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In the sport of cricket,
a six is the scoring of 6 runs with a single hit of the cricket ball by the batsman.
Usually, 6 runs are scored by hitting the ball over the boundary of the cricket
field, without the ball bouncing in the field of play. As soon as the ball touches anything beyond the boundary, the ball becomes
dead and the batsman scores 6 runs. Unlike a home run in baseball, the batsmen do not have
to run the equivalent of six runs. Also, since the ball is dead, no batsman may be out. If the ball is hit over the boundary but
bounces within the field first, it is not 6 runs, but 4 runs.
Importantly, a fielder touching or beyond the boundary is considered to be "beyond
the boundary". The effect of this is that if the ball is hit in the air, and a fielder catches it—normally resulting in the
batsman being out—but the fielder then touches or steps beyond the boundary while still holding the ball, then the batsman
is not out and scores six runs. Again, this contrasts to the analogous situation in baseball, where a fielder can catch a
fly ball, contact the home run fence, and the catch stands. As a result of this
rule, there have been occasions in professional matches where a fielder has taken a catch but, aware that he would unavoidably
touch the boundary before he could stop moving, has thrown the ball to the ground back in the field of play—thus not
getting the batsman out, but avoiding giving away six runs.
Six runs can also be scored by hitting the ball into the outfield and running between the wickets six times, although this is extremely rare as there is usually not enough time to do so before a fielder
returns the ball—indeed it is usually impossible without overthrows. If a distinction is needed, this type of six is called an all run six while the
first type is called a boundary six.
The scoring of a six is a significant event, achieved by a display of skill by the batsman, and is invariably greeted by a
round of applause from the spectators.
A six is scored using an aggressive, attacking stroke of the bat. It signals that the batsman is in an attacking mode, and
most often occurs when the batsman has played himself in and the bowlers have begun to tire. As such, the ratio of sixes to runs scored by running often rises the longer a
batsman bats in one innings.
Bowlers, for their part, sometimes encourage batsmen to attempt to hit sixes by bowling deliveries that are pitched short and
rise to around head height. Such balls may be hit powerfully in the air, but a batsman who is batting aggressively and trying to
hit fours or sixes is more likely to make a mistake and get out.
Sixes are relatively uncommon, being rarer than fours, and a cricket match may conclude with none being scored. In an
exceptional game, up to around 20 or more sixes may be scored between the two teams.
Records
On August 31, 1968, Gary Sobers hit six sixes off a single six-ball over bowled by Malcolm Nash in Nottinghamshire's first innings
against Glamorgan in Swansea, the
first time that this feat was achieved in first-class
cricket. Nash was a seam bowler but—somewhat rashly, as it turned
out—decided to try his arm at spin bowling. To add insult to the
injury, Sobers bowled Nash in Glamorgan's first innings. This achievement has been repeated only once, by Ravi Shastri in 1984, playing for Bombay against Baroda, in Bombay (although the most runs achieved in one over, including no
balls, stands at 77—75 off the bat, including 8 sixes, plus two no balls not scored off—by Lee Germon and Roger Ford, playing for Canterbury against Wellington at
Christchurch in 1989).
In May 2004, New Zealand player Chris Cairns broke the
record for the number of sixes recorded by an individual player in Test
matches. Playing for the Black Caps in the first Test in the 2004 series
against England at Lord's in London, Cairns took the new record total to 86 sixes, overtaking the previous record of 84
sixes held by Viv Richards.
The One-day International record for most sixes hit in
an innings is held by Sanath Jayasuriya who hit 11 sixes against
Pakistan in Singapore in the
1994-95 season.
See also
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