This is Cricket, not Baseball?

By CAM

 

Did he just say, “The dug-out”? Yes, he most certainly did.

 

Watching one of the IPL games, I thought I wasn’t so sure what I heard until I heard it again. The “dug-out”.  Have any of these cricket commentators ever seen a dug-out?? I very much doubt it. Take a trip to Yankee Stadium or Wrigley Field to see what a dug-out really is.

 

A dug-out, ladies and gentlemen, is a sunken area on the side of a field where the players stay while not on the field. The area is literally “dug out” from the ground level, and hence it’s name. Call this one a “bench” if you like, but certainly not a “dug-out”.

 

And just when I thought, may be, this is just an exception, I hear another one…

 

“He is being sent in as a pinch hitter!!” WHAT??

 

A Pinch Hitter? What does that mean? Well, I mean in the context of cricket – what does it really mean? Do they know what they are saying or are they trying to be like Vin Scully or Tom Seaver. Don’t even try!! Do these folks even know what a pinch hitter is??

 

It almost seems like we are forgetting that this is cricket, not baseball. Why are we allowing terms that are unique to baseball to slide into the cricket world? Cricket was first played in England over 100 years before baseball was ever played. The game is as original as any sport and it deserves to be treated as such!!

 

So why not leave BASEBALL alone – this is CRICKET for crying out aloud!!