Bat-and-ball games Information & Bat-and-ball games Links at HealthHaven.com

"Bat-and-ball" redirects here. See also Bat & Ball railway station and Bat & Ball Inn, Clanfield.

Bat-and-ball games, or safe haven games to avoid confusion with the club games like golf and hockey, are field games played by two teams. The teams alternate between "batting" and "fielding" roles, sometimes called "in at bat" and "out in the field" or simply in and out. Only the batting team may score, so the fielding team is defending, but they have equal chances in both roles. The game is counted rather than timed.

A player on the fielding team puts the ball in play with a delivery whose restriction depends on the game. A player on the batting team attempts to strike the delivered ball, commonly with a "bat", which is a club governed by the rules of the game.

After striking the ball, the batter may become a runner trying to reach a "base" or safe haven. While in contact with a base, the runner is safe from the fielding team and in a position to score runs. Leaving a safe haven places the runner in danger of being put out. The teams switch roles when the fielding team puts the batting team out, which varies by game. In modern baseball the fielders put three players out; in cricket they retire all players but one.

Some games permit multiple runners and some have multiple bases to run in sequence. Batting may occur, and running begin, at one of the bases. The movement between those "safe havens" is governed by the rules of the game.

Globally cricket and baseball are the two most popular games in the family.

[edit] Examples

Examples of bat-and-ball games are:

Baseball
Bat-and-Trap
British baseball - four posts
Brännboll - four bases
Corkball - four bases (no base-running)
Cricket - two wickets
- Test cricket
- First-class cricket
- Blind cricket
- Catchy Shubby
- Club cricket
- French cricket
- Gilli-danda
- Kilikiti
- One Day International
- Kwik cricket
- List A cricket
- Pro40
- Indoor Cricket
- Super Sixes Cricket
- Limited overs cricket
- Short form cricket
- Single Wicket
- Twenty20
Howland Rounders - three posts
Lapta - two salos (bases)
The Massachusetts Game - four bases
Oina
Old Cat (One old cat, Two old cat, etc) - variable
Over-the-line - qv
Pesäpallo - four bases
Podex
Rounders - four bases or posts
Scrub baseball - four bases (not a team game per se)
Softball - four bases
Spanish Wiffleball - two bases or posts
Stickball - variable
Stool ball - two stools
T-Ball
Town ball - variable
K-Ball
Vigoro - two wickets
Wiffle Ball
Wireball

Striking the ball with a "bat" or any type of stick is not crucial. These games use the foot or hand. Otherwise their rules may be similar or even identical to baseball. The first two use a large (35 cm) soft ball.

Kickball - four bases, sometimes called soccer baseball, or a different variation would be crazy kickball
Matball - kickball with gym mats for bases
Punchball - four bases, sometimes called volleyball-style baseball

The "volleyball-style" version of punchball dispenses with delivery by a member of the fielding team.

[edit] External links

Project Protoball