Bat-and-ball games

Bat-and-ball games, or safe haven games, are field games played by two opposing teams. Typically, action starts when the fielding team (at the defense) delivers a ball toward a dedicated player of the batting team (at the attack), who tries to hit it with a bat and then run between various safe areas in the field to score runs (points). The defending team can use the ball in various ways against the attacking team's players to force them off the field ("get them out") when they are not in safe zones, and thus prevent them from further scoring. The best known modern bat-and-ball games are cricket and baseball, with common roots in the 18th-century games played in England.