Danish longball

Danish Longball (also known as Swedish longball) is a bat-and-ball game founded in Denmark. It is popular in British secondary schools, is played recreationally by scouts, the Air Training Corps and by the British Navy and Australian Navy. It is also a popular sport at U.S. summer camps.^[1]

Play

Danish Longball can be described as a hybrid of baseball and cricket. There is a modern variant that is based off football^[2] too. Each team takes turns batting and fielding. In British secondary schools in particular, an element of dodgeball is incorporated, with a player being "out" if he is hit with the ball (outside of the safety zone) below the head whilst aiming to get a run.

Teams and positions

Players are split into two teams, a batting team and a balling team. The batting team waits behind the batting goal ready to bat. The balling team is spread behind the batting goal and the safe goal ready to field.

Field of play

The batting field has two parts: Inside and outside a square (or circle). Fielders can position themselves inside or outside of the square.The fielder who fields the ball cannot move with it rather they must pass it to another fielder in a better position to hit the runner.

Equipment

• ball, usually a tennis ball or a football
• bat/tennis racket
• optional safety pads

Rules

The bowler pitches (either as in Baseball, Cricket or general underarm) the ball to the batter, who must use his bat to hit the ball. The ball must be hit within the field of play - the square. The ball must hit the ground at least once before it bounces or roll off the field. The batter must then run to the other side of the square to a "safe zone". The runner may rest in safety, but to earn a "run" he must make it safely back to the original side of the square without getting out. Each side bats its entire line-up. Five rounds of play are recommended.

When played in Britain it is usually an alternative to Cricket, so timed innings may be used along with a set of stumps (though usually not a cricket ball, as the risk of injury is significantly raised rather than a tennis ball).

A player is out if

• The hit is caught by one of the fielding team
• the ball does not touch the ground of the marked area
• or if the fielders hits a runner outside of the safe-zones with the ball.
• he/she runs outside the side lines of the square.

A variant of the above is sometimes used: if a fielder hits a runner with the ball outside of the safe-zones then the entire batting team is out.

Winning the game

The winning team is the one who scores most runs.

References