Danish longball ( Danish: ''Langbold'', Swedish: ''Långboll'', Norwegian: ''Slåball'') is a bat-and-ball game similar to brännboll played in

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

and

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founded by Graham Evans. It is also played in some

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, notably Manor School and Sports College, and is played recreationally by

Scouts Scouting or the Scout Movement is a youth social movement, movement which became popularly established in the first decade of the twentieth century. It follows the Scout method of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activi ...

, the

Air Training Corps The Air Training Corps (ATC) is a British Youth organisations in the United Kingdom, volunteer youth organisation; aligned to, and fostering the knowledge and learning of military values, primarily focusing on military aviation. Part of the ...

, Wetheringsett Camp Suffolk (known as Nora ball), and by the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

and Australian Navy. It is also played at some U.S.

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Play

Danish longball is similar to brännboll and can be described as a hybrid of

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

and

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

. Each team takes turns batting and fielding. In some areas, an element of

dodgeball Dodgeball is a team sports, team sport in which players on two opposing teams try to throw balls and hit opponents while avoiding being hit themselves. The objective of each team is to eliminate all members of the opposing team by hitting them w ...

is incorporated, with a player being "out" if he or she is hit with the ball (outside 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). The Federation For The Standardisation Of Danish Longball states that the field of play should have a width of 50 meters and a length of 30 metres with a 20x18 metre square in the centre. Fielders can position themselves inside or outside 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 A tennis ball is a small, hollow ball used in games of tennis and real tennis. Tennis balls are fluorescent yellow in Professional sports, professional competitions, but in Amateur sports, recreational play other colors are also used. Tennis bal ...

*bat/tennis racket *optional safety pads

Rules

The bowler pitches the ball to the batter, who must use their 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 rolls 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" they must make it safely back to the original side of the square without getting out. Each side bats its entire line-up. The game is played until one team forfeits or reaches 50 runs. When played in Britain it is usually an alternative to Cricket, so timed

innings An innings is one of the divisions of a cricket match during which one team takes its turn to bat. Innings also means the period in which an individual player bats (acts as either striker or nonstriker). In cricket and rounders, "innings" is ...

may be used along with a set of stumps. Typically, in Britain, a cricket ball is also used, however many Danish longball purists disagree with this idea and feel that the standard tennis ball should be used under all occasions as to preserve the sanctity of the sport. 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 * if the fielders hit a runner outside 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 the safe-zones then the entire batting team is out.

Winning the game

A team wins a match of Danish longball if one of the following events occurs. # The opposing team forfeits # They reach 50 runs

References

{{Team Sport Team sports Sport in Denmark Ball and bat games