Cricket vs Baseball

[Yorick]

Originally posted by johnny: No matter what you say, baseball is more popular worldwide than cricket.

Actually cricket is played in more nations and by more people than baseball. Ever heard of India? India has about a billion people. That's around 720 million more than the US. India is Cricket crazy. Ever heard of Pakistan? Pakistan is Cricket crazy with 130 million people.

According to the article 120 nations play cricket. Including your Holland which has a professional division that's attracted some Aussies before now.

[Yorick]

Originally posted by johnny: quote: Originally posted by Kakero: I can understand baseball by just watching it on tv one time only but I still don't know how they play cricket even though I watch it numerous time. Maybe one need to be a rocket sciencetist to understand it? [img]tongue.gif[/img]

And you gotta have a lot of patience too. When you visit a cricketmatch, it might not be over 2 days later.[/QUOTE]THat's the beauty of it. A good Test match will let the drama unfold over five days. Gripping and memorable contests. We also have one-day matches though. All over in a day and nowhere near as memorable, though they are as a rule more exciting in the short term.

[Masklinn]

What about Rugby vs US Foot ?
Would that be in the same spirit ?

[The Hunter of Jahanna]

THat's the beauty of it. A good Test match will let the drama unfold over five days. Gripping and memorable contests. We also have one-day matches though. All over in a day and nowhere near as memorable, though they are as a rule more exciting in the short term.

5 DAYS!! Me thinks cricket is a lot like tennis and golf. Where people take a simple game WAY to seriously. Its just a game after all , no need to waste a whole week on it.

[Davros]

Originally posted by Aragorn The Wise: I have yet to see cities accross a nation errect multi-million dollar stadiums for cricket.

My answer to that was going to be "go visit India" - that is the best match on a per capita basis. Australia has the multi million dollar stadiums across the nation - but you have to think in per capita terms - we just don't have anywhere near the numbers of big cities that the US has, but each of our cities has one, and sometimes two stadiums for playing and watching cricket.

[Aragorn The Wise]

Originally posted by Davros: quote: Originally posted by Aragorn The Wise: I have yet to see cities accross a nation errect multi-million dollar stadiums for cricket.

My answer to that was going to be "go visit India" - that is the best match on a per capita basis. Australia has the multi million dollar stadiums across the nation - but you have to think in per capita terms - we just don't have anywhere near the numbers of big cities that the US has, but each of our cities has one, and sometimes two stadiums for playing and watching cricket.[/QUOTE]and how many people do these stadiums hold?

[johnny]

Yes Yorick, i know they play cricket overhere, and i'm glad they never show it on TV, they show a lot of baseball though, must be becaue we're champions of Europe. Holland sucks at cricket, noone cares but the guys who play it. And baseball is the most popular sport in a lot of Asian countries like both Korea's, Japan, and is the fastest growing sport in China. Add all Latin countries to that and cricket comes nowhere near baseball. Especially not when it comes to broadcastingtime. The worldseries are being broadcasted in almost every corner of the globe, tell me if that's the same with the most important cricketmatch and i'll call it even. You can't deny the fact that besides the Commonwealth countries nobody cares for cricket. There isn't a soul on this planet that hasn't heard of the NY Yankees, what's the name of the best cricketteam ? I haven't got a clue, and i bet that goes for a whole lot more people than just me. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

[Davros]

Of the capital cities in OZ - MCG holds 90,000, SCG holds 46,000, Gabba now holds 44,000 - Perth and Adeliade are smaller - I think 25-35K.

Of course these are small compared to the Indian stadiums - we are talking several in the 80 - 110K size, and quite a few in the 60K. I think one holds 120K, but I am notsure if that is in India or Pakistan.

Is that big enough for you?

[Aragorn The Wise]

Originally posted by johnny: Yes Yorick, i know they play cricket overhere, and i'm glad they never show it on TV, they show a lot of baseball though, must be becaue we're champions of Europe. Holland sucks at cricket, noone cares but the guys who play it. And baseball is the most popular sport in a lot of Asian countries like both Korea's, Japan, and is the fastest growing sport in China. Add all Latin countries to that and cricket comes nowhere near baseball. Especially not when it comes to broadcastingtime. The worldseries are being broadcasted in almost every corner of the globe, tell me if that's the same with the most important cricketmatch and i'll call it even. You can't deny the fact that besides the Commonwealth countries nobody cares for cricket. There isn't a soul on this planet that hasn't heard of the NY Yankees, what's the name of the best cricketteam ? I haven't got a clue, and i bet that goes for a whole lot more people than just me. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

Agreed. I also have no clue who is the best cricket team in the world is. I (unfortunately lol) know who the NY Yankess are. I still say overall baseball is a more widely accepted, played, and watched sport than cricket.

[Davros]

I don't think there is any debating that baseball has the bigger fan base and is the more popular sport. I was mostly participating to debunk Aragorn's remark about sporting stadiums.

Let's face it - America is the king of commercialised syndicated sports and the TELEVISION NETWORK. How easy is it for networks in english speaking nations (and many with foreign tongues) to fill many vacant programming hours with cheap American sport. To our local networks it is a good way to fill vacant programming hours with stuff that they can get cheaper than most things they can create "in house". No-one can fault the American teams and sports for being excellent at the marketing of their sports and clubs internationally.

Does the mass media exposure make a game better - does bigger stadiums? I don't think that either of those decides the issue, and I don't think it is a topic that stands up to rational debate. Some people are exposed to baseball from birth and like it - some people are exposed to cricket and like it. The amount of poeple that start with one, then switch over and say screw that, this one is much better - well I don't think that population would be big enough to sample.

Incidentally, all my family (fathers, brothers, cousins) played cricket. My twin cousins went on to have professional baseball careers in the ABL. When the family gets together for Christmas though, those two are the first ones to suggest a game of cricket after lunch, then veg out the next day and watch the first day of the Boxing Day Test.