Cricket & Baseball: More Similarities and Differences

This video is a follow-up to my video Cricket Explained for Baseball Fans. In this video we highlight some more differences and similarities between Baseball and Cricket. These games are different but share a distant ancestor! There are a lot of small differences and similarities between these two games.
Here is information about the Duckworth-Lewis Method: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duckwor...
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[@benetedmunds]

I never liked or understood cricket, but one summer was the "Ashes" - a biannual series of test matches (5 5-day international matches) between England and Australia. It's a thing. Every morning, I'd turn up in our staff room (I was teaching summer school) and two of my colleagues would be discussing what had happened the day before. And - OMG! They were talking about things like the weather (i.e. atmospheric pressure, humidity, etc.), the state of the ball - how worn or malleable it was, the state of the crease - as the match progresses, the ball repeatedly bouncing in the same rough area starts to deform the terrain... and that's BEFORE talking about the talents of the players, their psychological frames of mind, etc. Simple to understand, intricate to master! Also, it has always struck me that it's a team sport in which an individual can, on his own, win the match. The batsman can outscore the entire opposing team. The bowler can lay waste to the opposing batting order!

[@garybewick4774]

And yet, it's all those apparently minor factors that the captain has to take into account. Overcast and humid? It's a good day for swing bowling (Almost like a curve ball). The balls funding can influence which way it will curve. Is the pitch cracking? Your spin bowlers are likely to get some unplayable deflections. Do you set your field close to try and put batters out, risking the opposition getting easier boundaries or a deeper field, slowing their scoring rate, but having less liklihood of catches? Is there a particular type of delivery a batsman has a known weakness to? The rules are reasonably simple, but cricket captaincy is probably one of the sporting roles with the most complexity to account for.

[@captainwalker9536]

very well put. test cricket will teach you a lot

[@tomharris380]

Yeah Test Cricket really is the ultimate form of the game because it incorporates all these elements and as the game progresses over potentially five days they become more and more relevant. Not to mention the stories that develop over a five match series between the same two teams (Like the Ashes). Test Cricket is like a great novel, the other formats are fun but with the greatest respect ultimately fairly superfluous in comparison.

[@mohitvyas97]

3:52. Shane Warne was a beast. RIP legend

[@SectorOne350]

rip

[@philmccracken179]

Was that the guy who was going around on TV trying to demonize people for not getting the vax then soon after “suddenly died” of heart problems? Is that the guy you hope Rests In Peace”? He wouldn’t let his fellow humans live in peace when he was alive… ironic huh?

[@Hen16]

I think cricket is as complex as baseball, it is just that the complexity is introduced in a different way. In baseball, the complexity comes from within the rules themselves, as you described. In cricket, the basic rules are easy to understand, but the range of different ways a player/team can choose to play make it more complex in that way.

[@mrsock3380]

Also, the reasons he gave for baseball being more complex doesn't make sense, you can teach a 5 year old the basic rules of baseball and having them play a game just as easily as cricket. It's not as if you can't play a game of baseball without knowing all the rules.

[@benjaminmelikant3460]

@@mrsock3380 Was just coming here to say something similar. In terms of describing the basic gameplay of both games, neither of them are very complicated, but when you get into more nuanced rules of the game, you start to see terrible complexity emerge with both. Recently started getting back into baseball again and realized there are still a ton of little rules that I never knew or understood, so I get where that idea is coming from, but that to me seems true of both games.

[@sogekek]

I cant even make you understand cricket in a day

[@srikan463]

Yes. In sports rules have to be simple and players needs to be creative. That's what cricket is all about. In Baseball players rather than concentrating on hitting the ball they concentrate on stealing runs by playing hide and seek. That is stupid.

[@MrTheboffin]

​@@srikan463 For a game to be fair definitely. Baseball has so many rules and exceptions to the rules and abuse of the rules their is almost more of a focus on the rules than on the game. The fact you can decide to simply give a player first base rather than risk a home run is silly and is honestly unsportsmanlike. On the other hand, baseball does have much higher highs in excitement with the double and triple plays.

[@baerlauchstal]

On bowling styles: the distinction is really, I think, less among types of delivery than among *delivery actions*. One type of bowler takes a long run-up and whips the arm over quickly. A second takes a short run-up and tweaks the ball with the fingers. A third takes a short run-up and rolls the wrist in the release. These actions are so distinct from one another that it's very difficult to become proficient in them all (unless your name is Gary Sobers). They're also trivially easy for batters to distinguish, so there's no way of disguising one as another. So they exist as separate things; each bowler generally specialises in one of the three (unless their name is Gary Sobers). Now, *within* each of those three broad categories there are multiple types of delivery. The first type, pace or seam bowling, consists of inswingers, outswingers, slower ones, off-cutters, leg-cutters and so on. The second type, finger-spin (or offspin, or orthodox spin) consists, for right-handed bowlers, of offbreaks, arm balls, doosras etc. The third type, wrist-spin (or leg-spin) consists (again for righties) of legbreaks, googlies, topspinners, flippers... Ideally, those individual balls are delivered with disguise, so the batter doesn't know, within the overall delivery style, what they're getting. Hope that makes sense. Which game is more complicated? I'm not sure. I think limited-overs cricket may be more straightforward (though the tactics involved in setting the field in cricket are incredibly involved compared to baseball), but test cricket has additional subtleties, mostly having to do with the possibility of matches being drawn. That means that in order to win, it's not sufficient to score more runs than the opposition (it's necessary, but not sufficient). You also need to bowl them out twice within the time limit. That can sometimes mean, for example, that you may want to deliberately stop batting before your side has been retired, in order to leave enough time to force the win. It's generally when I try to explain all that that the eyes of my Canadian wife start to glaze over. An additional *tactical* complexity in cricket (not a complexity in the rules, but a complexity stemming from the rules) has to do with the fact that you can score at whatever pace you like; there's no "three strikes and you're out", and no requirement to run when you hit the ball. That sometimes creates a tension between scoring runs and staying safe: batting can be done in an attacking or a defensive mode. For this reason, so can bowling, and fielding, and field-placement. The interplay between high-risk and safety-first modes of play creates tactical subtleties that aren't quite reproduced in baseball. One thing I'd say of both games is that any complexity is worth it. These are two of the most rewarding sports in the world to follow.

[@CHOOCHx51]

Baseball pitchers do also have categories based on delivery, or more specifically, arm action in their pitches: over the top, 3/4, sidearm, submarine, each type fairly intuitive (pitch is released with arm near vertical, pitch is released with arm near 45 degrees, pitch is released with arm near horizontal, pitch is released with arm beneath parallel to ground). Pitchers are very commonly categorized by their arm action, tho it is not uncommon for a pitcher to change arm action when throwing certain pitches or just as a mix up. Arm action also plays a large role in how a pitcher’s different pitches act. A more over the top arm action lends more to a straight and heard fastball, as well as a vertically breaking curveball. The more toward sidearm a pitcher gets, the more their pitches tend to move horizontally, where a 3/4 or sidearm pitcher will tend to see even their 4-seam fastball (a pitch that inherently travels the “straightest”) having some amount of horizontal movement.

[@satyakisil4289]

There are also the distinction between chest on and side on bowlers, rollers vs slingers - slingers being either overarm(Jasprit Bumrah) or sidearm(Lasith Malinga). Knucle bowlers are there(Liam Plunkett comes to mind) as well as the carrom bowlers(made popular by Ajantha Mendis). Most bowlers are right handed, a smaller proportion are left handed and rare exceptions include ambidextrous bowlers.

[@hmao4466]

Well said.

[@flamingfrancis]

@@satyakisil4289 You need to study the actual delivery and release point for bowlers like Malinga and other slingers such as Thommo and Tate. You WILL find that at the release point ALL bowlers are front on. They are side on in delivery stride but observe what happens next. Bowlers like Tate were also injury prone and as with elite pitchers like John Smoltz they adjusted the angle of the arm to lessen the stress on the pronation of their arm.

[@satyakisil4289]

@@flamingfrancis uh... what's your point? What's the issue with being front on? Perhaps you're thinking about front on and side on and saw Malinga being sidearm, which you mistook for side on...

[@charleswolfson8675]

I've moved from the U.S. to Australia in 1986 at the age of 33. I've coached and played baseball here for the past 30+ years. I knew nothing about cricket when I got here, but soon became a big fan of the game, especially the test match format. I think a huge difference between baseball and cricket is the importance of the condition of the pitch and the condition of the ball. As you'd know, a wicket may be "flat" (greatly favoring the batters), "turning" (greatly favoring spin bowlers), or "hard" or "green" (greatly favoring fast bowlers). And, in a test match, the condition of the wicket will change throughout the day and day to day, for example, making it much harder for the team batting last to "chase" a total to win. And, as a ball wears over many overs, the fielding side will constantly be working one side of the ball to enhance "swing". There's nothing remotely comparable in baseball.

[@jbrodiff]

As an American, I can say pretty confidently that I understand baseball quite well, and know most of, if not all of the rules anyone would need to know. Thinking about baseball from an outside perspective has actually made me realize how convoluted it can be lol, and how confusing it is to young kids. It seems that cricket is easier to learn than baseball at its core, but also has a lot of technicalities as demonstrated by your videos comparing it to baseball. Great informative videos by the way, I never would've learned anything about cricket otherwise

[@cricketexplained8526]

Yes, cricket has many technicalities. To me, the main ones are setting and changing where the fielders go, and deciding in which order and in which combinations the bowlers operate

[@bubs45]

I grew up watching baseball but as I got older I lost interest in the game. I got into cricket as a teenager after a trip to India. I had a few people explain cricket to me, but most of what I learned was by watching it. I think you did a better job explaining it that I do.

[@lezurrbolt4308]

Great

[@Goodgodbhanu]

Duckworth and Lewis method isn't just complicated to you, it is complicated even for the professional players, umpires and the match referees too! SA once tied a match (which they could have easily won) simply because they didn't understand that Duckworth and Lewis gives out Par score which means they have to score one more than the Par score. Instead they scored the Par score, match was tied and they were eliminated out of the 50 overs World Cup!

[@listerofsmeg884]

Cricket, surely the only sport whos wiki article includes a mathematical theory 😂

[@surojeetchatterjee]

@In Wellens we trust not only run rates, it changes based on wicket falling as well.

[@davidbenton8775]

Most definitely! I doubt baseball has anything as opaque as D-L just listening to the professional pundits and commentators in an ODI with multiple rain delays is enough to demonstrate. They simply ask the computer for the new target and take it as a sort of 'heavenly decree'. The actual method of calculating the required number is hideously complicated.

[@EarlJohn61]

@@davidbenton8775 What constitutes a "Baulk" by pitchers is quite confusing to me... (An Australian cricket/Australian rules football follower)

[@user-vo8ep8jz8c]

@Goodgodbhanu The match you are talking about (i assume it's from the 92 WC) did not use D/L method. The D/L method was introduced after that.

