Rounders and Cricket

Cricket is way ahead of Rounders in popularity.  But both the games were invented in The British Isles. 

There are many similarities between Rounders and cricket - both are team games with a batsman, a bowler and fielders. 

Cricket, because of its appeal and popularity, reached the shores of Australia and New Zealand long ago.  It has even captured the heart of people in the Caribbean islands. In fact it is the sole unifying force of the disparate conglomeration of the West Indies.  Today, the happening place for cricket is the Indian sub-continent. 

In the sub-continent, whether it is India, Pakistan, Sri-Lanka or even Bangladesh, Cricket has become almost a second religion.  You can't really say the same for Rounders.  Even in England, Ireland, pockets of Germany and Netherlands, Rounders is considered today as a game mainly for schoolboys and schoolgirls.  Of the two, Cricket is a much-matured game demanding high physical fitness and mental toughness. It is evolving into a mind game. 

Similarities between Rounders and Cricket

  1. In both games there is a batsman.
  2. In both games there are bowlers.
  3. In both games you can catch the ball struck by a batsman to dismiss him.
  4. You have to dismiss a number of batsmen (Rounders-9, Cricket-11) before an innings is closed. 
  5. In both games there are two innings.
  6. In both games you can run out the runners.
  7. There are ‘No balls’ in both games.

Differences between Rounders and Cricket:

  1. In Rounders a bowler has to bowl a ball without pitching and without aiming at the body of the batsman.  He should not bowl below the knees and above the head of the batsman.
  2. In Cricket you can bowl by pitching the ball in what they call “a good length spot”.  You can bowl a bouncer per over of 6 balls (that is sailing over the head).  Leg spinners, off spinners, straight-ball, off-cutters, leg-cutters, in-swing, out-swing, googly etc.  For batsman, Cricket is much more demanding and dexterous game than Rounders.
  3. A batsman can take a single run, two, three, four or six runs in a shot.
  4. A bowler can ask fielders to field in close positions in order to get the batsmen out.  There is no close position like silly mid on, silly mid-off etc in Rounders.