Manny Ramirez, baseball's second-highest paid player at $25 Million per annum, tries his luck with cricket.

Manny Ramirez, baseball's second-highest paid player at $25 Million per annum, tries his luck with cricket.

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Baseball players and cricketers have interacted on many occasions in the past. In fact, baseball drew its first professional players from cricket. During the baseball boom of 1866, Baseball Hall-of-Famer Harry Wright moved to Cincinnati on salary at the Union Cricket Club and then became the nucleus of the Cincinnati Red Stockings. Several other members of the 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings, baseball's first fully professional team, were cricketers first.

When Bradman and the Australians came visiting in 1932, they went to watch a game at the Yankees Stadium in New York in the company of Babe Ruth. "A beauty in the right spot," Don Bradman exclaimed as Yankees' Frankie Croesetti drove a home run! Fleetwood-Smith said "That was off a google (as googly was called those days)."

Some years later, Babe Ruth broke a few cricket bats himself in a promotional event while on a tour of London.

Yesterday, it was the turn of baseball superstar Manny Ramirez, 36, a baseball player who had never held a cricket bat previously, who took the willow as he made a pit-stop at a cricket ground near Phoenix, Arizona.

When the bowler, Souvir Bhuta, aimed for Manny's foot, a worried Ramirez reached for his box just to reassure himself that he was well protected. Ramirez exclaimed "I want to have more kids."

Bhuta, who plays for the Arizona Cricket Club's Division A team - the Vipers, is among the leading wicket-takers in the Arizona Cricket Association, which is the state's cricket league. Impressed by Bhuta, Ramirez offered to connect him with Frank McCourt - the Dodgers' owner saying, "we need some good pitching".

When Ramirez was out on the third ball, he asked for another chance. He then took a baseball like approach to the cricket ball, hitting most of the 8 balls he faced. For their part, Arizona Cricket Club bowlers indulged him by bowling some slow ones. The club was selected for the promotional event because they are the only team in Arizona who play on a privately owned natural turf ground.

Ramirez acknowledged that the game was like baseball and needed a lot of hand-eye coordination. "I have faced some tough pitchers before, but we don't have to ever swing at a bouncing ball that is rising as it passes us," he noted in a press release.

The baseball player was surprised about the lack of gloves while fielding. "It's unbelievable," Ramirez said. "The ball comes like 110 (mph) and they catch it with no glove."

The DirecTV organized event was originally planned for Fort Lauderdale with Matthew Hayden providing cricket lessons to Ramirez. But Manny's nogotiations with Dodgers intervened and the event was postponed.

Australian batsman Shaun Marsh, just 25, replaced Hayden as Ramirez' cricket guru, giving his student a few cricket lessons. Marsh, plays for Kings XI Punjab and Western Australia. "I am honored to be the one player in the entire world of cricket selected to give Manny some pointers today," said Marsh. "I thoroughly enjoyed coming to the United States and being able to spend some time sharing my passion for the sport with someone who is just as passionate about his sport as Manny is. Maybe he can return the favor next Spring."

"Shaun is a great hitter and he gave me some great pointers. Shaun said I definitely have a future in the game," Ramirez said. Some day, when his $45 million contract is behind him, the Dodgers slugger might play cricket in his retirement.