foll from India/ Pakistan or somewhere cheats, he throws the ball.

[Fatal9]

didn't he also perform the greatest choke job in the histrory of the sport? klusener?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxVNtuDKsds

^ wasn't his fault. He ran and would have made it to the crease in time but Donald (who could have got a head start) didn't even run. Klusener hit 31 in 14 balls to even put SA in position to win that game.

[Lebron Bryant]

So how does the scoring system work?

[Se]

So how does the scoring system work?

http://www.cs.purdue.edu/homes/hosking/cricket/explanation.htm

[Fatal9]

didn't he also perform the greatest choke job in the histrory of the sport? klusener?
Last Three Overs of the Match (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BeSh5Ff79k)

One of the best I've ever seen. :oldlol: at Boucher, he's just as much to blame as Donald.

[Timmy D for MVP]

Sportscience recently did a bit on baseball swing vs cricket swing that was kind of interesting.

Idk what the hypothesis they were trying to test was (I think just if a major leaguer could pick it up quickly) but they talked about sweet spot sizes and ball flight.

The point was made that cricket has a larger sweet spot on the bat, and that in baseball you're blind the last 15 feet or so of the ball path (which is why you have to learn to pick up the spin on the ball early. Also why sliders are absolutely devastating.).

But because the batter in cricket predicts where the ball will bounce they can watch the ball from that point to their bat. So they can see it.

Also due to the bounce the ball is rising in cricket. Whereas in baseball the ball is falling. And it is tougher to raise your hands during a swing than to drop them.

Interesting stuff. I hate the way they conduct their tests though.

[browntown]

Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis is the greatest 1-2 combo ever. Akram the only man to get 400 wickets in international play.

20/20 is the greatest thing ever. It's minimized the game, and it has show cased great batters. It's also allows teams to know that they could score high amount of runs in a short period of time which makes 50 over matches more exciting.

[zabuza666]

Cricket is such a boring sport.

[Dresta]

Haven't watched or played cricket in years. It's a great sport, but Americans don't seem to have taken to it.

Can't believe I used to play for Surry with this guy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVSIZsmOYnM

Makes me want to play again, but it just takes up so much damn time.

[Draz]

cricket is amazing. father been playing it his entire life

[highwhey]

cricket is amazing. father been playing it his entire life
dis y we aint married