What I do find very interesting is there are plenty of articles comparing the two and nearly all of them are from the standpoint of someone that plays cricket but really has no idea about baseball...you hear stories about how a cricket player tried baseball and basically hit home runs every ball which frankly, is a tall tall tall tale...
So here is MY opinion about the differences of the two sports...
Batting - A cricket bat has probably 3-4 times the effective hitting area of a baseball bat. Now, you might say, a baseball bad is 2.61 inches in width (Diameter) and a cricket bat is 4.25 inches in width..but the difference is a baseball bat is ROUND which means the actual effective hitting area is much smaller...a bit either way of center means you're not going to hit an effective strike which means you're likely to have just gotten out. A baseball bat also tapers..
The effective field you can hit into is 90 degrees...although you can still get out if you hit it outside of that area...you can't redirect a ball, you can't miss hit it and get runs, you need a solid hit...a slight re-direct means you're out..bunting the ball means you're likely out.
Cricketers call it a slog...They say, Baseball players just slog it..no skill...First off, they're not all swinging for the fences..you have some players that do and that is their thing..and you have some that don't and hit for an average...relative to cricket they're swinging harder though..why? Because hitting into a field of 90 degrees where you have 8 players is just like hitting into a field where every fielder is on the offside and you've hit it that way....EXCEPT
You have to run in baseball...If you make contact w/ the ball and it is within that 90 degrees of the field, you MUST run. In cricket, you don't have to run, if you hit a ball straight to the fielder, you can just stay.
So why can't you just not swing at balls unless you're going to hit it? Well, generally that is the case...In baseball there is an area that if the ball pass home plate within that area, it is a strike. 3 strikes and you're out which means, if you haven't hit the ball by 3 strikes, you'll be out..If the pitcher throws 4 "bad" balls before 3 good ones, you get a free base (not a run, you get to first base). There is, of course, always a mind game between pitcher and batter because a swing and a miss is also considered a strike...vs. cricket a swing and a miss means almost nothing unless the ball hits the wickets (or it is just a wasted ball like in T20 where this is significant). Essentially, swinging at a ball in the strike zone is the same as making sure you're hitting the ball when it is going to hit your wicket...except the cost of missing that in cricket means you're out..the cost of hitting in in baseball without a good strike means you're probably out.
So what is the difference in how a ball is bowled and pitched? The distance is nearly the same where the bowler releases the ball to where the batter sits and the pitching mound vs. home plate...But in baseball, the ball gets to home plate on the full...and a cricketer thinks..that's easy!! Well yes and no...A pitcher actually releases the ball much closer to home plate than a bowler would..which makes the ball come out faster...they also get to throw the ball which gives them additional velocity...it also lets them put spin in different ways on the ball which gives the ball a LOT of movement in the air...at high speed...so that combined with the relatively small hitting area of a baseball bat makes it much more difficult to hit make contact with the ball than it does for a cricketer hitting the ball on the full in cricket...there is no comparison.
On the flipside, hitting a ball after it bounces IS something very difficult to do and you have to adjust for so many variations off the ground as a result..the field can impact how the ball comes off the ground,..the seam on the ball...the spin of the ball...and all of that can vary in length...It is most definitely a VERY difficult thing to master...
So what do we have here? On one hand, we have a situation where you can be out in a single ball where you miss it..but you have a bat that effectively is much bigger than in baseball...you can nick the ball and be out or you can nick the ball and score 4 runs...you don't have to run if you hit it....you have to negotiate a ball that can do so many different things off the ground but at the same time, the ball is moving slightly slower and moves around in the air significantly less....On the other way have a much smaller hitting area, much smaller area you're allowed to hit the ball into....many more fielders to get to it but you can get a base for free and really, your team scoring 4 runs in a baseball game where you have 27 outs is good...Whereas in cricket, with 20 outs you might get 600-800 total runs (but divide that by 4 a base is not a run in baseball) which is 150-200...
Doesn't make one any easier or harder than the other..they're both incredibly difficult...But for those that still think baseball is easy for a cricket player...consider this.
If the tall tale of a cricketer hitting pitches over the fence with ease was true..they'd be the greatest baseball player to ever live....Consider that a very good cricketer might make 2-3 million USD a year playing cricket (and much more in endorsements) vs. a very good baseball player making 20 million USD a year playing baseball. If you were breaking records, etc, you'd easily be making 30+ million a year and much more in endorsements..yet it doesn't happen..because it isn't that easy.
Fielding - Yes it is harder to catch a ball without a glove. But the expectations of the fielder in baseball and in cricket are different...Far fewer missed sitters in baseball, far more diving catches, far more stopping the ball when it is hit hard at a player on the ground...a glove makes it easier but the expectations are different...Consider this - They employ BASEBALL coaches to help crickets with fielding...the movement and especially how to get ready to throw the ball quickly is something crickets have only somewhat recently started to get better at because the need in games like T20 is vital...but let's be honest, you can be a world class cricketer and still throw a ball "like a girl" in cricket (Not to say all women can't throw a ball, it is just a term). It just will never happen in baseball..
