Perfection, insanity or sheer brilliance?

It was on this day in 1968 that Gary Sobers of the West Indies achieved an unbelievably rare feat in cricketing history. It is a day that Malcolm Nash would love to forget, but never shall. Gary Sobers, playing for Nottinghamshire, hit Nash, playing for Glamorgan for six sixes in an over. Think of the enormity of it. Not gully cricket, not your average Joe, but first class cricket. Not one, not two, but six in a row. What a batsman Sobers must be, and what a bowler Nash must be. The reason I mention Nash's bowling abilities is because he got hit again, almost for the same score. Nine years later, at the same ground, an over to Frank Hayes cost him 34 runs!! I am sure he must have relieved when one of the balls actually bounced on the ground before crossing the boundary.

It made me sit and think. How must he feel? He knows that everytime someone mentions Sobers' feat, he is an inextricable part of the picture. Malcolm Nash, hit for 36 runs. It could shatter you as a person, or you could shrug your shoulders and say, "I suffered at the hands of a genius. No shame in that".

Of course, Tilak Raj should know about that. Ravi Shastri (yes, the same guy who got booed by Indian supporters for playing slowly in the latter half of his career) hit him for 6 sixes. I remember reading that he refused to be photographed with Shastri, when asked by Wisden. The request itself was like adding insult to injury.

I have seen a lot of cricket over the years. Two sixes in succession seems like a monumental task (yes, Zaheer Khan hit 4 in an over, but that is a paranormal event) .. six in a row is unimaginable. So, here's to the two S'es, Sobers and Shastri for their phenomenal achievement, for that moment of insanity, for that flash of rare brilliance.