There are some deluded people out there - even some cricket-lovers - who say that baseball is a better game than cricket. Not sure why. It is possibly due to the balance between bat and ball being more in the pitcher’s favour than it is in cricket - although I find the idea of a ball game in which a side might only hit the ball a dozen times in three hours and still win baffling.

Maybe they like the constant flipping between batting sides, so that momentum swings to and fro every 10 minutes or so. Or it could have something to do with baseball being even more of a game for stats-geeks than cricket. I’d love to be enlightened.

Anyway. I quite like baseball and there are some things that it does well. Having people wandering around the stands selling food and drink is a good idea. So is building in a designated “stretching time” for the spectators. And so is ending a best-of-seven series when one team gets to four.

Wouldn’t it be better if Ricky Ponting and Andrew Strauss had just shaken hands at the end of yesterday’s game and said “well played, see you in South Africa”? Instead, they have to trudge on and play two more ODIs at Trent Bridge before heading north (Durham, in late September of all places) to play a seventh match on September 20. England fly to South Africa for the Champions Trophy the very next day and then start that tournament on September 25. No wonder they look so jaded.

Not that playing too many games is an excuse. Paul Collingwood needed a break because he has played 30 Tests, ODIs and T20 internationals this year. James Anderson, who has also Read more…

Administrator ENG vs AUS Andrew Strauss, Australia, Blogs.CMDN.com, Champions Trophy, Cricket, Cricket Blogs, Durham, ECB, James Anderson, Michael Clarke, Mitchell Johnson, Nottingham, ODI, Paul Collingwood, Ricky Ponting, South Africa, Trent Bridge, Tri-Series