5 Reasons Why Baseball Fans Should Embrace T/20 Cricket

As everyone knows, baseball is hugely popular in the USA. However, despite a few attempts, cricket has never caught on. The argument has always been that nobody in their right mind would want to watch a game which ended in a draw after five days of play.

Fortunately, a new form of cricket has swept the world. For the basic rules, go to www.cricket-rules.com. The difference with T/20 is that each team only bats for 20 overs each. This means the game is finished in about three to four hours. Best of all, in the case of a tie, there is a super over. This is similar to overtime in American football.

Enjoy this, and if you are American and want to know more, comment and I will try my best to inform you on the game.

1. T/20 Cricket Is Faster Paced Than Baseball

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SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - NOVEMBER 13: Michael Clarke of the Blues hits the ball during day four of the Sheffield Shield match between the New South Wales Blues and the Victorian Bushrangers at Sydney Cricket Ground on November 13, 2010 in Sydney, Australia.

How long does a baseball game take? An easy answer is...longer than a T/20 cricket game. This has a multitude of benefits.

Firstly, due to the time constraint, the players approach the game with a hit out or get out attitude. There are little or no defensive shots played, and the game firmly favours the batsmen, which makes for a more entertaining spectacle.

Secondly, the action normally found in a 50 over game is compacted into just 20. This means the match is full of big hit and wickets. It is also less "boring", which is stated to be the primary reason why cricket "sucks" in many circles.

Check out you tube videos of twenty twenty highlights. In some circumstances, the highlights are a third or more of the complete footage.

2. T/20 Cricket Games Finish Faster Than Baseball Games

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PERTH, AUSTRALIA - OCTOBER 31: Shane Watson of Australia skys the ball to Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka during the Twenty20 International match between Australia and Sri Lanka at WACA on October 31, 2010 in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Paul Kane/Gett

Because of how short a T/20 cricket game is, more than one game can be played in the course of a day. Also, for fans, there is less of a time commitment when going to support a game. The first ever international T/20 cricket game between Australia and New Zealand started after worker had left their jobs for the night. This is a financial positive.

This is a contrast to a baseball game, which takes the best part of an afternoon, and often drags on for long periods if the pitcher begins to dominate the game, which has become more recent this season.

This is a positive, but due to how recent the advent of T/20 cricket is, no one in non-cricket playing nations has grabbed hold of it as a medium to popularise the game.

3. No Ties

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SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 22: Steven Davies of England plays the shot which led to his dismissal, stumped by Kamran Akmal of Pakistan off the bowling of Mohammad Hafeez during the 5th NatWest One Day International between England and Pakistan at Th

Another previous weakness of cricket was the risk of a game finishing with no winner. T/20 cricket solves this with the super over tie-breaker. Each team chooses three batsmen and one bowler. Each team then has one over for their three chosen batsmen to score as many runs as possible against the other teams chosen bowler.

This is superior to the risk of a tie in Baseball, and is also a tenser and more even overtime than found in the NFL.

4. The Party Atmosphere of T/20 Games

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SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 14: Dancing girls perform for the crowd during the Friends Provident T20 Final between Hampshire Royals and Somerset at The Rose Bowl on August 14, 2010 in Southampton, England. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)

T/20 cricket is pitched at the younger generations, so as a by product of this, the stands turn into party central. There have been dancers, swimming pools, bars and all sorts of amenities to make watching the game as enjoyable as possible.

It has also attracted women to T/20 games with far more regularity than to other forms of the game.

5. It Is a Global Sport

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JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - SEPTEMBER 26: Murali Vijay of the Super Kings poses with his Man-of-the-Match trophy during the 2010 Airtel Champions League Twenty20 final match between Chennai Super Kings and Chevrolet Warriors from Bidvest Wanderers Stadiu

This is the metaphorical cherry on top of the sundae. Because T/20 cricket is played in 10 other nations competitively, American players would be able to compete in World Cups.

Everyone who followed Team USA realised that it was far more interesting to see their team compete with other nations than to watch them play other cities.

Compared to baseball, the "World Series" can only be won by an American team, which shows a bias, and limits the overseas exposure and opportunities for players.