Stats: West Indies first to hit 4000 recognized sixes in international cricket

Debutant Carlos Braithwaite was on strike against Nathan Lyon with his team struggling at 136/6 in reply to Australia’s 551/3d in the first innings. It was the third ball of the 62^nd over which Braithwaite slogged-swept over the long-on boundary for a maximum.

It was and should have been a normal six by a batsman to a bowler but many statsgurus, cricket analysts and even no one at the ground realized that the six was West Indies’ 4000^th ‘recognized’ six in international cricket – a first by any team. The record six came in West Indies’ 1317^th international match and was hit by 342^nd different player. Australia, who has played the most international matches, is second on the list with 3879 ‘recognized’ sixes. USA and East Africa, who have played the least number of international matches, are right at the bottom of the table with only one six each.

The term recognized was used because most the earliest matches were not recorded as full. The detailed analysis like fours and sixes hit by a batsman were either not recorded or were lost by the absence of technology.