Bat-and-ball Sports: Culture and Society

Bat-and-ball sports are field sports played by two opposing teams. Teams alternate between batting and fielding where only the batting team have a chance to score points. The teams alternate between these offensive and defensive roles with the game being counted rather than timed. The most popular and well-known modern bat-and-ball sports include cricket and baseball. For baseball internationally, the World Baseball Classic is the premier baseball tournament - whilst for cricket, the ODI World Cup, ICC T20 World Cup and ICC World Test Championship are the premier tournaments. Both of these sports are present worldwide, with baseball being most popular in the Americas and East Asia and cricket being most popular in the Commonwealth. However, further research is needed in order to understand the sports’ influence on today’s environment and society.

The aim of this Research Topic is to build on the existing scientific literature on bat-and-ball sports and further explore their culture, sociology, psychology, management, economics and events. Specifically, we welcome papers that address:
- Governance of bat-and-ball organisations
- The effect of bat-and-ball sports on society
- The portrayal of bat-and-ball sports in media
- Gender differences in bat-and-ball sports
- Marketing and management in bat-and-ball sports
- Bat-and-ball sports’ environmental impact, especially through mega-events
- Behavioural insights associated with bat-and-ball sports
- The history or culture of bat-and-ball sports
- Recent developments within bat-and-ball sports research
- Cultural differences in bat-and-ball sports
- The role of sponsorships in bat-and-ball sports
- Finance and competitiveness
- Big data applications in bat-and-ball sports
- Legal issues in bat-and-ball sports