Being a cricket nut, I find it difficult to hate baseball because there are some similarities. Everytime I watch baseball, I just end up comparing the similarities. Cricket is likely to become more popular over the coming years because of the invention of a new shorter form of the game called 20-20 cricket, which lasts just under 3 hours and devised so it attracts big after work/school crowds. it has proved hugely popular with fans wherever it has been played thus far. It attracts big crowds because it is fast and ferious with lots of sixes (equivelant to home runs). Interestingly, this form of the game is also likly to attract countries that are not traditionally known for their cricket.
On a slightly different subject, Texan multi billionaire Allen Stanford is investing millions in Carribean cricket. He is forming a new 20-20 tournmament to involve all 18 cricket playing Carribean Islands including Barbados (tiny population but has produced unbelievable number of great cricketers throughout history), Bahamas, Bermuda, Jamaica, Dominica and Guyana, which is actaully located South America but has produced some great cricketers for the West Indies, as well as others. He was recently invited by George Bush to his Texas ranch and they ended up discussing cricket for a length of time.