distance The area from which the ball is thrown: In cricket, the pitch is a prepared rectangular area between two wickets. Its length is the distance between the wickets, . While its width is 12 feet or 3.66 metres in length, the width of the playing area on that pitch is distance between two return creases, which are 8 feet 8 inches or 2.44 metres apart. The popping creases at each end of the pitch, from which the bowler bowls and the batsman plays, are 4 feet or 1.22 metres in front of the wickets. The bowling, popping and return creases are defined by contrasting lines, generally white in color. In baseball, the pitcher must deliver from a rubber slab (typically referred to as "the rubber") that lies atop a raised area of the infield called the "pitcher's mound". The front of the rubber is from the rear point of home plate (officially called "home base" and often simply "home"). Before the advent of the pitcher's mound and the rubber, the pitcher threw from within a rectangular "pitcher's box". There was a large rectangular dirt area, between the pitcher's box and the batting areas around home, which resembled the cricket pitch. The release point of the ball and where it reaches the batter: The bowler at the moment of delivery must have part of the front foot behind the popping crease and be within the return crease. The rules do not prohibit delivery of the ball from behind the popping crease, and the ball may be released from well behind the crease. The ball must be "bowled," not thrown. The batsmen "take guard" or "block" in front of the wicket, and they may choose to do so in front of or behind the popping crease. That nets to a typical distance of about between the delivery point and batsman. In baseball, the pitcher's release point could be about depending on his delivery style, but the batter also tends to stand back or "deep" in the batter's box, to maximise his time to "look the ball over", up to further from the pitching rubber than the point of home plate is. Thus the horizontal distance, from release of the ball by the pitcher/bowler to its arrival at the batter/batsman, is similar in both sports. However, the ball usually travels further in cricket as it normally bounces off the ground first, adding