Almando-Siando

I’ve watched one of these so-called scientific comparisons where they put a professional baseball player against a local American cricket club player. The cricketer initially struggled against baseball pitching, but eventually adapted his cricket technique and started making contact. Then came the baseball player’s turn. They handed him a cricket bat, gave him no protective pads and had someone deliver what were effectively gentle underarm balls. Unsurprisingly, he smashed them. And somehow that was supposed to prove baseball batting is harder? What an absurd comparison. Here’s an experiment I’d actually like to see. Put that same professional baseball player in front of a 6’7” international fast bowler charging in at full pace, delivering balls at 90–95 mph, varying the line and length, swinging the ball, getting it to seam off the pitch and peppering him with short deliveries rising towards his chest and head. Now ask him not just to make contact, but to select the correct shot, protect his wicket and deliberately place the ball between strategically positioned fielders to score runs. Because that’s the part these comparisons conveniently ignore. Cricket batting isn’t simply about hitting a ball. It’s about scoring runs while defending your wicket against a bowler actively trying to exploit your technique. A batsman must judge speed, bounce, movement, line and length, select from an enormous range of shots and control the placement of the ball, all within fractions of a second. And if the pace doesn’t get you, let’s introduce an international spin bowler who can deceive you with flight, dip, turn and changes in pace. I’d be fascinated to see how much contact that baseball player makes then, never mind how many runs he scores. I’m not suggesting professional baseball batting is easy. Far from it. But you cannot demonstrate one sport’s superiority by testing a professional from one against an amateur from the other, then removing practically everything that makes the second sport difficult. That’s not science. That’s a demonstration designed around a predetermined conclusion.