I have been living in Britain for over 20 years and I had never heard of the game of rounders. This is one of the oldest bat-and-ball games and baseball has it origins on this game, every day you learn something new.
A brief history lesson, rounders is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams and was first played in England around 1500s, however, the term base-ball predates the term rounders based on literary references. During Tudor times, around 1744, it was first referred in the children’s book called “A Little Pretty Pocket Book”, where it was called baseball.
In 1828, author William Clarke included the rules of rounders on the second edition of his book “The Boy’s Own Book” and wrote about this bat and ball base-running game, which now is considered as the first description in English of the game.
In 1829, this book was re-published in Boston (Massachusetts), United States of America and the game was called “The Massachusetts Game”, where all the rules were described. Therefore the modern version of baseball and softball bear a resemblance of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) version of the rounders as they have the same historical roots.
In 1884, the formal rule book for the rounders was compiled by the GAA, which is the governing body in Ireland, while in Great Britain the governing body is Rounders England formed in 1943. Currently, the rounders game is played among British and Irish school children.
Since the rounders game has two governing bodies, it also has two sets of rules, however, the basics are the same.
Basic rules
The game is played between two teams where each is attempting to score more rounders. The game is won by the team who scores more rounders over the game.
The equipment use includes:
One bat with a maximum length of 46cm and a diameter of 178cm.
One ball with a circumference between 18 to 20cm,
Four posts with a minimum length of 1m, which formed a diamond-type shape.
The field specifications are:
A bowler square of 2.5m per size,
A batter square of 2m per size,
The distance between bases depends on the regulator body (12m for England & 20.12m for GAA).
The team size is between 6 and 9 players, with up to 6 substitutions, making a squad of maximum 15 players.
The teams take turn to play as one team takes the batting while the other team takes to fielding and bowling.
The bowler throw the ball to the batter, who hits the ball anywhere on the rounders pitch.
The batter then runs to as many posts as possible before the fielders return the ball to touch the post that the batter is running towards.
The batter can use one or two hands when batting, but they must hold on to the bat while running round the field. The batters must wait their turn behind the batting square (4th post), while out players must wait away from the 1st post.
The batter must run in straight line between posts and fielder must not obstruct their way or the post.
The batter running the field must keep contact with the post either using their hand or the bat, as you can get stumped out by a fielder at the next post if you fail to keep contact. Although there is no rule saying that you need to move post each time a ball gets bowled, however, only one batter is allowed per post. If you are between posts, you can keep moving until you reach the next post, however, you cannot keep moving when the bowler has the ball in the bowler square.
The term no-ball applies for the ball and the bowler. In any case, you can run on a no-ball but only to 1st post and cannot get caught out.
Applies when the ball is:
Bowled over the head or below the knees of the batter,
Bounces on he way to the batter (wide), or
Goes straight at the batter’s body.
Also applies if the bowler’s foot is outside the bowler’s square or fails to use a smooth underarm action.
The batter is out if:
A fielder catches the ball after it has been hit and before it touches the ground.
A fielder touches the post of the base halfway up (or higher) with the ball while the batter is running to it.
The batter deliberately drops or throws the bat, or
The batter runs to the same base or overtakes a batter (in which case both batters are out).
England-specific rules
The game consists of 2 innings.
The inning is over when there is no-one left to face the next ball as all the batting players are either out or at a base. However, in a social setting you can fix the number of outs to make the game more agile.
Each batter is entitled to three good balls, which is a ball travelling the complete way across home base within the range (between the batter’s knee and shoulder).
The batter can run on any hit ball that lands within the rounders pitch or it is touch by the fielder and then lands in a foul ground.
On the 3rd good ball, the batter has to run outside the batter’s box whether they hit it or not.
For scoring there are three ways:
If the batter reaches the 2nd or 3rd post in one hit scores half rounder.
Batter reaching the 4th post in one hit scores 1 rounder.
Runner reaching the 4th post on no ball scores 1 rounder.
The more I read the more I was reminder not only of baseball but also about cricket. I was brought up watching, playing, and scoring baseball. During university, I learnt about cricket as I had many Indian friends who love this game and I like to understand the game that I am seeing.
However, I never heard of rounders until my current work and following tradition, I am learning as much as I can before I see the match. Therefore it occurred that the best way to learn a new game is comparing it to the one that I am already familiar with. This is how I learnt cricket, so I am using the same principles to learn rounders. However, I thought it would be better to compare the three games as many people might be familiar with either baseball or cricket as they are all bat-and-ball sports.
Let’s start from the beginning, all games have their origin in England, however, modern baseball was shaped in USA.
The major difference is the number of outs per inning while baseball has three outs (same as GAA rules), both rounders and cricket the inning ends where there are no more batters.
While baseball fielders required gloves, both rounders and cricket does not require them. Additionally, while rounders and cricket batter are meant to run with the bat, baseball batter leave it on the ground before running to first base.
In both baseball and cricket the batter needs to hold the bat with both hands while on rounders it is optional.
In any case, rounders are a bat-and-ball game that all the family can enjoy participating and due to the short distance between bases can be played anywhere.
I was able to see the game and it took me a while to understand the basic rules, however, the one that I still do not understand is the scoring system. The batter can score ½ or 1 round if they reach to correct number of posts in one hit. However, even if they do not score with the hit, they need to stay in post position and run all the posts as this gives the fielders the opportunity to get them out of play.
I was surprised with how fast the game was even it was a 10-out inning. Most people run in each ball and can replay the ball if it was a no-ball from the beginning. However, must people stay in the post regardless of being a no-ball because the majority of the people that replay the ball were out as they did not have the chance to reach the post on the second attempt.
It was a fun way to spend couple of hours on the afternoon, and it is a great game for many people to play in social settings. In this occasion, the teams consisted of 18 players (no substitutions) and both captains agreed to 10-outs per inning. The game was played using the England’s rules, so they played two innings.
The game is faster than either baseball or cricket and the rules are more flexible, so it is the best game to play in social settings. Therefore, if you are considering a game for your next social event my suggestion is rounders would fulfil this very well, however, you need a great umpire that can call the no-balls and keep track of the outs and rounders as it is a very fast game and eventually you need to know who wins the game.
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