A club cricketer has achieved a rare batting feat by hitting six sixes in successive overs during a league match in Staffordshire.
Scott Gretton, a 45-year-old mechanic playing for Rugeley Second XI, smashed an incredible 150 off just 51 balls against Springvale Seconds on Saturday. His knock included 19 sixes and six fours, helping his side win the South Staffordshire County League Division Three match by 156 runs.
Gretton came to the crease in the fourth over with his team struggling at 7-2. After playing himself in with six dot balls, he opened his account with a maximum. He then accelerated, scoring 20 runs off successive overs to reach 43 off 21 balls.
The real fireworks began in the 10th over. After a first-ball wide, Gretton smashed two successive sixes to bring up a 23-ball fifty. He then added four more maximums, including a no-ball, and ran a single off the final legal delivery to retain the strike.
In the 11th over, he smashed the first four legal balls for six to complete a 36-ball century, then dispatched the remaining two deliveries over the rope to achieve six sixes in consecutive overs.
"It wasn't an intentional thing," said Gretton, who has played for Rugeley for over 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."
Gretton was eventually bowled for 150 off 49 balls. He admitted he had no idea he was making history until a teammate told him later 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," he said. "They had to go and retrieve them, so that over took ages and that's why it didn't even come to mind."
The feat of hitting six sixes in an over is extremely rare in cricket. West Indies legend Garfield Sobers was the first to achieve it in first-class cricket in 1968. Doing so in successive overs is believed to be unprecedented.
"I've heard rumours that no-one's done it before," added Gretton. "It's a bit surreal really, for a little..."