Cricket

Prior to this year, I had never seen a cricket match. When I found out that the Seattle Orcas were being covered by a local channel, I decided to give the sport a chance. I watched every game that I could because I had no idea what the sport was like.

Before I go further, let me reiterate what I have been saying for years. I hate our current sports model. I frequently look at sports in context of what I have available. Accessibility of a team can certainly push me in their favor. This is why I tried to get behind the Orcas even though I prefer not to have teams connected to cities. I should probably mention that even though the Orcas are connected to Seattle, Major League Cricket teams are not yet playing in their home cities.

The first couple games were kind of difficult to watch. This wasn't so much because of the sport, but because the Orcas were not playing well. In fact, the Orcas lost their first five games in their ten-game season.

Eventually, I watched a game that could win over some new fans. The Orcas were chasing a pretty good score. Shimron Hetmyer got his game going despite clearly hurting his leg. The Orcas needed a six on the final ball, and Hetmyer delivered, setting a Major League Cricket record (due to the league's young age, records aren't too extensive yet) for the biggest successful chase. For any baseball fans, this would be like a big comeback ending with a walk-off home run on a 3-2 count with two outs.

Baseball is the obvious comparison here, although I don't think baseball is as similar to cricket as American football is to rugby. In all honesty, I don't think the strategy, fielding, or running are up to the same level as baseball. I also prefer breaking up play a little more instead of having a long single innings (yes, innings is singular in cricket) for each team. The hitting in cricket, on the other hand, might actually be superior.

Cricket does not have foul territory. Players can use 360 degrees of the field. There are clearly moments when players are trying to hit the ball behind them. Ultimately, being able to aim shots is more valuable in cricket. Power can still be useful, but there is a lot more to how and where to hit a ball than there is in baseball.

Ultimately, I have been complaining about something in baseball that also applies to cricket. Like home runs, sixes involve the ball being out of play. A big six at the right moment can provide excitement, but there's actually less going on. If they moved the boundaries out a little further, we would see a shift from power to aim. This would strengthen the sport's biggest advantage over baseball. Baseball would also benefit from moving out fences because it would strengthen the defense, strategy, and base running, which I view as that sport's primary advantages.

Between the two sports, I think my preference remains with baseball. Considering how much I cut back on baseball viewing due to all-or-nothing hitters that have devastated defense, strategy, and base running, I don't anticipate watching cricket moving forward. I hate the word never. I won't rule out more games. For now, however, cricket is not in my dwindling list of sporting events that I will be watching.