| Analogous concepts and similar terms | Analogous concepts and similar terms | Analogous concepts and similar terms |
| Term | Cricket | Baseball |
| each team's batting turn | an innings (either singular or plural) | a half-inning or side; innings is a plural term - but most commonly, one batting turn is called either the "top" or the "bottom" of an inning, depending on which team bats first and which team is batting now |
| player who delivers the ball to start play | a bowler, who bowls | a pitcher, who pitches |
| player who strikes at the ball | batsman (The term batter is used in women's cricket.) The batsman facing the bowler is the striker, the other is the non-striker | batter (The word batsman is often used, however, in the phrase "hit batsman.") |
| distance between above two players | 22 yards (66 feet) or 20.1 metres (approx. 58 ft or 17.7 m between the bowler and batsman at delivery) | 60 feet 6 inches or 18.4 m (approx. 58 ft or 17.7 m between pitcher and batter at delivery) |
| fielder behind the player batting | wicket-keeper (or "keeper" for short) | catcher |
| batting order | flexible | predetermined |
| player's batting turn | (batting) innings, knock, dig | plate appearance, at-bat, ups |
| batting stance | (a.k.a. guard) bat held vertically, with the handle upwards, and the bottom edge on the ground | bat held cocked in the air behind the head |
| hitting the ball | shot or stroke (The batsman need not run) | hit - also shot, stroke, knock, etc. (The batter must run if the ball is hit into fair territory) |
| carrying bat after striking | batsman carries bat while running and uses it as an extension of his body | batter drops bat after hitting and while running |
| edge of the field | boundary: lines, ropes, fences, other objects, no physical marker (Law 19) | fence, wall |
| scoring over the boundary or fence | runs are scored if the ball touches or lands over the boundary; six runs (six) if on the full, four runs (four) if on the bounce or along the ground. If a boundary is scored off a wide or no-ball the extra run is still added so it can also be either five or seven runs. | home run if on the fly (and fair) - one, two, three, or four runs depending on the number of runners on base; automatic double ("ground-rule double") if on the bounce from fair territory - batter and any runners on base may advance only two bases; thus, only a maximum of two runs may be scored |
| Hits inside the field result in... | as many runs as the batsmen can complete. Normally between zero and three, but there is theoretically no upper limit in unusual circumstances such as misfields, overthrows or lost balls. If the ball strikes a piece of the fielding team's discarded equipment such as hats, helmets etc., an automatic five run penalty is awarded against the fielding side. | runners advancing, with possibility of one or more runners reaching home for a run. |
| batsman scoring no runs in an innings | duck (uncommon for a skilled batsman) | struck out (common even for a skilled batter), "left stranded" (which occurs when a batter hits the ball and gets on base, but the team gets all out before he is able to score a run - something which doesn't happen in cricket except in the case of a "diamond duck" when a batsman is run out without having faced a ball) |
| hitting the ball in a specific area | placement | place hitting |
| hitting the ball high into the air, liable to being caught | skyer (or skier), spooning it up, "scooping the ball", "flier" | fly ball, pop fly, popup, "skying it" |
| catching the ball in flight | catch | fly out or catch (see in flight) |
| dismissing a batsman/batter | a wicket | an out |
| dismissal types | bowled, caught, leg before wicket, run out, stumped, hit wicket—or, very rarely: handled the ball, hit the ball twice, obstructing the field, timed out | tag out, fly out, force out, strike out, interference (similar to obstructing the field in cricket, but more common) |
| dismissal procedure | appeal to an umpire – an out cannot be given without an appeal from the fielding side, unless the batsman leaves the field on his own (Law 27). | automatic – most outs are called immediately by umpires; some potential outs require an appeal play to be called but this is rare. |
| curving deliveries | leg break, off break, googly, doosra, leg cutter and off cutter change direction after bouncing. Often these will also drift while in the air. Topspinners dip downwards and bounce higher, arm-ball and flipper fly flatter and skid on. The away swing or outswinger curves away from batter in the air, the in swing or inswinger curves toward batter. Seam deliveries will also sometimes turn on the bounce. | breaking balls curve in the air; the curveball/slider/cut fastball away from the pitching-hand side, the sinker, splitter, and forkball unexpectedly dip downwards (as can a curveball; see 12–6 curveball), the rare screwball bends toward pitching-hand side, as will the increasingly common circle change, and the unpredictable knuckleball which relies on atmosphere and wind can literally move in any direction, and even may corkscrew on its way to the plate |
| a delivery not in a good hitting zone | wide (and a penalty run can be awarded if the batsman is unable to reach the ball in his normal batting stance) | ball |
