Cricket is like baseball?

Living at a residential college like St. John’s makes it easy to be exposed to a whole variety of Australian sports. One of the most popular sports during the Spring season is cricket. This Wednesday, the St. John’s team had a big game against St. Paul’s (one of our rival colleges). As an American who is clueless about cricket, everyone kept telling me that I would catch onto the game quickly because “it is just like baseball”. 

When we arrived at the field, I immediately realized that this was not true. Although both sports are played with a bat and a ball, my prior knowledge of baseball did not help me understand the rules of this foreign sport. As I sat and watched, I learned that in cricket there are only two batters that are playing at one time. Unlike baseball, the batters remain in the game until they are struck out and then they do not reenter the game. Then, another one of their teammates takes their place until ten of the eleven batters are dismissed. Once this happens, the other team gets a chance to bat while the dismissed team gets their turn to bowl (pitch) and field. Instead of scoring a run by running around the bases to home plate, the batters score by running back and forth to touch the crease without being dismissed. Although I feel like I understand the basic rules of cricket, there is still so much I have to learn! Despite the fact that it is very different from baseball, it is similar in the sense that it brings people together to cheer for their team and enjoy a great sport.