[@cricketexplained8526]

"Tea" is generally associated with multi-day matches such as Test matches. Both Tests and ODIs have a lunch break, but T20 only has one 10 minute break between the two innings, not lunch or tea. All formats may have supplementary hydration breaks during play, and during Test matches they are hourly, or if in very hot/humid conditions, maybe with slightly shorter spacings.

[@markdowse3572]

And the REASON for LUNCH and TEA in cricket is because play starts at 11:00am and finishes at 6:00pm. This is called a 'day's play'. First Class cricket is played over FOUR days maximum. TEST CRICKET (the highest level of the game and played ONLY between NATIONS - which baseball only has at The Olympics) is played over FIVE Days maximum.

[@RVNmax]

There are usually set hydration breaks in ODIs and test matches known as 'drinks' and then sometimes random quick hydration breaks requested to the umpires by batsmen. But there are way too many other complexities of different rules varying by format and league in that sense, i.e. strategic time-outs and the powerplays that were quickly skipped over. The basics were covered well and these videos would provide a very good foundation for someone to start watching. The only main thing not described imo are the basic no-ball rules (i.e. what exactly is a fair delivery, including not being allowed to 'straighten' your arm while delivering the ball). Most other rules are constantly evolving, e.g. from boundary catching, to powerplays to methods to settle tied games. These little things make cricket seem very complex at times and I wonder how many 'evolving' rules there are in baseball.

[@insertcolorherehawk3761]

@@markdowse3572 A couple of notes 1) First Class matches are three days or more, there is no mandatory maximum day count aside those imposed by a competition, most Domestic FC leagues will play 4-day matches, while Test Matches are exclusively 5-days and are considered First Class matches 2) Test matches may only be played between Full Members of the ICC. Even if say, the Netherlands and Scotland scheduled a 5-day match, it would not be considered a Test, and I wouldn’t be shocked if they would have a hard time making it count as a First Class match. 3) Aside from the Olympics, the WBSC has more championships to determine its rankings, with Baseball having a home at the various Continental Games, and the European and Asian continental championships. There are also 3 other senior global competitions, these being: the *World Baseball Classic* (20 teams, compare: the World Cup), the *Premier12* (12 teams, compare: the Champions Trophy), and the *Women’s World Cup* (12 teams)

[@flamingfrancis]

@@markdowse3572 To clarify one point. Baseball has the World Classic played for every four years and organised by MLB since 1992...Japan is the #1 nation. Up until the WBC the governing International body, the IBAF, had a World Cup (since 1938, first won by GB). There was also an Intercontinental Cup played for since 1973. Details on both events are documented on Wikipedia. The USA did not allow these two latter events to interfere with their MLB. Interestingly Cuba is by far the most successful nation.

[@evanamster946]

Dude, I just want to say I watch a bunch of sports channels and yours is absolutely up there with the best of them. Your aesthetic style is really clean, easily digestable and very informative. Rooting for you and hoping you continue to grow, 3.67K is not nearly enough for what you deserve.

[@SportsExplained]

I appreciate that!

[@abburobinson]

South African and huge cricket fan. Very good points and thank you. Regarding the types of bowlers, their are know for their style "pacer" "spinner" etc. In the context of the game they will be tagged as the "opening bowler"(first 2 overs) "power play bowler" (first 10 overs excluding the first 2) "death bowler" (last few overs OR the overs close to when the second team approach the runs target when they are "defending the runs") or in test matches "up front" (early in an innings or at the beginning of a session of play) Another point on bowlers, some are used to "dry up runs" by repeatedly bowling "tight" meaning they don't allow room for the batsman to play aggressive shots, while others might be more aggressive in trying to get wickets but will be more "expensive" in how many runs they "leak". So each bowler within their style will have an arsenal of deliveries they can use, and will change their preferred one based on the context in the game. But their definition remains "seamer" "off-spinner" etc Hopefully this was more helpful than just jargon (edited to avoid autocorrect nonsense)

[@EarlJohn61]

And few, if any of these tags apply to First Class matches or Test matches.

[@newremote]

This video and your earlier one are probably the best introduction to cricket that I've seen on KZbin. Man, there are some poor ones! Something that often comes up in videos is the fact that the same ball can be used for up to 500 deliveries or more before it's replaced by a new ball. It's mentioned as just another quirky difference between cricket and baseball, but it has a huge impact on the way tactics are conceived and carried out in cricket. Over the long period in which the ball is flung on the ground at speed for hours, belted with the bat and thrown about the field, it goes through big changes. The surface loses its shine and roughs up, the seam flattens out, it gets softer etc etc. This has a major effect on how it moves in the air and bounces off the pitch (the ground), which makes the captain's decisions about what bowlers to call on and when to make the changes, crucial and difficult. The fact that the pitch is also changing, being worn by batters' and bowlers' movements, the pounding with the ball, and the weather itself, and that this wear and tear happens in different places, all have to be taken into account because it will favour some bowlers over others. Players can't rough the ball up (to help the finger spinners do their stuff) but they can keep one side shiny, usually by rubbing it on their trousers with the aid of a little sweat. This helps the pace and swing bowlers get the ball to move sideways in the air. Anyway, there's a lot going on for the captain factor in, without even mentioning the strengths and weaknesses of the two batsman who happen to be in, and getting the right match-up with your bowling attack. A long post, but the short version is: The constant wear on the ball, and the ground it bounces on, is central to the game, especially in the longer forms. That's why the crowd throws the ball back.

[@flamingfrancis]

In the longest format of Test cricket the ball is changed every 90 overs.

[@newremote]

@@flamingfrancis According to several sources, including the MCC Laws of Cricket, it's 80 overs in matches of more than one day's duration.

[@matthewmitchell6899]

Yup, it's definitely 80 overs for the ball change. This is why Joe Root got a wiggle on last Sunday and knocked off the required runs by the 79th over. Another few deliveries and New Zealand would have had a new ball which would have made it much easier to get the remaining England batsmen out

[@newremote]

@@matthewmitchell6899 Exactly. For my reply I just checked that it applied beyond test matches. Yes, Joe Root got a wriggle on from the start, and once they'd got the first 20-odd fairly easily it seemed to be inevitable.

[@EarlJohn61]

In first class matches and Test Matches the ball is *allowed* to be changed after 80 overs (480 legitimate balls/pitches). *It isn't compulsory.* If the fielding captain feels he has a better chance of taking wickets or restricting runs with the older ball he can keep using that. *BUT* once he's taken a new ball, there's no going back.

[@cricketexplained8526]

Like the VHS-style effects. By the way, one interesting crossover character is Bart King. He was a baseball pitcher who could also bowl well, is credited as a pioneer of swing bowling (which in his case stemmed from his pitching), and blitzed the English county championship of 1908 with 87 wickets. He was part of the famous Philadelphia cricket team of the early 20th Century.

[@dsintheb]

There are quite a few Australian players who were big fans of baseball, too, most notably Ian and Greg Chappell and Allan Border, who all played it during the off-season. Ian Chappell even said in a recent interview that if baseball had been a viable career path, he would have chosen it over cricket.

[@flamingfrancis]

@@dsintheb They were a bit more than "fans". Ian might not have played the last several years but he was still playing in Claxton Shield Legends games. He was the State catcher for South Aussie and the family played at elite level. Greg's son played College ball in US. AB and brother Jon played in Sydney ML. Connection with cricket goes back a lot further. Look up Bradman's Invincibles and Neil Harvey's family. Seven brothers who were the basis of a north Melbourne club some played for Victoria. You will find a copy of a letter written by the great Victor Trumper around 1915 replying to a schoolboy who wrote to him asking how to improve his game. Victor played baseball with the Paddington Club Sydney at that time and regognised the advantages of learning baseball.

[@dsintheb]

@@flamingfrancis Didn't know about the Trumper connection. Cheers.

[@666kingdrummer]

He really was the Babe Ruth of American Cricket.

[@ianlowery6014]

@@dsintheb Also the great Alan Davidson

[@QPRTokyo]

The big rules are more complicated in baseball but the vast amount of minor rules in cricket balances it out.

[@BRNOOB_]

I agree with you. Cricket is a lot easier to understand than baseball. Though cricket has some complexities you don't need to learn all of them to understand and enjoy the game. You can play/ enjoy cricket by learning some basic rules. It was really tough for me to understand baseball. 😅

[@xyan819]

Being a life long cricket fan. Duckworth Lewis method still confuse me😅

[@BRNOOB_]

@@xyan819 ikr, i didn't even try to learn that because people say that's so hard to understand 😂. Some also say that lbw is also hard to explain but i don't find that hard to explain tho

[@bullymaguire008]

@@BRNOOB_ it's not analytical. Its based upon a formula. That's it.

[@bretton_woods]

I am the complete opposite, I'm English lived in England all my life and still now in my 30's I never really understood cricket at all. But I started watching baseball around 15 years ago and understand that very well. So these videos were useful to me... cricket explained in baseball terms!

[@healore7892]

Rubbish

[@YTho-ev1ej]

It wasn’t until my grandad, who played test cricket, explained some of the finer workings of cricket that I finally understood how complex cricket was. Of course cricket is simple on the face of it but until you learn you don’t know what you don’t know

[@mwwoggy]

Regarding the bowling types you asked about: technically, there are actually 3 types of bowling: Fast Bowling, Medium-Paced Bowling and Spin Bowling. Fast, as the name implies, is all about the speed of the ball - some of the fastest bowlers can reach into the high 90mph one or two have cracked the 100mph mark. This doesn't mean that they only bowl flatout all the time, they have variances in their aresenal (eg: slower balls). Medium Pace are those bowlers that just can't generate the same amount of speed as the Quickies - but they're usually have a much more varied number of balls they can use in their arsenal. They are also normally far more accurate in where they pitch the ball up and can hit very small targets on the pitch causing batsmen to get pinned down. The problem with Medium Pace is that it's sort of dying out a little with teams going more for pace or spin. Lastly, Spin (which is the slowest form of bowling) relies on the ball having heavy rotationimparted on the ball so that when it hits the ground, it veers off depending on what type of spin is applied to the ball. Both Pace and Medium bowling can be split into 2 sub-categories: Seam and Swing. Seamers rely on the ball changing direction on the bounce depending on how the ball is spinning while in flight. It's call Seam because usually the orientation of the seam of the ball can be directly related to the outcome of the ball's bounce. Swing, on the other hand relies on the ball swinging laterally through the air before it hts the ground, This is dependant on the condition of the ball - usually, the fielding team endeavour to keep one side of the ball smooth and shiny and rough the other side of it up to create a difference in air speed over the surface of the ball causing the ball to veer off through the air. SPin also has 2 main categories of bowling: Leg and Off (also called Wrist) spin. Basically, it's Left or Right breaking balls once they've hit the pitch. There are also various deliveries where the rotation of the ball causes different effects instead of just a Left/Right break, but these are usually seen more as varioations within the bowlers capabilities.

