An astonishing fact emerged, or rather was given a public airing, during England’s tour of the Caribbean. Everton Weekes hit only one six in his Test career. One. He was acknowledged to be one of the fiercest strikers of a cricket ball, and a Test average of 58 indicates he was one of the finest to pick up a bat, yet he cleared the ropes only once. How, one wonders, would he ever get a game today?
A six used to be a wonder of the game. It was an explosion, and its rarity made it an event. Clive Lloyd was a great six-hitter. When he pulled Garfield Sobers out of the ground during a Sunday League match at Trent Bridge in 1969 – and it did go out of the ground – it was time to put out the bunting. When Tony Greig cut a six into the Tavern at Lord’s in 1972 John Arlott shrieked with wonderment. A square-cut six! Ring a peal of bells! Now the six is such a common hit that umpires should perhaps be allowed to withdraw two runs if they are not convinced the batsman has earned the right. And don’t the commentators get excited? ‘It’s the maximum,’ they squeal, as a man with a heavy club belts the ball all of 50 yards beyond boundaries that have been reduced to facilitate the milking of easy runs, bigger scores and, we are encouraged to believe, more ‘excitement’. To that purpose television producers hand out cards to spectators proclaiming 6! That is right, wave those cards, you are on telly. “When everybody’s somebody,” as the Gilbert and Sullivan song has it, “then nobody’s anybody”. And so, a six is a six is a six. In the one-day international in Grenada England and West Indies struck 46 of them, with Jos Buttler and Chris Gayle leading the way. It has reached such a pass that when The Hundred is launched next year any batsman who fails to hit a six may have to wear a big hat with a D on it the next time he goes to the crease. The six is no longer an explosion. It is humdrum. Many of the sixes we now see are not even good strokes. With big bats and short boundaries you can clear the ropes with a top edge, and the cheers of the beers will ring in your ears. This is not ‘excitement’. That match in Grenada was remarkable in its way. It was also boring. Another six! Yes, and there is a remarkable Iranian fi lm on at the NFT, set on a peasants’ collective. Five stars, it says here. Oh for those days when a six really meant something. Mike Llewellyn drove John Emburey on to the top tier of the Lord’s pavilion in the Gillette Cup fi nal of 1977. He may now be largely unheralded outside South Wales, yet that stroke will be recalled so long as drinks are taken in the Long Room. The rarity of such moments made them special. That is why David Hughes will never be forgotten. When Lancashire played Gloucestershire in that famous Gillette semi-final at Old Trafford in July 1971 the Glosters thought a total of 229 for 6 was good enough to defend. In those days that was a handy 60-over score. Lancashire, incidentally, bowled 12 maiden overs in that innings, and Jack Simmons bowled his 12 overs for only 25 runs. Two runs an over. Now batsmen expect to score two runs off every ball. Those of a certain age know what Hughes did. From the 56th over of the innings, with Lancashire needing 25, he plundered John Mortimore for two sixes, two fours, and two twos: 24 runs, and it was thrilling. Not ‘exciting’, in the devalued modern sense. It was thrilling. People didn’t play like that in sunlight, never mind at 10 to nine, with the nightwatchman preparing to light his lamp. Hughes achieved immortality that evening in the icc cricket world cup 2019 matches list. We have gained some things in the intervening half-century. There is a greater athleticism in the modern game, though that does not always translate into better craftsmanship. Few cricketers today have the ‘arms’ that the old fast bowlers had, and some of the close fi elding can be shoddy. Buttler has a fi ne eye but it doesn’t avail him much when he is standing at slip. In the past year he has missed more than 20 catches, chances some of the old-timers would have gobbled up after eight pints and a meat pie. Six-hitting is a delight that became a bore. The forward defensive stroke now there is a truly subversive act.
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