So far 583 sixes have been hit in the first 50 matches of IPL. That is, 11 sixes per match. You can either rejoice over it, or talk openly about the quality of the bat, the smallness of the boundaries, the technique of the batsmen or the pressure on the bowlers. John Arlott called the six “the most partner of shots”, cutting the distance between player and spectator literally and figuratively.
Now with the added pleasure of knowing how far the ball has gone, the distance, somewhat accidental, shares the stage with other aspects of the shot.
great view
A well-hit six can be an aural and visual treat all at once. The deep and almost submissive sound of the contact of the bat and the sight of the ball against the blue sky working its way beyond the ropes to its immediate placement is certainly one of the joys of the game.
I remember the first six being hit in our school grounds by a school hero named Gaurishankar, who was selected to tour Indian school children in Australia. I must have been seven or eight; The ball hit the tiled roof of the pavilion and rolled slowly. It was magical.
When you see some batsmen being used as cricketers in the early part of the last century, it is surprising that they cleared boundaries. In England until 1910 a hit had to be cleared for a six to be declared. Thus Albert Trott’s famous shot that sprung from the roof of the Lord’s Pavilion got only a four. Many of the limits imposed by him and others such as Gilbert Jessop would today count as six.
killing of naidu
Do modern batsmen hit higher and farther than their predecessors? CK Nayudu once hit a six in Chepauk, the ball was going to a coconut tree fifty yards off the ground. I saw Chris Gayle hit five sixes in an IPL over, but no one seemed to travel that distance.
Naidu’s sixes – he hit 11 of them – scored 153 runs against the MCC in 1926 – accelerated India’s acceptance of Test cricket, so the six has played an important role in India’s history.
The most famous continuous hitting in first-class cricket was recorded in 1911 by EB Alletson, who scored 189 runs in 90 minutes while batting for Notts against Sussex, the last 142 of them in 40 minutes. One of his eight sixes covered a distance of 146 metres, which should be put in perspective of some of the biggest hits of the IPL.
Arlott, who has written a book about that one innings, says at one point, “Alletson, after lunch, went out to bat at 2.15 … (he was) out at 2.55 – which Maybe next time someone on the field saw it. Watch.”
At another place he played the cricketer C.P. Foley who viewed the match as follows: “Time wasted trying to award a ball from the new stand, the soft wood of which Aletson had driven it, no chisels available…” I wonder. That what the commentators of today would have been made of such hitting.
IPL is not about hitting sixes, or at least not just about hitting sixes. The fear that what is too common and too easily done, could in some way diminish the enjoyment of the shot for both the player and the spectator, has proved to be largely unfounded.
When Brendon McCullum hit 13 sixes in his 73-ball 158 in the first IPL match, he made a promise to the format itself: Sixes are sexy, and here you get them. This was the second time the six was playing a significant role in Indian cricket.
No other act in cricket – a bowled or run out or a catch – has its own sponsor. But IPL Six stands on its own, affectionately (but incorrectly) called ‘max’ before the sponsor’s name. If a batsman can score three runs off one stroke and then find an over throw to get him four more runs, it is already seven runs. But the ‘maximum’ has remained, helped bring the limit.
Interestingly, both Jessop (who scored his runs at 80 per hour – this was before runs-per-ball was recorded) and W.G. Grace advocated for first-class play at the end of the last century. Bring a limit.
Each of us has our own preferences, but the most enjoyable six is well operated, especially if it flies straight and correctly. Off-side sixes – in the manner of KL Rahul – were Walter Hammond’s specialty.
But just like the results of matches, sixes in white-ball cricket quickly fade out of memory. Most of the fans I gather will have an excess of one of them rather than a deficiency.
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