[@saswatmohanty8132]

Correction: Leg spin is called wrist spin Not off spin(Finger spin)

[@mwwoggy]

@@saswatmohanty8132 Sorry, I stand corrected - Leg is Wrist and Off is Finger

[@dweller6065]

IMO a better bowling typology would be 1. Spin (wrist/finger) 2. Seam/Cutters 3. Swing 4. Fast

[@ONhistoryplus]

I just wanted to say that I watched both your videos on this subject. I really appreciate this. I'm a cricket fan and these videos helped me get my head around baseball, so thank you.

[@harambesstepbrother7579]

Honestly, the most complicated part of cricket to explain to someone new is explaining how someone gets out by LBW and also defining The Test cricket format.

[@sirjezzumz]

yeah, LBW stumped me for a while as a kid lmao

[@iammattbarker]

If you can understand a strike zone, as judged by an umpire, you can understand LBW, and that umpires sometimes judge them incorrectly.

[@iandshaw]

I liked your analysis of the complexity of each game. I'd never really considered it before, but the gameplay of baseball does seem to have more rules to learn. Similarly, American Football's rules are inherently more complicated than Association Football (soccer). That's not to say that baseball is overall more complex. With both cricket and baseball, and indeed almost any pastime, the more you delve into them, the more nuances there are to understand and appreciate. When, many years ago, I read How Life Imitates the World Series I gained another level of appreciation for baseball that I would never have gained from simply watching. The major difference that you have yet to explain is the way the ball is treated. In baseball, polishing or scuffing the ball are strictly prohibited. In cricket, the ball naturally gets scuffed from contact with the ground. Deliberate scuffing is not allowed, but polishing is, which is why you will often see players with red patches on their trousers, from repeated rubbing. A cricket team will go to great effort to maintain a shine on one half of the ball, while allowing the other side to degrade. By holding the ball with the shiny side to the left or the right, a 'swing' bowler can use the difference in aerodynamics to get the ball to move laterally in the air, much like a breaking ball or slider.

[@TomDillon13]

Back in first school (aged like 7-9) we used to play QwikCricket in PE, which was basically a simplified version of the game designed for schools. You'd have plastic bats, wickets with no bails and basically you were forced to run whenever the ball was bowled. I remember it being a lot of fun. It is definitely a simpler game to explain than baseball, and I think it's purely because "hit ball, run" is a very easy concept to describe.

[@Honey.1.1]

Its called tip and run now

[@flamingfrancis]

Baseball too, has much simplified variants developed for juniors. The game of T Ball (baseball and softball) is the oldest game scaled down for juniors. Regardless of skills all kids play an equal part.Baseball also introduced RIF (reduced injury factor) balls

[@suhridguha2560]

you also have to know when not to run otherwise run out is a thing

[@TomDillon13]

@@suhridguha2560 One of the rules of Qwik Cricket in school was that you had to run whenever a ball was bowled, regardless of if it would run you out - it was designed that way so that everyone got a turn to bat.

[@suhridguha2560]

@@TomDillon13 that makes sense

[@manasik6108]

The Duckworth-Lewis Method is complicated even for people who follow cricket regularly. My parents are hardcore cricket fans and I remember them asking how this thing work they said no idea coz it depends on lot of factors.

[@zaphod4245]

I'd argue that cricket is easier to learn, but harder to master. The basic rules are much simpler as you say, but as you get to a more advanced level there are intricacies and advanced strategy which make cricket more complex.

[@pranavgandhar4604]

for 3 year kid , it is easy to teach cricket , cricket rules are flexible , base ball rules are not that flexible, needs professional ground

[@desamster]

Baseball has a lot of intricacies and advanced strategy as well.

[@stephentaylor4788]

Thank you so much for the videos, they are a great way of explaining the game that I enjoy. I also enjoy baseball too and the nuances that it brings. You asked about spin vs fast bowling and why bowlers aren't multi disciplined. The answer to this is learning time and how different the 2 arts are. It takes a long time to learn how to spin the ball effectively and while you are learning that you cannot learn the same skill of bowing fast. As a bowler to learn how to bowl fast you have to have a completely different run up to bowl, a different grip of the ball and a different thought process in terms of where to bowl it. With baseball, the gather is the same, the action is the same it's only the grip that differs. In cricket, everything has to change. Faster bowlers are actually referred to in the game as 'seam up' bowlers because of how they hold the ball with the seam between the index and middle finger. Spinners hold the ball almost 90 degrees to that, to twist their hands and wrist allowing the ball to pitch with the seam being at 90 degrees from the pitch in the hope that it will turn sideways when it bounces. I would also like to add that the 2 fundamental differences between baseball and cricket, (that being the 360 degree playing field and more importantly the fact that the ball bounces), are what bring spinners into the game. At the beginning of an innings, (team at bat), the ball is shiny and new and so the faster bowlers get more bounce and 'carry', (speed off the pitch), and perhaps also sideways movement in the air, (called swing), as the ball ages and the pitch also changes due to weather and people running in to bowl, the ball ages and doesn't bounce as much or bounce as fast off the pitch; here spinners come into their own because the ball being rougher will allow it to grip on the surface and therefore turn more off the surface once it bounces. It is the fact that the ball isn't changed and the pitch they are batting on changes over time that allows slower bowlers to be very deadly. In your previous video you referred to 'professional cricket'. I know there have been plenty of comments on this, but not one that I feel hits the mark. Cricket has in fact adopted an American term that describes it perfectly. It's franchise cricket and exclusively 20 overs or fewer, (professional cricket has been around for over 100 years, similar to baseball). They are domestic teams set up inside countries and they bid for the players they can to represent them during the timescale of that franchise tournament. (Usually 2 months in duration). The best US parallel I can find is either baseball or ice hockey, as they have a wider international field playing. If I take Ice Hockey, it would be all the nations having their own franchise tournaments, (US, Canada, Sweden, Russia, etc), and the players moving around the leagues based on how much they would be paid to represent. The chief franchise tournament in cricket is the Indian Premier League, (IPL). As we stand right now though, (and this could be argued against, but I would defend my statement), winning tournaments for your country far outweighs franchise cricket. So using the franchise ice hokey analogy, players can play in any league they want, but ultimately are contracted by their countries to represent them when they call. So Wayne Gretzky could be playing in a tournament in Sweden, but would dip out of that to play for Canada, as the nation holds the rights; (yes I know for those wishing to rip that apart that not all nations can afford to contract their players, but as a general rule it stands). I think it is also worth noting that risk vs reward is a massive part of cricket. yes you can throw the bat at everything, but once you are out...that's it, no turning back. You are gone. First class cricket does have 2 innings I understand, but limited overs cricket does not. So how hard do you go at it? Once again thank you for the love of my favourite sport; and I also love watching baseball. You have gone a brilliant job at explaining this game, don't stop doing it, it is actually the 2nd most watched sport in the world behind soccer and not by much, (thank you the Asian sub-continent). I would love the US to fall in love with this game, but being so big, you might get a little too good at it.

[@TheClunkingFist]

Another awesome vid. Wow, wha a pure way of determining which sport is "simpler": try and explain it to a child! Love it! Well done, sir!

[@cricketexplained8526]

Thanks for the mention of my channel. My videos aim for brevity rather than perfection. A video all about bowling in cricket has just been posted.

[@NiranjanNanda]

I agree 💯 with you about “easier to understand” aspect of these games; cricket is way easier. To put into perspective, my kids just started playing in softball league starting this year (they’re 7), and they like it. They’re very enthusiastic to play the next season. But they don’t understand the rules of the game yet (I’m sure they don’t know 10% of the rules of softball 😃). They sometimes watch cricket with me at home (when Indian Premier League season is played) and they understand 40% of the laws of cricket 😃. They know what’s six vs four, 1 vs 2 vs 3 runs, many forms of out, how to read the score/wkt …heheeee and I never explained them these seriously. 😃

[@mwwoggy]

This was an awesome video - really good work! I totally agree with your assessment of which sport is easier to learn, and I think the main reason is that Cricket's laws are straight up rules - ball is in play, bowler bowls, batsman hits, fielders try to prevent ball from getting to boundary and try to get the batsmen out. Whereas, in Baseball, rules are contingent on what has happened beforehand (you examples of tagging up and what the other batters standing on base need to be concious of while they're not batting anymore are spot on). Like any sport, there are nuances to certain situations in Cricket, but it's far more cut and dry. One thing that I wouldn't say you got wrong, but is not wholly correct was the bit about the Super Overs - these only happen in large tournaments (eg: World cups) and T20. Standard ODI's (non-world cup matches) and Test Matches don't use them - the games are just declared a draw. Also a small side note to that: at the start of evey tournament, there are tournament rules that can dictate changes to this, specifically to that tournament - think of them as house rules. Examples of this would be: the inclusion of a Super Over if needed, The number of overs that need to be played by both teams to constute a match in case of bad weather, How many appeals a team can have, etc. These are generally the same for every tournament, but sometimes they're not.

[@ranjanharris3929]

Great set of videos. I am a person who grew up playing cricket and plays recreational softball now, So I've been exposed to both a fair bit. Generally when asked about cricket, I can only explain the bare basics without visual aids before they get bored or confused, so these videos are a great resource to point to. On the topic of the more complicated sport, the basics are much simpler to explain and pick up in cricket. Yes there are several complicated rules but in casual games they don't really come up as often. Plus when the players don't know those rules they don't appeal for those outs either.

[@SportsExplained]

Thanks!

[@cricketexplained8526]

It's worth mentioning that there can be significant differences in how much, and for how long, the different brands of red cricket ball (Dukes, SG, Kookaburra) move in the air, each of these brands are favoured in different parts of the world. Also, there can be differences in air behaviour of red and white cricket ball, since the white ball is also painted, whereas the red ball is tanned. Ageing and wear on the ball throughout the innings can generate the valuable property of "reverse swing", potentially more so in red-ball cricket.

[@chandranrajiv]

I agree. Basic gameplay of cricket is simpler. For the team batting - don't get out, score as many runs as you can. For the fielding team, restrict the batting team from scoring runs, get as many batsmen out as possible. 2 innings with one team each getting to bat. They who scores most runs wins. Both scoring runs, and getting out follow a limited number of straightforward rules. The more obscure rules are to ensure fairplay eg certain types of no-balls, out for handling ball, or delay in coming out to bat etc. Crickets uncertainties and complexities comes from the huge number of variables at play that effect the game. Type of pitch, ground conditions, moisture, wind, temperature, composition and temperament of team, selector decisions, choice to exercise review, ball being used, the time the match is played, the type of cricket being played and decision making surrounding these. The rules are simple. Complexity is an emergent property and not imposed.

