Boundary has two distinct meanings in the sport of cricket;

• (i) the edge or boundary of the playing field, and
• (ii) a manner of scoring runs.

Edge of the field

The boundary is the edge of the playing field, or the physical object marking the edge of the field, such as a rope or fence. If the physical object is moved during play (such as by a fielder sliding into the rope) the boundary is considered to remain at the point where that object first stood.

When the cricket ball is inside the boundary, it is in play. When the ball is touching the boundary, beyond the boundary, or being touched by a fielder who is himself either touching or beyond the boundary, it is out of play and the batting side usually scores 4 or 6 runs for hitting the ball out of play. Because of this rule, fielders near the boundary attempting to intercept the ball often flick the ball back in to the field of play rather than pick it up directly, and then return to the field to pick it up after having slid into the boundary.

Scoring Runs

A boundary is also the scoring of four or six runs from a single delivery by the ball reaching the boundary of the field.

Four runs are scored if the ball bounces before touching or going over the edge of the field and six runs if it does not bounce before passing over the boundary in the air. These events are known as a four or a six respectively. When this happens the runs are automatically added to the batsaman's and his team's score and the ball becomes dead. If the ball did not touch the bat or a hand holding the bat, four runs are scored as the relevant type of extra instead; but six runs cannot be scored as extras, even if the ball clears the boundary (which is in any case extremely unlikely).

Four runs (or more) can also be scored by hitting the ball into the outfield and running between the wickets. Four runs scored in this way is referred to as an 'all run four' and is not counted as a boundary.

Four runs are scored as overthrows if a fielder gathers the ball and then throws it so that no other fielder can gather it before it reaches the boundary. In this case, the batsman who hit the ball scores however many runs the batsmen had run up to that time, plus four additional runs, and it is counted as a boundary. If the ball has not come off the bat or hand holding the bat, then the runs are classified as 'extras' and are added to the team's score but not to the score of any individual batsman.

The scoring of a four or six by a good aggressive shot displays a certain amount of mastery by the batsman over the bowler, and is usually greeted by applause from the spectators. Fours resulting from an edged stroke, or from a shot that did not come off as the batsman intended, are considered bad luck to the bowler. As a batsman plays himself in and becomes more confident as his innings progresses, the proportion of his runs scored in boundaries often rises.

An average first-class match usually sees between 50 and 150 boundary fours. Sixes are less common, and usually fewer than 10, and sometimes none, will be scored in the course of a match (especially a Test match).

Records

Sixes

On August 31, 1968, Gary Sobers became the first man to hit six sixes off a single six-ball over in first-class cricket.^[1] The over was bowled by Malcolm Nash in Nottinghamshire's first innings against Glamorgan in Swansea. Nash was a seam bowler but—somewhat rashly, as it turned out—decided to try his arm at spin bowling. This achievement was caught on film.^[2] The feat was repeated by Ravi Shastri in 1984 , playing for Bombay against Baroda, in Bombay

On March 16th, 2007, in a match between South Africa and the Netherlands at the ICC Cricket World Cup, Herschelle Gibbs became the first person to hit six sixes of an over in a One Day International match. The over was bowled by Dutch bowler Daan van Bunge.^[3]

On September 19th, 2007, in a match between England and India, Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh hit six sixes off a single six-ball over in a Twenty20 international cricket match during the inaugural ICC Twenty20 world cup in Durban, South Africa. The bowler was Stuart Broad of England.

In May 2004, New Zealand player Chris Cairns broke the record for the number of sixes recorded by an individual player in Test matches. Playing for the Black Caps in the first Test in the 2004 series against England at Lord's in London, Cairns took the new record total to 86 sixes before retiring from Test cricket. Adam Gilchrist subsequently broke this record and has 97 Test sixes as of 5th January 2007.

The One-Day International record for most sixes hit in an innings is held by Sanath Jayasuriya who hit 11 sixes against Pakistan in Singapore in April 1996. This 11 sixes record was equalled later that same year by Shahid Afridi against Sri Lanka in his first ODI innings in which he also broke the record for the fastest ODI century.

The record for most sixes in a Test Match innings is 12, which was achieved by Pakistani all-rounder Wasim Akram during a 257-run innings against Zimbabwe.

The One-Day International record for most sixes hit in a career is held by Shahid Afridi of Pakistan, who has hit 224 sixes as of 7 Feb 2007. Afridi hit the second ball he ever faced in ODI cricket for a six. Batsmen who have hit more than 150 sixes include Sanath Jayasuriya (222) of Sri Lanka and Sourav Ganguly (168) and Sachin Tendulkar (154) of India and Chris Cairns (153) of New Zealand.

The record for the most sixes in a Test Match is 27, which occurred during a 2006 Test Match between Pakistan and India at the famously bowler-hostile Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad. In their first innings, Pakistan hit eleven sixes. India hit nine in their first innings. Pakistan's hit seven more sixes in their second innings.

The record for the most sixes in a One-Day International is 26, which has occurred twice till date - first during the South Africa vs Australia match on 12 Mar 2006 and again during the New Zealand vs Australia match on 20 Feb 2007.

References