England's 234-year-old club bans sixes to abide by neighbour's complaints

England, where cricket originated, has become a worldwide phenomenon, with the smaller nations taking up the sport and adding to the fervour of the game. Test cricket is revered as the purest format of the game, but the T20 format has made six-hitting look like a walk in the park. But a 234-year-old cricket club has banned six hitting to cater to the complaints from the neighbourhood.

Southwick and Shoreham Cricket Club in West Sussex have come up with the rule to keep batters from hitting beyond the compound wall, as historically followed by kids playing street cricket in India. The club, which was founded in 1790, was called out by its neighbours as the cricket balls damaged their windows, cars and sheds. The new club rule states the first six as null and the subsequent one as out.

“It's a very small ground and can't accommodate the testosterone-fuelled young men who come along and just want to hit the ball as far as they can,” Mary Gill, an 80-year-old resident, said as quoted by The Telegraph. 

“Hitting the bowler for a six is part of the glory of the sport. How can you ban it? It's ridiculous. To take that away removes the joy of it,” said a club player.

“Everything is about health and safety these days and insurance companies are charging a fortune to indemnify sports clubs against accidental damage or injury to bystanders,” another player added.

Trees scoring runs for the batters in England’s County grounds

Cricket is a game played despite the obstacles the concise space players are subjected to growing up in the suburbs of a country like India. Little did the fans know that England carries similar enthusiasm.

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St Lawrence ground in Canterbury had a tree amidst the ground and whenever the ball hit the tree, the batter and the team were rewarded four runs. In another case, Lancing Manor had two trees inside the ground and the batter was rewarded two runs when the ball came in contact with either of them.