[@SanidhyaM-mj5ue]

A 'spin' baller is basically a bowler that can turn or 'spin' the ball after it bounces, they are also usually the slower bowlers. Now spin has majorly 2 types of bowlers, leg spinners and off spinners. Off spinners are right-handed bowlers who use their fingers to spin the ball from right to left (for a right-handed batsman). The ball typically spins in the opposite direction for a left-handed batsman. Off spinners generally rely on accuracy, subtle variations in flight and pace, and the ability to generate turn off the pitch. Leg spinners, on the other hand, are right-handed or left-handed bowlers who use their wrists and fingers to impart spin on the ball from left to right (for a right-handed batsman). The ball spins in the opposite direction for a left-handed batsman. Leg spinners are known for their ability to generate significant turn off the pitch, as well as variations in bounce and trajectory. In summary, the main differences between off spinners and leg spinners lie in the direction of spin imparted on the ball and the techniques used to achieve it. Each type of spinner brings its own unique challenges for batsmen and requires different skills to master. A pace baller is usualy the bowler that adds pace into the ball. The ball is held diagonaly from the seam and if relesead at the right pace, the ball will swing in the air. BTW there are also different types of batters; Defensive, Radical, balanced, and brute. Defensive batter are usualy slow playing batters and have a lot of technique, so they usually play Tests or ODIs for example: rahul dravid or joe root. Radical are a bit faster but still on the slow page so usually test or ODI, sometimes t20. for example: Virat Kohli. next is balaced. they are slightly more faster with run rates varying around 125-150. the also usually play ODI or t20, less of test. for example: Shubhman Gill. Next are Brute. these guys are complete powerhouses. They have a lot of run rate and are usually used to make some quick runs. they are less thechnical and do anytype of shot. example; glenn maxwell, Travis head. hope this helped

[@peterwallace8441]

Good video. I think the main difference between the sports is the variations due to the pitch and atmospheric conditions in cricket (spoiler: my knowledge of baseball is rudimentary). In baseball it's hard to hit the ball. In cricket it's relatively easy. In a test match a team might "toil in the field" for hours with no sign that they can possibly get a wicket. Then again on a damp and overcast morning the ball might swing so much that a team might be skittled out for a very low score. I don't think baseball creates this variation of opportunity between bat and ball.

[@mk_annan22]

Cricket fan from Bangladesh 🇧🇩 here. I was very surprised when you said Cricket was the easier sport to understand and explain to kids as a reference for Baseball. Normally people say cricket is very complicated. Both Cricket and Baseball are categorized as bat-&-ball sports. Make a video of Cricket's cultural impact, history and popularity versus Baseball; will be an interesting case study. Fun facts: -Cricket was deemed to be the original bat-&-ball sport and Baseball was a derivative to cricket. Cricket's governing body is the International Cricket Council or ICC. Just like FIFA for Football. -In history, during British rule in the United States, the Americans popularized Baseball as a way to piss off England with their Cricket. Baseball had its first class match in 1839 and Cricket had it in 1844; but there are documented records of English and South African club/first class teams playing cricket in around 1628; also there are matches from 1774 maybe. -The first international cricket match was in a Test match format in 1877 between England and Australia men's teams. Australia defeated England by 7 runs in that game. -Test match was cricket's original format. Countries are granted ICC full membership in order to qualify to play Test cricket, depending on their performances in limited overs cricket against strong opponents, particularly other full members. -One Day International was invented in January 1971, the second format. -The third format, Twenty20 international was formed in 2005, played between Australia and New Zealand. -ODI cricket's first day-night match was in 1979 maybe. -Cricket World Cup (played in ODI format) started with the Women's World cup in 1973, two years before the men's inaugural World Cup in 1975. This makes Cricket probably the only sport in the globe whose World Cup was popularized by women.

[@CHOOCHx51]

Cricket has definitely been around far longer, so the history piece is obviously going to be deeper with cricket. But baseball has many different leagues and institutions. There’s Major League Baseball, the professional organization in the U.S., but also leagues like the KBO (Korea) and LBPRC (Puerto Rico). There’s also the IBAF (International Baseball Federation), which governs the World Baseball Classic. Even just focusing in the U.S., there are all the Minor Leagues that are affiliated with MLB clubs, plus independent leagues, which are professional leagues that do not have any affiliation with MLB.

[@Fatblue246]

No one in the US really debates that cricket is the older of the two sports, though there is a large amount of debate on whether or not it was derived from Cricket. Evidence suggests it was more likely derived from a less popular bat and ball game that was played in the commonwealth at the time called rounders, which was more popular in colonial territories than mainland UK. Baseball also wasn't really invented as a political or cultural statement towards the English at all. The modern game of baseball as we understand it today didn't really come together until after the US civil war, which is well into the late 1800's and well after relations between the US and the UK were somewhat normalized again. Most of the popular sports in the US and NA on the whole really were invented/centrally codified around that time. Baseball historically has also just not really been an international game the way cricket is outside of the Western Hemisphere and some countries in the Pacific that are more in the cultural/geopolitical sphere of the US rather than that of the UK. This largely came from US merchants spreading the game in Central America and the Caribbean, as well as from the fact that the US occupied many of these territories at various points in their shared histories. The US was also culturally very isolationist around the period when Baseball was growing, so there was not much of a globalized view or attitude held at the time in the US. That shifted more post world war two, but even then until very recently most spectators in the US did not really care for the international level play of the sport, though I know this is not the case for Latin American baseball fans as well as Korean and Japanese baseball fans who have always cared significantly about international baseball. That being said, Baseball still has been able to generate quite the fanbase globally with the World Baseball Classic(the baseball equivalent to the world cup)being one of the most viewed televised events in Japanese history.

[@frostbite7959]

Keep your videos going man you will blow up soon. You vids are awesome man!

[@jamescurran9002]

Thank you for your statement on which game is more complicated. I tried to explain some of the things you mentioned to half the Pacific Rim ( Cricket fans in Australia), plus a few more like Fair Territories and Players having gloves making it more difficult for the batters, but with no success. So thank you for articulating .

[@jeremydavies1813]

Great videos - really enjoying them. I’ve played cricket all my life, watched a couple of baseball games when in the USA, and been appropriately bewildered! Less so now - thankyou. The other massive difference in my opinion - during play - is that generally on cricket the ball bounces before it reaches the batsman. The ball will also move in the air on the way - as in baseball - but the ball hitting the pitch and spinning in different directions as a result is a massive deal in cricket, and explains major differences between types of bowlers. Probably like baseball pitching, you could do separate videos just on bowling types. I look forward to them - what is a knuckle ball 😮

[@Anamnesia]

Nice! Good follow-up video. And another like & comment for the effort. ✌👍👌😁

[@HiromiHonda]

One interesting thing you'll see here in Brazil (maybe in other countries too, I don't know): there's a game called bets (or taco) that's basically two people per team cricket. It's pretty popular and played by kids on the street using scraps of wood, discarded bricks and tennis balls.

[@epsity5124]

apparently there is a town in Brazil where cricket is more popular than football,the main contributing factor is that the kids played bets or taco,

[@cricketexplained8526]

@@epsity5124 yes there is a video about it. Cricket Brasil now has some contracted players.

[@conween]

Love this channel! the content is on another level

[@SportsExplained]

Thanks! Feel free to subscribe & share

[@biggrub8365]

Love it when I find one of these videos

[@iammattbarker]

I have heard Americans say that cricket is harder to play in the back yard because it requires more equipment. That simply isn't true. It's the same as baseball. You just need a ball and a stick and you adapt the rules however you want. As cricket is a runs based game, in backyard cricket it's common to dispense with physically running and just assign a run for every hit. Also you might assign two runs for hitting the house on the bounce and four runs for the back fence. Also, to save the windows, anything hit on the full is out.

[@lawrenceglaister4364]

Well done , that's two very good videos on cricket that explains the game very well . Baseball was played at least in England before WW2 as my grandfather was a referee , in the Midlands at a town called Derby there was a ground called The Baseball Ground , on two sides of the ground there was two buildings were supporters went and although not too deep I think they were 3 stories high , when baseball stopped a football team ( soccer ) played there ( Derby County ) and built two more building on the other sides for supporters

[@saswatmohanty8132]

6:24 The duckworth lewis system is so complicated that 99 percent cricket watchers also don't know how that works 🤣🤣🤣

[@SportsExplained]

Good because I certainly don’t!!

[@colinwhite6904]

Duckworth - Lewis is like a swear word in South Africa! 😅

[@virajishantha9583]

Very good video. I like cricket videos❤️ .Thanks for the hard work

[@Jawz2308]

4:00 With regards to the bowling categories, there are two main subsections under Fast & Spin: Fast Bowling Seam - Bowling the ball with the seam in a vertical position. Best for out and out pace & allows for deviations when the ball bounces (Glenn McGrath & Jofra Archer) Swing - Bowling the ball where in moves in the air before it gets to the batter. The later the bowler can get the ball to swing in the delivery, the better (James Anderson & Trent Boult) Spin Bowling (Note - this is for a RH Bowler facing a RH Batter) Off-Spin - When the ball bounces, it spins Right, into the batters starting position. (Ravi Ashwin & Nathan Lyon) Leg-Spin - When the ball bounce, it spins Left, away from the batters starting position (Shane Warne [RIP] & Anil Kumble) They are the main subcategories of Bowling. The different types of deliveries (Out Swinger, Googly), fall within the type of bowling being done. To the regular Cricket fans, I know this will be missing out a lot but we can get into the miniscule details later.

[@SportsExplained]

I’m looking forward to learning more about this 🥳

[@tinahalder8416]

@@SportsExplained there is something i wanna add, when Pace bowlers bowl using left hand, they don't have any special names ( Michel Jhonson, Mustafizur Raheman) But when Spin bowlers use left arm, they have special names depending on the type of delivery they do. Left arm spinner who bowls Off spin using left arm, are called ' Slow left arm bowler'( Daniel Vittori, Ravindra Jadeja) And Left arm spinners who bowls Leg Spin using left arm are called ' Left Arm Chinaman Bowler' ( Brad Hogg, Kuldeep Jadav) A Google by left arm chinaman is also then called as ' Wrong One'

[@graciejanegollinger494]

@@SportsExplained Take a look at this video, where Kerry O'Keefe & the greatest leg-spinner that ever lived, Shane Warne (filmed just a couple months before his sudden passing), describe how a leg-spin delivery works. As Tina said, the left-arm version of this is sometimes called the "Chinaman" but also called "Unorthodox" (the latter is starting to regain some traction as a term because the former might be viewed as slightly racially-tinged.) kzbin.info/www/bejne/o5vGd3pjqbhmftE

[@markdowse3572]

I disagree. Please see my comment on a later post. There are THREE main categories of bowler: FAST. MEDIUM. SLOW. Each type uses various deliveries to try to fool the batter and get them out. 'Pidgeon' McGrath was NEVER a FAST bowler - except in his dreams.... 😂 M 🦘🏏😎

[@julianbourchier9524]

It's interesting to note that certain nations produce more bowlers of a particular type due to the conditions of their country. e.g. England produces more swing bowlers than Australia because the atmospheric conditions there produces more swing.

