Updated On 23 March 2002, during the last day of the first Test match (no
Mohammad Ramis Shah21-Mar-2002Updated
On 23 March 2002, during the last day of the first Test match (no. 1592) between New Zealand and England at Auckland, Nathan Astle smashed eleven sixes during his amazing innings of 222. He set a new record of most sixes in an innings for New Zealand, beating the previous record of nine sixes by Chris Cairns (120) – against Zimbabwe at the same ground in 1995-96. However, the all-time record is still held by Pakistan’s Wasim Akram who cracked 12 sixes during his unbeaten 257-run knock against Zimbabwe at Sheikhupura in 1996.Rather interestingly, Astle’s second hundred (from 101 to 200) came off only 39 balls in 69 minutes, which is believed to be a world record. According to newspaper reports, Wally Hammond during his triple hundred against New Zealand at Auckland in 1933 needed just 47 balls to go from 200 to 300. So that means, Astle’s second 100 in 39 balls is the fastest ever because the current actual fastest (from 0 to 100) was by West Indian Viv Richards, who took 56 balls against England at St John’s in 1985-86.In the almost 125 years of Test cricket, since it took its birth way back in 1877, there have been references of almost 5260 sixes or hits over-the-boundary ropes. Prior to 1912, many scoring strokes that obviously landed over the boundary but according to scoring regulations at that time were awarded only 4 or 5 runs. The following list has however been compiled treating them as if they were a present-day six. The two innings below listed for Joe Darling are examples of this.
6s
Batsman
Score
For
Vs
Venue
Season
12
Wasim Akram
257*
Pak
Zim
Sheikupura
1996-97
11
NJ Astle
222
NZ
Eng
Auckland
2001-02
10
WR Hammond
336*
Eng
NZ
Auckland
1932-33
9
CL Cairns
120
NZ
Zim
Auckland
1995-96
8
AC Gilchrist
204*
Aus
SA
Johannesburg
2001-02
8
NS Sidhu
124
Ind
SL
Lucknow
1993-94
7
B Sutcliffe
80*
NZ
SA
Johannesburg
1953-54
7
IVA Richards
110*
WI
Eng
St Johns
1985-86
7
CG Greenidge
213
WI
NZ
Auckland
1986-87
6
JH Sinclair
104
SA
Aus
Cape Town
1902-03
6
IVA Richards
192*
WI
Ind
Delhi
1974-75
6
Haroon Rashid
108
Pak
Eng
Hyderabad
1977-78
6
IT Botham
118
Eng
Aus
Manchester
1981
6
RJ Shastri
121*
Ind
Aus
Bombay
1986-87
6
WJ Cronje
82
SA
SL
Pretoria
1997-98
6
CD McMillan
142
NZ
SL
Colombo
1997-98
6
JN Rhodes
103*
SA
WI
Centurion
1998-99
6
CL Cairns
69
NZ
Aus
Wellington
1999-00
6
Wasim Akram
100
Pak
SL
Galle
1999-00
6
ML Hayden
203
Aus
Ind
Madras
2000-01
5
J Darling
51
Aus
Eng
Manchester
1902
5
J Darling
73
Aus
Eng
Manchester
1905
5
SJE Loxton
93
Aus
Eng
Leeds
1948
5
ER Dexter
172
Eng
Pak
The Oval
1962
5
JH Edrich
310*
Eng
NZ
Leeds
1965
5
DT Lindsay
182
SA
Aus
Johannesburg
1966-67
5
GT Dowling
239
NZ
Ind
Christchurch
1967-68
5
BRTaylor
124
NZ
WI
Auckland
1968-69
5
ITBotham
137
Eng
Ind
Leeds
1979
5
AR Border
153
Aus
Pak
Lahore
1979-80
5
ITBotham
66
Eng
Ind
Delhi
1981-82
5
Imran Khan
117
Pak
Ind
Faisalabad
1982-83
5
MAHolding
59
WI
Eng
Leeds
1984
5
ImranKhan
135*
Pak
Ind
Madras
1986-87
5
WasimAkram
62
Pak
Ind
Madras
1986-87
5
CG Greenidge
141
WI
Ind
Calcutta
1987-88
5
JavedMiandad
271
Pak
NZ
Auckland
1988-89
5
PADe Silva
123
SL
NZ
Auckland
1990-91
5
MJSlater
219
Aus
SL
Perth
1995-96
5
ACGilchrist
152
Aus
Eng
Birmingham
2001
5
JHKallis
157*
SA
Zim
Harare
2001-02
-All data updated to 27.02.2002
– Acknowledgement: Inadvertently omitted from the previousedition of this article; Mr Ross Smith’s excellent website https://au.geocities.com/sportandhistory/cricket/test.html