| fielding miscue | misfield | error |
| central/inner playing arena | wicket, pitch, deck or strip | infield or diamond |
| sides of the field | Assuming a right-handed batsman, the "Off side" is the side to his right, while the side to his left is called the "Leg side" (as that is the side closest to the batsman's legs) or sometimes the "On side". Reverse for a left-handed batsman. | "Left field" is always to the batter's left and "right field" is always to the batter's right (when facing the pitcher), regardless of the side of the plate he hits from. The term "opposite field" in baseball is equivalent to "off side", as it is the side of the baseball field in front of the batter as he faces the pitcher. |
| substitution | injured players can be replaced for fielding and running, not bowling, batting or keeping wicket (Law 2) | players can be replaced in lineup for any reason; once removed they cannot return (except in certain youth leagues such as Little League which allow a "courtesy runner" for a pitcher, some recreational leagues and exhibition games, and in special rules such as designated hitter); baseball substitution rule was originally also only in case of injury; unlike cricket, the replacement could also bat |
| delivery toward the head | "bouncer", "beamer" or sometimes "beamball" - umpire may warn or eject the bowler | "beanball" - umpire may warn or eject the pitcher |
| Words used in both sports, possibly with different meanings | Words used in both sports, possibly with different meanings | Words used in both sports, possibly with different meanings |
| /!\ Not defined /!\ | ||
| a ball | any legal delivery by the bowler | a legal delivery not entering the strike zone nor swung at by the batter. If a batter receives four balls during one plate appearance, he is awarded a base on balls or walk. |
| drive | powerfully hit ball from the face of the bat, usually with the bat positioned vertically or close to vertically | powerfully hit ball, often used to describe when the ball comes off the bat fast and flat "Line Drive" (could be a hit, or caught for an out) |
| infield | the area of the field less than 30 yards (27 m) from the pitch (basically oval in shape, marked by a restriction line in limited- overs cricket) | the area of the field inside the grass line and immediately near the "diamond"; the "diamond" is the area inside the baselines, which are straight lines either drawn between bases (home plate to first - third to home plate) or imaginary (first to second and second to third); the "diamond" is thus a square 90 feet (27 m) on a side but is called such because of how it appears as seen from home plate. |
| inning(s) | an innings is a period of batting, it can refer to that of a whole team, or an individual player | an inning is one period of batting for each team (3 outs per half-inning) |
| lineup | the "batting lineup" means the players who are regarded as strong batsmen. a "strong or long batting lineup" might mean 7 or 8 recognised batsmen. | the players playing in a given game, particularly with respect to their batting order |
| out | a batsman is "given out" by an umpire when he is dismissed via a number of different ways. "outs" is never used. | batters can be "out"; when there are three "outs" the inning is over; the term "retired" is also used. |
| outfield | the area of the field more than 30 yards (27 m) from the pitch | the fair-territory area outside the grass line |
| pinch hitter | batsman promoted up the batting order to score runs quickly in a one-day game (deliberately borrowed from the baseball term) | substitute for another batter |
| pitch |
the playing arena (term also used in soccer)
the area on the pitch in which the bowler bounces the ball |
the act of throwing the ball toward the batter |
| play and time | Applies to an entire interval, such as an innings | Applies to a single pitch. |
| pull | an aggressive shot hit with a horizontal bat towards the legside boundary, typically played to a short delivery | similarly, to hit a pitch towards the side of the field closer to the hitter (left field for a right-handed hitter and vice versa) |
| retire | a batsman can decide to stop batting partway through their innings (when the team is doing well, to give junior batsmen a chance to get experience -- "retired out"), or "retire hurt" (this is usually due to injury, in which case they have "retired not-out", and can resume play later in the team's innings.) | to retire a batter means to get the batter out; when three outs are completed, ending the batting team's turn in an inning, the team on the field is said to have "retired the side" |
| run | unit of scoring, achieved by the batsmen changing ends in one movement, or awarded for a boundary (4 or 6 runs), or for a penalty (1 to 5 runs) | unit of scoring, achieved by batter visiting all four bases in succession, in up to four movements |
| single | stroke which scores one run | hit which allows the batter to advance to first base. It can score one run or more if runners are on base. A lone run in an inning can be called a "singleton". |
| walk | to leave the field when out without waiting for the umpire's decision | slang for a base on balls: to advance to first base after receiving four balls |