[@guyfaux3978]

"Third strike not caught" and "byes/leg byes" are similar in the sense of that the receiver of the ball, the "catcher" or "wicket-keeper," hasn't made a clean play on the ball and as a result, the team at bat can take advantage of the situation. I mean, that's how I figured out what a bye or leg bye was.

[@colinyffzxlorimer1903]

Brilliant. I'm a lifelong cricket fan. If you don't know either game cricket is a much easier game to watch and understand. After watching baseball on tv for years I had to buy a Johnny Bench book to understand the game. Now I have a great appreciation for both sports

[@lookherenow]

Excellent series!

[@SeeASquaRE]

One thing I really want to make clear, even a lot of cricket fans are suprised by it hilariously, is that in cricket *Every over the end they bowl from changes!!!* This small seemingly inconsequential detail will explain a lot about who's gonna be on strike at the end of an over, why a bowler bowls at certain points because of ends, and why a certain field position is preferable. As a spectator this is trippy, because one over you are watching action towards the striker, in the next over, you're watching action behind the striker.

[@jpgale]

There is an english school game that is the literal foundation of baseball called rounders. Having played, cricket and rounders and softball in the us, the transition was not hard due to the similarity of rounders

[@user-im4ks5yb8r]

Lifelong cricket aficionado - dont know anything about baseball. Thank you for doing this.

[@liausdhfsdgfgf]

As a cricket fan who loves the game and has watched and played cricket all his life, In just last 5 years i learned baseball through a mobile game and watched a few matches afterwards. I can easily say that in my opinion, BASEBALL IS LESS COMPLICATED IN TERMS OF LAWS. It's fairly easy. Cricket is a game of technique, if you don't know the technique or haven't developed it, you cannot play. Baseball appears to be more blunt and straightforward than cricket. But at the end I would say I love both games.

[@RockSolitude]

RIP Shane Warne. He really was the best of the best. Unmatched bowling great and one of the best cricket brains there was.

[@xlerb1637]

Heh heh heh heh. Cricket brain.

[@skbuch16]

i am an Indian American who grew up playing organized baseball yet followed Indian cricket my whole life due to my heritage. I always told my friends that cricket was the more complicated sport due to the weird terminology, endless fielding positions with silly names, and other quirks. But after watching your two videos, I realize that’s just because we all came from a place of shared understanding about baseball/softball rules and gameplay. You have totally changed my perspective on this with your example of young children (both in the videos and comments). And the point about rules following an “internal logic” is just brilliant. As a lover and player of both sports for 20 years, I can confidently say that you are correct that at their core, for a person new to both sports, cricket gameplay and rules are simpler to understand. On the flip side, if you are trying to explain either sport to a fan of the other, both will seem equally ridiculous and complicated. One last thing that I’m sure you came across in your research on cricket is that it actually is the precursor to baseball in America. Obviously, cricket was invented way earlier by the British and was played in America up until around the mid-1800s when baseball was invented. As a result, I have often viewed baseball and its rules as a sort of progression or evolution of the rules of cricket. Like cricket with extra layers to it and more culturally American adaptations. Much love to you for making these videos.

[@cricketexplained8526]

Cricket continued in America into the 20th C but in smaller clusters. Look up the Philadelphia Gentlemen.

[@everbombadil]

Great video! I would like to have seen some discussion about how you're allowed to treat the ball. For example, shining the ball in cricket to encourage swing in the air vs illegality of the spitball in baseball

[@w.j.m8731]

The reason why bowlers in cricket have a certain title is due to the scale that separates a fast bowler and a spin bowler I'm a fast bowler and I don't really understand spin bowling I can't do it very well and I know spin bowlers that can't get wickets in giveaway a lot of runs when fast bowling. pictures kind of throw in a similar way and at a similar point well with cricket it's a lot more on your hand placement the speed you come in and where the ball bounces or if it bounces at all. I do think the cricket is a much easier game to understand all the points you made in this video are very true and I would add to it that cricket is much more dynamic T-20 the hundred and T10 are all examples of where cricket has made itself more versatile and easier to understand. Also cricket has not the same old card and kind of old-fashioned player code of contract. Players are allowed to celebrate if they hit sixes or if a player gets out. I've been watching and following baseball for years and I still don't understand the game today watching your video I learn something new. It's just a slight inconsistency when you talk about super overs super overs don't continue until when you was decided if the game is still a draw after both teams have batted the winner is decided through amount of wickets conceded or amount of boundaries scored or your net run rate

[@woosteresque]

Great video! On the point of cricketers being identified by the one "type" of bowling they specialize in, broadly being fast (also known as pace bowling) or slow (also known as spin bowling). It's true that most fast bowlers will generally almost always bowl fast, and vice versa for spin bowlers almost always bowling spin. This is because of the specialized skill it takes to bowl with their chosen type, and in a match situation, I guess they would prefer to stick to what they think they're the best at 😂 That being said, it isn't unheard of for some bowlers to be able to bowl both types. It usually tends to be part timers (Batsmen who can bowl a bit) or all rounders (players who are considered equally good as both batters and bowlers). Sir Garfield Sobers, maybe the most famous Caribbean player from the 60s, was known to be great at bowling both. In the modern era, I can think of Sachin Tendulkar from India, and Andrew Symonds from Australia, both primarily batters who have bowled both fast and spin at different points, and sometimes in the same match. A reason why some players turn from fast bowlers to spinners is that fast bowling tends to be hard on the body, with fast bowlers being the most injury prone players of the game. Let's not even get into medium pace, which is kind of a dying art in itself 😂 because that was kind of a mid point between the breakneck pace of 85-95 mph of fast bowling, and the 45-60 mph of spin. It is a complex game, honestly but once it's sucked you in, there's nothing like it 😄

[@hughjass5156]

Pitchers that throw sinkers as their primary pitch (sinkerballers) tend to be (or at least used to be) identified in a similar way to knuckleballers. Not exactly what youre talking about, but two pitch relievers tend to be identified by their second pitch, i.e. fastball-changeup guy or fastball-slider guy.

[@shaggyhereagain]

Well i learned from History TV that the legendary Babe Ruth used to play both Baseball and Cricket at St Mary before eventually getting into Professional Baseball.

[@nikonkolipakam1148]

Hey there. Great videos. On bowling styles, as you said, there are 2 main styles - fast and Spin. Fast bowling aka pace bowling aka seam bowling usually involves bowling above 70mph with the intention of using the seam of the ball to get the ball to deviate. By holding the ball in slightly different ways and by shining only one side of the ball, they create a difference in air turbulence that causes the ball to deviate much like a baseball pitcher. They also change the position of where the ball bounces to vary the height at which it reaches the batter. Most international level bowlers can get the ball to go in both directions- into or away from the batter- but have a preferred direction (aka their stock ball). Pace bowlers may use tricks like baseball pitchers such as knuckle balls and slower balls to deceive batters or may use intimidating bowling such as bouncers - aimed at the head, neck and ribs - or Yorkers - aimed at the ankles and toes- to get batters out if their stock ball isn't effective. The cricket ball usually has to be bowled above 60mph to get enough air turbulence to get deviation which is why these bowlers are different from spin bowlers. Spin bowlers use their wrist or their fingers to put revolutions on the ball to get it to deviate after bouncing. Their typical hand movement is similar to someone opening or closing a doorknob. Spin bowling needs to be slower to give the ball enough time to grip the surface since the amount of spin is determined by the number of revolutions on the ball and the amount of grip at the landing spot and bowling slower gives the ball more time to grip the surface and spinning it more. Wrist spinners are able to get more revolutions on the ball but tend to have less control on where the ball bounces and the nature of their action reduces the speed they can impart on the ball. Finger spinners are more accurate and faster but can't put as many revolutions on the ball. Since spin bowlers are much slower and can't intimidate batters, they rely mainly on deception to get batters out. The most common deception is around how much or how little the ball deviates after pitching but they also use other tricks such as making the ball bounce in a slightly different spot from where it was expected or even making the ball spin in the other direction without any noticeable change in their bowling action. Spinners are usually classified by their stock ball but all top level spinners are able to get the ball go the other way and even bowl balls that just slide in with the arm and don't spin. Since spin bowling is slower, they need to be able to do all these things without the batter reading their intentions. Another quick call out on bowling. Fast bowlers usually tend to be more effective when the ball is hard and new and in locations where the ball bounces more or when the surface has more grass. Grass keeps the ball harder for longer and bouncier surfaces give them more options for intimidating bowling. Softer balls are easier to grip allowing spinners to put not revolutions on the ball. Similarly, a rougher surface or a surface with rough spots helps spinners get more purchase. Hope this helps!

[@LoneVocalist]

In limited over cricket, there are opening bowlers (starters) and death bowlers (closers). Signature sequence of pitches sounds like what the stock ball is for a cricket bowler. You can break down cricket bowlers in two main categories: Fast/Pace bowlers and Spin Bowlers. Fast bowlers come running in and bowl as fast as they can, ranging from 80 to 100 miles per hour. They try to swing the ball in the air (lateral movement) and/or "seam" the ball to a degree by landing the ball on the seam so the ball can deviate off the ground. Spin bowlers are a different beast. They take a few steps, bowl at a much slower pace, and give ball lot of revs. Because of their slower pace, the ball gets ample time to grasp the ground which combined with revs cause deviation (called spin or turn) in the intended direction. Spin bowlers can be finger spinners, or wrist spinners. A finger spinner is more accurate, but usually can't generate as many revs as the wrist spinner. A right handed finger spinner is called an off spinner, a left handed finger spinner is called left arm orthodox. Off spinner turns the ball from left to right (on your TV) and the left arm orthodox spinner turns right to left. Wrist spinners aren't as accurate, but because they use they who wrist to put revs on the ball, they generate more turn. Right arm wrist spinner is called a leg spinner and turns the ball from right to left from you TV's POV. Left arm wrist spinner is called left arm unorthodox or "Chinaman" for short (nicknamed by salty English batter after getting out to a left arm unorthodox to an an Asian bowler long ago). Chinaman bowlers turn the ball left to right. Notice the directions are important because some batters are right handed while others are left handed. A note on describing cricket to a 3 year old, LBW is generally not implemented outside of pro cricket. So a 3 year old will just be told to hit the ball as far as you can, don't let the ball hit the wickets, don't get caught out, and run if you can make it.

