The double delight of the well-hit six — all this and distance too

In the first 50 matches of the IPL so far, 583 sixes have been hit. That’s over 11 sixes per match. You can either rejoice in this, or speak dourly about the quality of bats, the smallness of boundari

In the first 50 matches of the IPL so far, 583 sixes have been hit. That’s over 11 sixes per match. You can either rejoice in this, or speak dourly about the quality of bats, the smallness of boundaries, the technique of batsmen or the pressure on bowlers. John Arlott called the six “the most companionable of shots,” cutting the distance between player and spectator both literally and figuratively.

Now with the added pleasure of knowing exactly how far the ball travelled, distance, something incidental, shares the stage with the other aspects of the shot.