Six consecutive sixes in one over




It may be a synchronicity, but lately several people have written or spoken to me about Cricket.

The game, not the singing insect.

While we know that Baseball is the sport God loves the most, I figure He must also love Cricket, because in some respects it resembles eternity.

That said, I had an email this morning from a reader.  He also, kindly, provides some context so that we who are on this side of the Pond can understand what occurred:

Sir Garfield Sobers hit six consecutive sixes in one over. The first batsman ever to do it in a first class game of cricket (has to be a county game at least to be classed as first class, so good players is what’s said).

The liturgical equivalent would be Pope Francis offering six Papal High Mases at St Peter’s in the UA form, in a novena to make St JPII a doctor of the Church, and proclaim the next synod on the family null and void…..

Yes, I will stipulate that that would be a rare, almost unimaginable, event.

I have an invitation to view…?  see…?  watch…? go to…? a match at Lord’s.

Perhaps it’s worth while to put the little wavy flag out and see if enough donations come to make it happen before the season is over.

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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9 Comments

  1. pj_houston says:

    Not sure what a six is, but six in a row must be impressive. Good luck on your quest. Speaking of rare events, I witnessed a no-hitter last night in H-town. After several years of miserable cellar dwelling, the Stros are back n business. Even Nolie was in the house.

  2. frdon says:

    This is an amusing explanation of Cricket, but to really understand it you have to know how to play and the rules.

    Explanation of Cricket

    You have two sides, one out in the field and one in.

    Each man that’s in the side that’s in goes out, and when he’s out he comes in and the next man goes in until he’s out.

    When they are all out, the side that’s out comes in and the side that’s been in goes out and tries to get those coming in, out.
    Sometimes you get men still in and not out.

    When a man goes out to go in, the men who are out try to get him out, and when he is out he goes in and the next man in goes out and goes in.

    There are two men called umpires who stay all out all the time and they decide when the men who are in are out.

    When both sides have been in and all the men have out, and both sides have been out twice after all the men have been in, including those who are not out, that is the end of the game! Howzaaaat!

  3. acardnal says:

    I think you should deep six this cricket idea and support your Twins! With your help they may win the division this year. Well . . .you may have to pray a lot of novenas if you want them to overtake the Royals.

  4. John Grammaticus says:

    ok Farther……… from the Englishman’s mouth

    When hitting the ball, if the ball goes over the boundary line (the edge of the pitch), its known as ……… a boundary, if it sails over the boundary without touching the pitch its known as a six and if it hits the floor its known as a four. In cricket an over is a measurement of the number of of balls played is grouped into ……….. six bowls at the batsman.

    It this context, in one over to hit six consecutive balls across the boundary line without the ball hitting the pitch is actually something quite special . Think of it as the equivalent of a colonial new yorker scoring a full run, in all nine innings of baseball.

  5. Peter in Canberra says:

    Father, I suggest you take up the invitation to watch a match at Lord’s – a famous cricket ground. Hopefully you can go with someone who can induct you to the various aspects of the game.
    And if it is a several day match, then it is of a game steeped in tradition – the extraordinary form of cricket if you like.
    The sound of leather (the ball) on willow (the bat) as the batsman defends his stumps from the bowler …
    It is the summer game which Australia loves too, though we have been bested by the English in the current tour of England.

    And for those perplexed at a ‘six’ – it is when the batsman hits the ball ‘on the full’, ie without any bounce, over the boundary fence. A ‘four’ is when the boundary is reached, with or without bounces. In those cases the ‘runs’ are added to the score without the need to run. All the other runs must be just that – the batsmen running to either end of the wicket while the ball is retrieved by the fieldsmen.

  6. SaintsSQPNcom says:

    Lords?? Go!!

    I’ve recently started watching T20 cricket matches on YouTube, and while it is only a pale patch on the Great American Pasttime, I’ve started getting into it. Test matches seem to be in slow motion, but the 20 over game takes about as long as a major league ball game, players have to be more athletic and active, and it may just be because I’m learning something new, but it’s a fun watch.

    They do get awfully excited over catching a routine pop fly, and in the Caribbean league the match is just an excuse to have a huge party in the stands – but I guess that can be said for anything in the Caribbean.

  7. APX says:

    Frdon,

    I still don’t understand cricket. What do you mean by out and in? Is it like baseball? One team is out in the field, while the other team is at bat?? Why not just play baseball?

  8. John Nolan says:

    The nearest thing to baseball in England is a children’s game called ’rounders’. Since in cricket the ball usually pitches before reaching the batsman (bowl him a full toss and he will hit you out of the ground) there is considerable variety as to how the bowler delivers the ball and the batsman chooses to play it. There are also ten ways in which a batsman can be dismissed (five of them are admittedly pretty rare).
    Comparing cricket to baseball is like comparing chess to draughts (checkers). The one-day limited-over game played in coloured clothing is the Novus Ordo of cricket. The even shorter T20 game which lasts a mere three hours has little subtlety about it and is sometimes disparagingly compared to baseball.

  9. John Grammaticus says:

    APX

    We play Cricket because it is the game of civilised gentlemen; a test match can last for up to five days, we stop for afternoon tea and it is quintessentially English. Until about 10 years ago (when England started winning international test series) English fans would, at great expense go to see the English national side slaughtered by the Aussies and the Indians, and do so in good cheer.

    Also they have so far resisted the urge to start selling hot finger food at Cricket games, it is a picnic lunch or the restaurant, we don’t drink surgery soft drinks but a stout English beer, Yes I a being a snob, as is my right as an Englishman, and I reserve the right to do so.

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