[@basedpaul]

Lifelong cricket fan, appreciate the videos! I guess the only thing I'd like to add would be why exactly in cricket the ball is not changed or replaced with a brand-new ball if lost. At the start of each innings, the fielding (or bowling) team is handed a brand-new ball. When the ball is new, due to the position of the stitching (or seam) of the ball and smooth coating, a fast bowler can cause the ball to move in either direction while in the air during a delivery (or "swing" in cricket terminology), if released from the hand in a certain way. As you can imagine facing a ball at speeds of up to 160km/hr (100miles/hour) that is moving in the air is EXTREMELY difficult for any batsman, and is often why you will almost always see the bowling team begin the bowling attack with a "fast bowler" as the ball condition favors this playstyle. As the ball continues to be bowled and hit naturally it begins to deteriorate, and bowlers are not able to get as much movement or swing from the ball. This is where "spin bowlers" are likely to come into play, as they are able to move (or spin) the ball off the ground as it bounces, not requiring a shiny ball to create movement. The condition of the ball plays a major role in tactics for both sides, and employing the right bowler to suit your team's tactics is cruicial. Both styles of bowling can play a major role in a match, and one individual bowler can literally dismantle a batting side winning the game all by himself. If an old ball were lost and replaced with a new one, it would completely change the game for both teams, however with a clear advantage for the bowling side due to the gamplay that a new ball can put on the table. Imagine as a batting team you weather the ball down over the course of 30 overs to the point there is very little movement, you're beginning to learn the new tactics of facing spin bowling, only for the ball to be replaced and suddenly you're back to square 1 facing extreme pace and movement, most likely now with less competent players in the middle trying to score. The condition of the ball is actually a pretty major factor for both teams to consider during a match, and this is the reason that the ball is kept until deemed either unusable or lost and if lost is replaced with a ball in the same condition. About complexity, I'll admit as an Australian i know jackshit about baseball so I can't really make a comparison, though I started watching cricket at about 7 years of age (21 years ago now jeez) and found it relatively easy to figure out the majority of the game on my own. The real "complexity" in cricket gameplay I feel is not so much about the rules, but the way in which the game is played by either side (tactics employed at certain times to potentially swing the game in favor of the team). Either way it's an amazing sport, extremely entertaining. Cheers for the video, great work!

[@cjlamber]

Very well done. Thank you for this. I think the advent of T20 is in response to most non Cricket countries attitude to our game. It's just sooooooooo bloody long with no guarantee of a result. People who don't understand Test Cricket believe playing 5 days without a result is a waste of time and effort. But a Test series (usually 5 games) can be decided on the back of a hard won draw. One possible example--- The second team batting fails to get within 200 runs of the first teams score. They may be forced to "Follow on" and have to bat again and face the prospect of an innings defeat (which is considered a humiliating loss!). In this situation their goal is to pass the first teams score with as few wickets down as possible to make them bat again. But if they lose too many wickets, they need to forget the totals and "Dig in" for an unlikely draw. The final 5th day in these circumstances can be extremely nerve wracking for both sides if the batters on strike are playing full defence against the best bowling in the world with only a few wickets in hand. Arguably the most engrossing battle in world sport is when a number 11 batsmen (often an amateur in regard to batting ability) is facing a genuine world class bowling attack. Sometimes these contests go down to the last ball of the test match. Most often the fielding team wins, but rarely the battling amateur at the crease hangs on until stumps.

[@keithbromley6070]

This may have been mentioned elsewhere in the comments, but one major difference between the sports is that they are kind of opposites. In cricket, it’s easy to score runs, but hard to take wickets. In baseball, it’s hard to score runs, but relatively easy to get outs (I guess a typical baseball game ends with each team having lost 24-27 “wickets” but typically scoring 0-15 runs). This fact adds some context as to why baseball players use gloves. In cricket, a dropped catch is very bad, but quite common and wouldn’t necessarily be the deciding factor in a game. If baseball players didn’t wear gloves, those extra dropped catches would be more impactful and games would more commonly be decided by errors and not by skill. On complexity, you made a good case as the baseball stuff sounded pretty confusing, but although the fundamentals of baseball may be more complex, I would argue there is necessarily more variability and complexity in cricket strategy and tactics. This naturally comes out of the facts that - the bowler can bounce the ball (added variability not just in the action, but also in how the weather/climate/solid conditions affect play) - the batter can hit the ball in any direction. This adds a wide variety of different batting “strokes” and gives the fielding team’s captain a lot to think about when placing his fielders. They bowl to a plan for specific batters, so not every ball is trying to be a wicket - they might be trying to make a batter shift their balance a little (left or right, forward or back) to make say the fifth ball of the over more likely to get the wicket.

[@markdowse3572]

As per your request @ 3:50, sir, cricket has three main categories of bowlers: Fast; Medium; and Slow. All based on their speed of delivery. Fast and Medium bowlers can and do swing the cricket ball in the air after the ball leaves their hand. They can also use the fingers on the ball to help make the ball move off the pitch. There are many types of Slow bowler. Leg spin and Off spin are the main two but each type of slow bowler will have an ARSENAL of deliveries. See: SHANE WARNE (leg spinner). By the way, mate, YOUR VIDEOS ARE EXCELLENT ! The more we understand about all the games out there, the more fun we can all have and share! 😊 Love, ❤ M 🦘🏏😎

[@chigeryelam4061]

I'm sure it's been covered better btl but the question of bowler specialism is to do with the bounce and movement of the ball. So a spin bowler will emphasise slower balls with high spin rates to get lateral movement off the bounce to force a misplay. A warn surface and ball will help a spin bowler. A fast bowler will emphasise fast pace with vertical and lateral movements from the seam to force a misplay. A new, hard ball will aid pace bowlers. There are other variations to do with movement through the air (swing) which is emphasised by shining one side and leaving the other rough. Any one in the team can bowl except substitutes.

[@SimonNZ1984]

Hey mate enjoying your videos and your learning about a new sport. Connecting a couple different cricket points made here - the umpires having a box of game worn balls in case the ball goes missing, and the different types of bowlers. Here goes: a brand new cricket ball is a deadly weapon. At the start of an innings a new ball is given to the fielding team. It is shiny, the stitching is thick. The fast bowlers, the ones who full-on run towards the crease, take advantage of this, getting the ball to break left or right by bouncing it on the stitching (seam bowler) or by keeping one side shinier than the other, getting the ball to curve in the air (swing bowler). Deadly fast and moving unpredictably, the batting team need their best batsmen to 'open the batting' and face these deliveries. Then, as the inning goes on and the ball wears, those fast bowlers become less effective. This is where spin bowlers and other types of bowlers come into play. So, back to the first point: if the ball gets lost over the fence or whatever, the umpire does their best to pick a replacement that matches the wear on the ball so as not to give either team an easier or harder time than they were having with the previous ball.

[@IvyANguyen]

This was a nice series of videos explaining the basics of Cricket to those of us who mainly grew up in `Baseball countries´. I think both sports are probably same difficulty in understanding but depends on which you are used to. If I grew up in a `Cricket country', I bet I would find Cricket to be easy to understand a Baseball to be the more confusing one. Are there any countries that do both sports equally at the same level? I know regionally both sports in exist in, say, the Caribbean, but I expect it to be one sport or the other depending on country.

[@cricketexplained8526]

Australia has signifcant baseball development, but I don't know if it's as far-developed as cricket. In Britain, baseball is very under the radar.

[@surojeetchatterjee]

True, but as who played both the game, cricket is more fun & interesting. It's more constant sports both batter & bowler(pitcher) & fielders gets opportunity to play more. Infront of cricket baseball looks little lazy version game with similar patterns.

[@surojeetchatterjee]

Canada played cricket WC once & has a baseball team as well. Canada has a good cricket batter who scored a century as far as I can remember.

[@SuperLockjames]

I played lots of Cricket in school (UK) and joined the baseball team at UNI, the fundamentals of cricket are easy to learn, the niche rules for baseball is where it can be hard to understand.

[@ProgShell]

With regards to the discussion at 4:00 I have heard the word "sinkerballer" used to describe that pitch to weak contact, ground ball oriented style.

[@SportsExplained]

Yep! “Sinkerballer” is definitely a thing. Even then, it’s more common to know one of those pitchers by their role

[@ProgShell]

@@SportsExplained Yeah I agree. Whether a pitcher is starting pitcher or relief pitcher (and even to some extent whether they're a low, medium or high leverage reliever) is way more relevant and notable than their pitch mix.

[@smitmahajani7663]

Other people have explained how bowlers are categorised into pacers and spinners, so I won't go into that. However, there are indeed equivalents to what you'd called starting pitchers and the different types of relief pitchers. However the list isn't as long in cricket, as it is in baseball, and these roles are defined very broadly similarly across all cricket formats, but there are crucial differences. This is how it goes in Test cricket: There are two opening bowlers (since in cricket, the ends change after each over so there will always be two bowlers operating at a given time). These opening bowlers operate with the new ball and their role is to set the tempo and to build pressure, so as to get some outs/wickets. Their job is to get the top order of the batting out, while giving away very few runs. This puts pressure on the batting team. Then come the 1st change and 2nd change bowlers. Their job is to keep up the pressure and take wickets as well. They've to work with a slightly less new ball, and they too try to get wickets obviously since that's the job of any bowler, but they're expected to take more wickets and get the middle order batters out. The change bowlers and opening bowlers are collectively called "specialist bowlers" since they're in the team to get wickets (while not giving away many runs obviously). They're the ones expected to get the most wickets of the opposition batters. Then comes the 5th, and occasionally the 6th bowler (in Test cricket, teams only play 5 bowlers usually, but rarely might have a 6th bowler too). These are called support bowlers. The support bowlers can of course take wickets too, but their main job is to support the specialist bowlers as the name suggests. They're expected to not leak runs and keep up some pressure, while the specialist bowlers take some rest before coming on to bowl again. Remember in Test cricket, since there is no limit on the number of overs per bowler (as is the case in limited-overs formats), specialist bowlers bowl for much longer "spells" (basically the period a bowler bowls any number of their own overs one after the other is a spell of his/her). So that's why specialist bowlers need enough rest. Support bowlers might also come in if one of the other bowlers is injured. The opening bowlers, change bowlers and support bowlers also operate with different conditions of the ball (new+hard+shiny, old-ish+slighly soft+less shiny and then, very soft+ quite worn out). As you said, the ball is the same on cricket so the condition of the ball determines a lot of bowling strategies in cricket. In limited-overs cricket, the bowlers are defined according to the phase of game. Before that, you need to know what a powerplay is: A powerplay is period of fielding restrictions, and each powerplay (PP) has different maximum limits on the number of outfielders the fielding/bowling team can have. T20 cricket has 1 powerplay from overs 1-6 of the innings, in which only 2 fielders are allowed in the outfield, after which the limit is 5 fielders for the rest of the innings. In ODI cricket, Powerplay 1 (overs 1-10) has a limit of 2 outfielders, PP 2 has a limit of 4 and PP 3 has a limit of 5 outfielders. These dictate the bowling and batting strategies. In T20 cricket, there are 3 phases of an innings: The Powerplay (Overs 1-6), the middle overs (overs 7-16) and the death overs/slog overs (overs 16-20). So then you have powerplay specialists (within this, bowlers who bowl overs 1-3 are also called new ball bowlers since they operate with the new hard ball), middle overs bowlers and death over specialists (they bowl with the worn out ball). One-Day/ODI formats have a similar breakup: 1st powerplay (overs 1-10), 2nd powerplay (overs 11-40), also called the middle overs, and 3rd powerplay (overs 41-50), of which overs 45-50 are also called the death overs/slog overs phase. So here, you've new ball bowlers (usually bowl during most of the 1st PP), middle overs bowlers and then the death/slog overs bowlers (usually bowl most of the last PP). In limited-overs cricket, each bowler can only bowl a maximum of 20% of the total number of overs in the innings. So you need 5 bowlers in your team no matter what. However, nowadays usually, all teams in limited-overs cricket play an additional 6th bowler just in case one of the 5 is getting hit for runs. Even in cricket, lefty bowlers and lefty batters are given a lot of attention. As of now, they're even rarer in cricket than in baseball. Also, just like in baseball, there is also a batting order with defined roles, although they're defined in a different manner. Broadly there is the top order, then middle order and then the tailenders. Just like in baseball, each category has their defined roles. You can read about it in detail here: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batting_order_(cricket) Btw, you've a great channel! Keep up the good work! :D

[@flamingfrancis]

You cannot generalie and state that pitchers conform to an "order" in the manner cricket bowlers are used. Field managers often call on a specific left or right handed pitcher depending on the strengths of the batter.Statistical analyses have long been a Manager's tool in baseball. Compilation of data has been used as performance indicators for over a century. Also substitutions to the batting order are a lot more prevalent in baseball. The use of the term "switch hitter" as used in cricket is a steal from baseball where any batter can be substituted at any time, even within an at bat..

