Which Is Harder: Cricket Or Baseball?

Cricket and baseball are two bat and ball sports in which two teams compete against each other to score points by hitting a ball with a bat and running to a destination. While both games rely on a similar ball-hitting premise to initiate a play, they are widely different and unique. Baseball is predominantly played in the Americas and Japan, while cricket is played all across Asia, Australia, and Europe. Among their many differences is the difficulty of each sport. While both sports take a lot of talent to play, cricket is the harder sport due to multiple factors.

Bowling vs. Pitching

In cricket, when the defending team in the field pitches the ball to the batter, this is known as bowling. In baseball, this action is pitching. Bowling in cricket is more difficult than pitching in baseball due to the format of the game.

Unlike baseball pitching, bowlers in cricket do not stand on a mound and take brief breaks in between throws. Instead, bowlers in cricket perform an intense run up with a unique throwing motion to put as much power behind the bowl as possible.

Additionally, bowlers in cricket perform more throws than a pitcher does in a baseball game. As for batters in cricket, they face more throws than a baseball batter does, meaning they must choose what bowls to swing for more carefully.

Equipment

The equipment that is used in baseball and cricket is very different, adding an additional element of difficulty to cricket. In cricket, batters wear more protective gear than they do in baseball. This comprises a larger helmet, leg padding and, in some cases, torso padding. On the other hand, baseball batters are only required to wear a helmet.

The reason this is significant is because once a cricket batter hits the bowl, they must sprint back and forth wearing all of their protective gear while still holding their bat and using it to touch the crease before changing direction. This is a far more difficult task than sprinting to one base with just a helmet on, like in baseball.

Additionally, in cricket, the outfield team does not wear mitts or gloves. Outfielders in cricket must catch the ball with their bare hands, which is far more difficult than catching a baseball with a thick leather glove. Furthermore, this can lead to more injuries, such as broken fingers or hands.

Ways to Get Out

In baseball, the batting team can get out by striking out, flying out, grounding out, tagging out, or forcing out. This may seem like a lot of ways a batter can get out, though, in cricket, there are twice as many ways, making scoring far more difficult.

In cricket, batters can get out from ten different rules. Asides from flying and tagging out, cricket batters must avoid more technical rules, such as obstructing the path of an outfielder or hitting a wicket with their bat accidentally while running. This makes scoring points in cricket a more difficult and technical endeavor.