Club player smashes six sixes in successive overs

Breaking news from the world of sport: Club player smashes six sixes in successive oversImage source, Rugeley Cricket ClubImage caption, Scott Gretton's knock of 150 included 19 sixesByChris HarbyBBC Sport, West MidlandsPublished22 minutes agoA club cricketer has said he had no idea he might have been making history by hitting six sixes in successive overs. Scott Gretton achieved the remarkable feat for Rugeley Second XI during their South Staffordshire County League match at Springvale Seconds on Saturday. The 45-year-old mechanic smashed 150 off 51 balls, with 19 sixes and six fours at a strike-rate of 294, to help his side win the Division Three match by 156 runs.

"The first week of the season I got a nice golden duck - lbw - which after six months off is always the best way to start the season," he told Sport. "Then I got 20-odd the second week and then 30-odd last week, so it was going well and then on Saturday it came off the bat just lovely. "Gretton went in to bat in the fourth over with his side struggling on 7-2, and played himself in with six dots before getting off the mark with a maximum.

Match Details

He then began to pick up the pace, plundering 20 runs off successive overs to race to 43 off 21 balls before the real carnage began in the 10th over. "It wasn't an intentional thing," said Gretton, who has played for Rugeley for more than 30 years. "They just kept bowling it in the same place, and didn't learn until I'd probably got about 120, 130 that maybe they should change the length a little bit.

"'I hit a couple on to the Matalan roof'After a first-ball wide, two successive sixes took him to a 23-ball fifty. Four more maximums followed, including a no-ball, which allowed him to run a single off the final ball of the over and keep the strike. Gretton collected four sixes off the first four legal balls of the 11th over to cap a 36-ball century, before dispatching the remaining two balls over the rope to complete the incredible batting feat.

His 150 was brought up in 49 balls, with a 19th six, before he was bowled two balls later. Yet in all the chaos, Gretton had no idea he had hit six sixes in one over, let alone two, until he was told by a team-mate that evening. "There was a wide and a no-ball, and then we lost quite a few balls - there was a couple on the Matalan roof and quite a few in the car park as well," said Gretton.

Reactions and Expectations

"They had to go and retrieve them, so that over took ages and that's why it didn't even come to mind what had gone on. "West Indies legendary all-rounder Garfield Sobers was the first player to hit six sixes in an over in first-class cricket - for Nottinghamshire in 1968. Glamorgan's Malcolm Nash was the unfortunate bowler.

The feat has been repeated but is extremely rare - and to do so in successive overs might be a first. "I've heard rumours that no-one's done it before," added Gretton, who will next play for a Bob Willis XI, in Essex on Sunday. "It's a bit surreal really, for a little club in Staffordshire to have that going on.

The story has climbed to the top of the sports agenda, with fans and analysts following closely.