[@smitmahajani7663]

@@flamingfrancis I know pitchers don't confirm to an order. I was mainly focusing on making a comparison. And how does it matter that cricket borrowed a term from baseball?? I don't see what's the relevance here. Just seems like you were offended at something I didn't even offense to, and now are trying to show that baseball is better, whereas I like both sports.

[@00mpa1oomp4]

Excellent video! so here are more in-depth details for a person who has got the basics of cricket down: 1) TYPE OF BALLS: in the test cricket format, they only use red balls and the countries are free to decide the type of ball they choose for a series or matches. for eg, England has excellent pace & swing conditions, so they play with a slightly smaller ball produced by 'Duke', whereas India favour spin conditions, so you tend to see balls created by 'SG' which works excellent on Indian spinning tracks. likewise, other cricketing countries choose balls as per their conditions,; 'Duke' & 'kookabura' are the most common balls chosen For one day international & t20, white kookabura balls are used dominantly as per ICC's regulations 2) TYPE OF PITCH: every country has pitches as per their favoured environmental condition, for eg, England & New Zealand have excellent pace & swing pitches, Australia & SA have pace & bouncy pitches, and India & Sri Lanka have nice spinning pitches. but it doesn't mean that you can only create a specific type of pitches in a country. In a test match, the home team is free to select the type of pitches they want to curate and you often see the home team heavily favoured to win their games as they will create pitches that favour their bowler's strength slightly. While for a one day international & a T20 matches, teams have to adhere to more strict conditions which level the playing field 3) Test cricket: One exciting aspect of test cricket is that the pitches deteriorate over the period of 5 days, so essentially, you can start the game on day 1 with excellent hard pitches which gives your bowlers & batsman a nice track to start with but by the time 5th day rolls in, the pitch's condition might be different as to day 1, so you have to adapt your game & strategy with the changing conditions.

[@richardthomson4693]

They use pink balls in Australia and UK for night test matchs

[@TheNickman66]

Definitely a baseball rookie- had no idea about the third strike rule so thanks for that. Cricket is very dependent on the pitch because the ball bounces. It’s made of a special clay loam and grass which is cut very short and rolled. Artificial surfaces are available - but not for top games. Some pitches suit one type of bowling over another - the home team sometimes prepare a surface that suits their bowlers eg slow, spin bowlers over fast bowlers. Balls which don’t bounce are possible- but they are quite easy to hit as the bat is 4 1/4” wide and flat. They are called a “full toss” and usually get hit a good distance. But if the ball is too high without bouncing - above waist level - it is called a “beamer” and is illegal.

[@zneb67]

And when we played cricket in the neighbourhood we'd use the nearest garbage bin as the wicket, some chalk or stick for where the bowler bowls from and move the bin out of the way when a car comes, bit like what you see in American shows with street baseball. We also played what's called hit and run or tippity run cricket where you had to run if you hit the ball. Also playing in backyards had certain rules, tennis balls only, if you hit the house on the full you were 6 and out, hit the dog 3 runs, clothes line 4 runs etc. every house was different. Google backyard cricket rules for some fun

[@cricketexplained8526]

Needs mentioning in this thread as well - bowlers *must not* throw as pitchers do. The bowling arm can be bent during bowling, but must not straighten by any more than 15 degrees after it has reached the level of the shoulder. Repeated failure to observe this will, at pro level, require stopping bowling to remediate the issue.

[@Azeria]

1:43 that’s Trent Bridge! I could see those flood lights from my childhood bedroom, and my first job was in the McDonald’s across the road. When I mention I’m from Nottingham most Americans think of Robin Hood, but Aussies mostly mention Trent Bridge ❤

[@MemeTeam6900]

Cricket is easier to understand but kind of hard to play bcz it's harder to bowl the ball (many fast bowlers suffer from back injuries) and it's also hard to judge the ball so it's very hard for the batsman to play if he/she cannot pick up what type of delivery it is

[@dweller6065]

The best way to gain an appreciation of the difficulties of either sport is to play it. There are a lot of cricketers in Aust who play baseball in the winter. Ian Chappell - former Aust national cricket captain and doyen of the game - would be highly qualified and interested in sharing his thoughts.

[@alisiddef]

Cricket is by far the easier to sport to play and understand at base level. The more official cricket gets, the more complicated (relatively) it gets. Which is the same for other sports as well like futbol, basketball or hockey. But baseball is harder to understand at elementary level too because of its inherent complicated rules. If you were to watch street cricket (in Pakistan) or beach cricket (in West Indies), it is such an easy sport to pick up and play.

[@djgrant8761]

In cricket you have two types of bowlers fast paced bowlers or spin bowlers. The fast paced bowler usually has a longer run-up where as a spin bowler has a shorter run/walk up. The fast paced bowler uses speed and tries to swing the ball whereas a spin bowler tries to spin the ball to confuse the batter. The most well known Australian fast paced bowlers are Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Johnson or Brett Lee. The most well known spin bowlers are Shane Warne and Nathan Lyon. There are your mainstay bowlers but sometimes you might see part time bowlers who often bowl in an attempt to break a long batting partnership. In cricket because the ball bounces on the pitch runs along the ground the cricket ball can lose its shape. If the ball seems to be losing its shape the umpire has a series of rings that the ball has to go through if the ball cab’s go through the ring clearly then the ball can be changed. This only applies in the long format of the game in which the players wear white after every 80 overs the bowling team can take the New Ball which is a brand new cricket ball. If the cricket ball is hit for six and leaves the ground or lands on the roof of a building there is a box of cricket balls that the bowler can choose from. A ball that is close to the ball that was being used.

[@theotherbigfoot]

So a few bits of vernacular to get started. Swing - During the course of play the fielding/bowling team will determine one side of the ball to be the shiny side and the other to be the rough side. While play is ongoing the fielding/bowling team will make efforts to maintain the shiny side and degrade the rough side (there is an incredible history attached to cricket just to what lengths teams will go to to 'degrade the rough side'. See Steve Smith/Cameron Bancroft/David Warner). When a certain amount of deterioration of the ball has been achieved and with the ball bowled with the seam in an upright position it will tend to move in the air towards the rough side of the ball. Some bowlers can manifest this more effectively than others. This is known as swing. Seam - When the ball hits the pitch with the seam in a more more or less upright position the seam of the ball can tend to grip the pitch and direct the ball in a slightly different direction than the batsman might expect. This is known as seam bowling. It can also be bowled with a scrambled seam which basically means it could seam in any direction. Spin - There are two broad types of spin bowler (finger spin and wrist spin) but the goal is to deliver the ball so that the spinning seam of the ball lands on the pitch and changes the balls direction. The seam generally lands 45-90deg in relation to the bowler. Due to the nature of the action of the bowler (i.e very difficult) the speed of the delivery is significantly less than for seam or swing but the lateral movement off the pitch is significantly more pronounced when done right. When it is done wrong you are effectively facing a slow bowler which can be easy to pick off. This generally defines the action of the bowler, how the ball is delivered. Swing and seam are intertwined in that they generally refer to fast bowlers, and you can have a fast bowler who is a swing and seam bowler, they aren't mutually exclusive. But it would be incredibly unusual to have a bowler who could bowl swing and spin, that doesn't happen, the actions and skillsets are completely different. And in terms of 'fast', there is a whole nomenclature dedicated to just what this means. From my understanding, a fast bowler is one who could deliver a ball 90mph and above. Then you would have medium fast which is 80mph and above, fast medium which is 70mph and above and then medium which is 60mph. Then you have the slow bowlers and spin bowlers. The broad definitions of what speeds are needed to achieve each distinction is not hard and fast, I have just used some rough numbers to give some idea. It is generally something that has to be achieved. You can't be a fast bowler just because you can bowl a ball at 90mph, you are a fast bowler because you have bowled fast and accurately in matches over a significant length of time. Sometimes the accuracy is more important than the speed. The question is, how fast can you deliver the ball accurately over a sustained time. What action can the captain rely on when you are called to bowl.

[@amanrai937]

As a cricket fan i can say that cricket rules at basic level is easy to understand if you play it just for fun. Hit the ball while batting and have a straight arm while bowling. And these two things are as hard to do as they are easy to understand.

[@kevinsousa3370]

I definitely see what u mean when you say cricket might be easier to understand. I really enjoy teaching people about sports, and I can get people to understand the gist after a few sentences of the basic rules. In baseball it's a lot tougher especially when I have to get into the intricacies

[@keriddunk1520]

But the strategy is harder

[@museruse1]

Baseball - Complex to understand for a novice Easy to master once you are a novice Cricket - Easy to understand as a novice Hell to master for a novice Armageddon when it comes to the DLS method

[@felixleiter5092]

Great video. Was born in England and as a child played cricket and baseball on the base. Have to say I like cricket a bit better. Btw, interesting fact about the baseball player who played for two teams in the same game due to a rain out. But in fact, one player was traded to the other team during the break between doubleheaders! (Sorry that I don't quite remember the details).

