Cricket guy

Apparently, this is a big deal. A guy in our office who knows says it's the equivalent of hitting six home runs on six consecutive pitches in one at-bat (if it were possible in baseball):

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts (AP) -South Africa batsman Herschelle Gibbs hit six sixes in one over against Netherlands at the World Cup on Friday, setting an international record.
The 33-year-old Gibbs smashed the first three balls from legspinner Daan van Bunge over the short boundary straight down the ground at Warner Park in the 30th over.
The fourth ball was a full toss that disappeared over the midwicket fence, while Gibbs flat-batted a short fifth ball over long-on.
He finished by doing the same with the last ball over long-off.

I'm actually kind of hoping they send a "dumbed-down" story explaining its significance so we can use it in some form.

 

That's probably the dumbed down version

 

i wonder what the difference is between a midwicket fence and long-on. i don't wonder enough to look it up though.

 

Didn't they go through this on an episode of Sports Night?

 

Where's our South African boy JJ? I know he was fluent on rugby, maybe he can help us understand this wicket game.

 

Everything I ever knew about cricket I learned in the span of 30 minutes sitting in a little bar in the Grenadines a couple of years ago watching one of those multi-day matches on TV during a rainy afternoon.

I vaguely recall that there is no such thing as a foul ball in cricket. It's in play no matter what direction you hit the ball. So I guess all those terms mean the balls left the yard in different directions.

 

If he's batting right-handed, I believe long-on would correlate to deep left field and long-off to deep right. I have no clue as to "the short boundary straight down the ground" unless that's what you call popping one over the backstop.

 

When you hit the ball out of the field of play on the fly, you get a 6. If it rolls or bounces before crossing the boundry, then it's only worth four runs.

Long-on is a term to describe a part of the field. Think of a clock's face. A straight hit from the batter would go out of play at the 6 on the clock face. Long-on is at the 5.

 

Hey bruhs,

One 'o me mates told me you were asking about good old J.J. and that you're looking for the intel on cricket.

I could elaborate, but i'm in a bit of a rush, what with the big tournament this weekend. That's the "Hide the Krueggie" tournament, eh wot?

I can tell you, me bruh Inky has it spot on.

Cheers,
J.J.

 

And J.J. takes a break from watching the Col. DeBeers DVD.

 

Bangladesh is on its way to an upset over India.