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The connection between baseball and cricket has always been considerably overblown. They're about as much alike as chalk and cheese and the only notable similarities are that both use a wooden club and a ball, which is thrown past or at the batter. And that's about it.

In cricket, "innings" (with an "S") is both singular and plural. And there are only two innings in a game.

Cricket starts with two men on base, and (in a full-blown test match) it ends when the batting team has exhausted its lineup. At that point there's only one batsman who hasn't been "put out" so there is no second batsman eligible to join him on the pitch. And two batsmen are required for regulation play.

In cricket, the bowler can (but doesn't have to) bounce the ball off the ground in his delivery to the batsman.

In cricket, there are no balls and strikes, per se, and a batsman can't strike out or take a walk. He continues to bat until he is put out, regardless how many pitches that takes. Batsmen sometimes score hundreds of runs in a single at bat, 100 runs being called "a century," 200 a "double-century," etc. The record for "professional" (first-class) cricket is 501 runs.

Now you know why games could last a month.

In cricket, you can run even if you don't hit the ball (even when it isn't a dropped 3rd strike).

In cricket, you don't have to run, even if you hit the ball.

In baseball, the batter gets a free base if he's struck by a pitched ball. In cricket, if the bowler hits the batsman, ... well, the batsman should have been standing some bloody where else.

In cricket, there are no "foul balls." Batsmen can and will hit the ball backwards. Backwards and sideways is fair territory.

In baseball, the role of the batter is offensive. He comes to the plate to score runs. In cricket, the role of the batsman is defensive. His objective is to protect his wicket (and provided he is successful, the runs of consequence will follow).

Cricket from the start was a game for the ruling classes because a full test match might take a month to play out. Those not of the leisure class could ill afford to take so much time off from work.

Going all the way back to before they added the "ball" to the game called "base," it always has been played by roughnecks and ragamuffins. And now add "thugs" to the list.