[@SportsExplained]

Found it. Interesting fact! www.mlb.com/cut4/cardinals-and-cubs-trade-outfielders-cliff-heathcote-and-max-flack-c232584078

[@paulp1450]

Worth noting that the pitch conditions is the main determinant of how a team will select the type and number of bowlers. The pitch is managed most carefully by the ground staff, which mow, water and roll (big heavy roller) the pitch. Notice the different consistency of a pitch to the field, you see the colour difference, it is much harder than the field. Just days before a game the ground crew will more intensively roll the pitch, this makes the ground harder and more consistent for the ball to bounce. While the ground crew is meant to be neutral and provide the best field and level of consistency, they certainly do and will 'maintain' the field and pitch to favour certain bowling types (of the home team). Fast bowlers want a 'fast' pitch, which would normally be 'green', worn pitches will generally slow the ball down, although we will discuss cracks later. Some fields retain a specific bowler type pitch for the entire game, some change during the match. The cricket captains and bowlers (for international tests) will visit the field in the leading days of a match to make a guess on how they think the pitch conditions will start and finish during a match. This will then determine their bowler lineup for that particular match based on that information (and the predicted weather conditions, rain, hot sun, a pitch that will dry quickly or stay green longer and thus retain speed and bounce). It's probably more accurate to say there are three types of bowlers groups. Fast, Medium and spin. Medium is similar in most regards to fast, except with slower speed and more accuracy. The 'run up' and bowling actions are the same (fast and medium). Spin bowlers prefer a 'dustier ' pitch, a little more worn, so the spinning ball can grab the dirt and turn more. Fast bowlers normally do most of the bowling in the early stages of a pitch, until it is worn a down a little bit, allowing the spinners to become more of a factor later. A mix of fast, medium and spin is referable for the fielding team, if the conditions are favorable, making sure the batter does not become too comfortable with one bowling type. You will see fine cracks appear in the pitch, that will grow over time, this is very important for a test game, the 'wear rate' is irrelevant for a T20 game (but the pitch conditions are still important). Bowlers will take advantage of these cracks as the provide an opportunity for balls to deviate more aggressively and provide inconsistent bounce, making it more difficult for the batters to anticipate a shot. Batters want consistency from the pitch. Sometimes, late in the test (or a limited over match on a worn pitch) you can see the ball variation on TV, the ball stays unusually low (skids) or 'kicks' up or deviates left or right more than normal. Obviously, this wear and tear occurs most where the ball is hitting the pitch. Most balls are pitched in a similar area of the pitch during a match. If you look closely, notice that there are several old pitches on the same field, next to the current pitch (they are greener, but you will still see the wear marks). Many local and non-international games are played on the same field during the entire season. So they rotate the pitch area between each game.

[@whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy]

So the pitcher question is very interesting and it's complex. Being a baseball and cricket fan and an engineering graduate, let me try to answer. So cricket 'pitches' or 'bowls' are categorised in two broad groups. Seam/Fast bowlers and Spin bowlers. Spin bowlers try to leverage the unpredictable bounce or movement that you get when you drop a ball rotating at a very high rpm. Whereas the fast bowlers make use of the 'seam' position to 'swing' or move the ball in desired direction. The fast bowlers bowl it at a very high speed and that momentum takes the ball to the batters end and the unpredictable bounce effect is not captured. Whereas spin bowlers bowl a bit slow but relys on trickery to deceive the batter. In baseball, we do not have the classification because we don't bounce the ball in baseball. In physics terms, baseball pitches follow magnus effect where as cricket pitches follow boundary layer effect for fast bowlers and simple Newton's conservation of total momentum for spin bowlers. And this segregation is mainly down to the seams. Baseball has that horseshoe seam, that makes the air around the baseball when moving more uniform, this the pitcher has to generate trickery by rotating it at high rpm. In cricket due to the diagonal seam air stays differently around the ball. This can be a very nice sports science video. There has been a lot of research work done on this space in last decade. And in Cricket the pitchers are not termed as closers / relievers because all 11 players on the team sheet including batters and bowlers have to field. And if a team starts with 5 bowlers, the captain can shuffle who will bowl first or second or how many overs at a stretch. The batting line up in cricket is similar to baseball. There's no DH in cricket. So pitchers have to bat, if needed. You have the best batters on top 4 'top order'. Then the 'middle order'. Finally the pitchers come in to bat at the 'tail end'. Also, in cricketing history, we have been fortunate to see quite a few Ohtani like two way players over the years. In cricket we call them the 'all-rounders'

[@discodavid26]

As a Brit the thing about baseball I found hardest to get my head around ( other then the American terms/names off things) is until very recently it was almost 75% equivalent to rugby ( and it’s two main codes) in that you nearly had two nearly separate sports off the American and national leagues one with dh’s (designated hitter) and one without ……… and trying to figure out with one if either was better!? Cricket if your familiar with the more “Anglo” names and terms is pretty simple other then 3 things …… the maths for duckworth Lewis affected matches …… memorising general fielding position names other then bowler’s and wicket keepers …… and once you get past the first 4/5 easy ways to get an batsman out reasons 6,7,8,9 happens so rarely that it’s hard to remember them as ways to get an batsmen out!

[@MrEnergee1987]

Cricket sometimes feels like a game within a game

[@game-a-verse5594]

Technically, you are right. But sometimes, you are also partially - very partially - recognised for the time your bought into at, example: Death Over Bowler (Death overs are the last overs in the inning, for limited over cricket). 1 thing is that you are not officially recognised for the time your bought into.

[@jonrichardson8461]

A good intro on many levels. Two big differences not mentioned are that cricket is more of a batter’s game - a lot more runs are scored and there maybe only a few batters get out in the course of a day in Test cricket, or only ten or fewer in the 300 balls bowled in one innings of a 50-overs game. Baseball is more of a pitcher’s game - scoring runs are hard, and batting is more about failure when even with a good batting average you only get a hit in play 30% of the time. Ther other obvious difference is the role of the pitch and how it affects the game: grass wickets vary hugely from country to country and even day to day, in terms of hardness, amount of grass, moisture, amount of abrasion, etc., affecting speed, bounce and deviation off the pitch. Whereas in baseball the ball does a lot more through the air than the cricket ball - 2 seam, 4 seam, cutter, slider, curve ball, slurve, sweeper, etc. The ball will rarely keep swinging, I.e. curving through the air after the ball loses its shine and even then it can be hard to fool the batter completely. I’d add that batting is far more complex in cricket in terms of the number of different shots- 360 degrees to hit towards, defence and attack, forward and back foot, horizontal and vertical bat shots etc etc. Whereas pitching is perhaps more complex than bowling, although throwing the ball as a pitch is more natural than the bowling action.

[@morglag800]

interesting stuff! thanks

[@SportsExplained]

Thanks!

[@cricketexplained8526]

You might be interested to know that tactical retirement of batters is starting to become a thing in T20 cricket. Retiring has long been part of the Laws, but now it seems the IPL and England/Wales T20 Blast tournaments are actually using it in a strategy context.

[@btf_flotsam478]

The best way of summarizing the point of bowlers specialize in a particular style: they kinda don't. Within each sub-category (e.g. swing bowling, leg-spin, etc.) there is enough variation in how they can do it to keep the batter guessing, while baseball generally only has one way of doing each pitch (or two with knuckleballs). These bowling styles are so distinct and so capable of variety that it is worth specializing in one particular style and using it. If the batter is good against it, you could still be able to get him out with it, and there's always three other bowlers bowling three other styles to abuse any weaknesses a particular batter may have. All in all, I think cricket is slightly easier to understand than baseball partially for this sort of reason- while cricket does have its subtlety and nuance with its interactions, a lot of the stuff in it is fairly obvious; in comparison to having pitchers throw the ball to a different part of the same area and batters make smaller changes to their swing, a bowler could bowl the ball in a completely different way and batters can change their attack dramatically.

[@Drunkmonkey8294]

@SportsExplained Dude; you'll never convince diehards one way or the other which is more complex. I've never watched cricket so I came to yor channel to understand how it is played. You explained it well enough that I could watch and understand what's going on. So Thanks.The one I will say is baseball had Yogi Berra and still has his quotes. So that in itself makes baseball fun--to all the folks that say baseball sucks.

[@dmreturns6485]

Cool. Watched both videos. Cricket fan here. Short notes about the experience of watching cricket. 1 - Test matches - Played over a week. Typically you don't watch the whole thing. You just checkin on how the game is going like watching the news. The game continues in the back ground whilst you do the shopping or go to work or mow the lawn. Randomly through the week dramatic things happen, everyone reviews replays and discusses ... then it's quiet again and you go about your day. 2 - Day / Night matches (limited overs) - No one watches the first innings. The second innings where one team is chasing the score of the other is where the action happens. Because the chaser only has to win by 1 single run, they can carefully balance their aggression and risk. They can go hard when they need to pick up the pace or play conservatively to be safe. The end result is the tension builds and tightens. Most matches "go down to the wire" ending in the chasing team needing to score a small number of runs off the last remaining bowls and forcing them to take risks right at the end. The Day / Night games tend to end with white knuckle tension. Good fun.

[@Chalisque]

Thinking along those lines, I tuned into the IPL match between RCB and PWI only to find that I'd missed Chris Gayle hitting 175 of 66 balls and that the second innings was basically a formality.

[@nitin256]

Also its perfectly legal to hit a batsman(or batter as they say in baseball) with the cricket ball when you are bowling, provided you have the ball bounce once on the pitch(the 22 yard strip) before it reaches the batsman or batter it is a kind of intimidation tactic used by fast bowlers, unlike in baseball where the pitcher is most likely going to be ejected and you give up a base in major league & in college you just give up a base but the pitcher can continue pitching a bowler in cricket is not going to be ejected for continuing to bowl bouncers(balls that bounce higher than a batsman's waist and can hit his/her upper body) to a batsman as long as it bounces once on the "pitch" or the 22 yard strip, however in every over a bowler is allowed one ball to go over the shoulder of the batsman and each subsequent ball is deemed illegal and the batting team gets a run added to their score, however there's no clearing of the dugouts(change room/dressing room in cricket) and no major fights erupt whenever a batsman gets hit, coz as a batsman you gotta suck it up and face the music or get out now there is retaliation ala baseball the (yankees and red sox) or (padres and my LA dodger) pitchers going after each others' batters

[@Chalisque]

A full toss hitting the batsman is fine provided it is below waist height, is it not?

[@nitin256]

@@Chalisque correct as long as it is below the waist, it is perfectly legal

[@stuarttupp3541]

For anyone wondering why cricket batsmen wear so much padding, this is why.

[@flamingfrancis]

It is NOT correct to say pitchers do not use intimidatory deliveries legally. Do some follow up and learn what a brushback pitch is.

[@nitin256]

@@flamingfrancis they do but it is more than likely they'll get a warning, in cricket there's no warning, no reprimand, a bowler can bowl every delivery a bouncer and hit the batsman and there's nothing anyone can do about it and a cricket ball is harder so it hurts a whole lot more than ⚾

[@NikhileshSurve7428]

1:06 I wish you'd explained why Cricket Balls aren't replaced so easily & what makes the worn nature of the Ball so important. 2:37 This I so find interesting. I'd definitely like the concept of Double Play in Cricket coz I favour Bowlers & Wicket Taking a bit more. 5:14 I hate that name, I wish they'd simply call them "Extra Overs". 6:26 Now it's the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method or DLS for short, basically a slight upgrade on the previous method.

[@mauriciorosales1259]

Good stuff, thank you