LONDON (AP) — Bryce Harper can spot a great hit, even in cricket.
The Philadelphia Phillies slugger was impressed with the USA’s major upset of Pakistan at the Twenty20 World Cup in Texas.
He wasn’t familiar with the name, but very few Americans know it.
U.S. captain Monank Patel scored a fifty and Aaron Jones hit a ball out of the park late in the game – a “six” in cricket – to help the U.S. pull ahead of 2022 runners-up Pakistan on Thursday, forcing a “Super Over” win in extra time.
“That was the real deal,” Harper said Friday at the London Stadium ahead of the team’s weekend series against the New York Mets. “It was amazing. That guy, that captain, it was amazing. Wow, he can hit a cricket ball.”
Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor is one of the few baseball players to have tried cricket, visiting Lord’s Cricket Ground in London a few years ago as part of a promotional event with sporting goods manufacturer New Balance.
After signing balls and gloves for fans inside the London Stadium following the Mets’ practice, Lindor told The Associated Press that batting in cricket is very difficult.
The bowler bowls a ball that usually bounces before reaching the batter, with the aim of either dropping the wicket behind the batsman or forcing him to catch a popped or bouncing ball, also called a wicket, and the batsman is out.
“It was hard,” Lindor said. “I had a great time, but it was hard. It’s not as easy as it looks. I have a lot of respect for those guys. They do things that I can’t do, so I have a lot of respect for them.”
“The ball is bouncing and going in different directions, so your swing is more of an uppercut. You have to scoop it up in a way.”
The exceptions were Lindor and Harper.
Mets first baseman Pete Alonso’s reaction was representative of the other players, and perhaps much of the American public.
“I don’t know anything about cricket,” he said.
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