Some weird cricket facts you probably don’t know

Cricket, as they say, is a game of glorious uncertainties. This unpredictable nature of the game, which adds that extra spice in it, makes us fall in love with this beautiful game. 

Spectators get thrilled to witness the most unexpected twists and turn during a game which ensures an edge of the seat thriller.

As a result of cricket is an unpredictable sport, there have been bizarre instances which have come up in the years gone by. The Business Standard (TBS) takes a look at some of the weirdest facts and incidents in cricket throughout the years. 

A Six as long as 556 miles! 

The Longest Six Ever went a total of 556 miles. Yes, you read that right, 556 miles!

This is undoubtedly the most bizarre fact related to cricket. Just imagine the facial expressions of a bowler, who realizes that he has been hit for a 6 and the cricket ball has travelled for 556 miles.

So how did Jimmy hit a '6' that went 556 miles?

Jimmy Sinclair strikes

Well, technically Jimmy Sinclair never hit the six 556 miles but it still went that distance. 

Sinclair was batting at the Old Wanderers Stadium located in Johannesburg. The Old Wanderers Stadium was situated near the train tracks. Sinclair was a hard-hitting batsman. One day he struck the ball so badly that it landed on the carriage of a loaded train.

The ball could not be recovered before the train set off for its destination. The train was headed for Port Elizabeth and so the ball that Sinclair hit landed up in Port Elizabeth. This is approximately 556 miles away from the spot where Jimmy played the shot.

A "legal" 14-ball over

The headline could make a lot think how a legal 14-ball over is possible. Well, this actually happened back in 1946 during a match between Barbados and British Guyana. 

At that time, overs were counted after 8 balls. The extra 6 deliveries were bowled due to the umpire's fault. 

Now that's some poor umpiring!

4204 wickets and 39,969 runs, Rhodes was a serious all-rounder

Wilfred Rhodes represented Yorkshire in first-class cricket. He has 4204 wickets and 39,969 runs to his name playing for Yorkshire. 

He scored more than 39,969 runs at an average nearly 30 an innings while taking 4204 wickets at 16 runs each. A world record which may never be broken. 

21 consecutive maiden overs

Bapu Nadkarni of India holds the record of bowling the maximum number of maiden overs on the trot.

Nadkarni 21 consecutive maiden overs against England in Chennai in a test match in 1963-64. Nadkarni out of a total of 29 overs, bowled 26 maiden overs. Out of those 26 maidens, 21 were bowled consecutively. Now that is serious consistency!  

Bapu Nadkarni bowling

Debut with duck and never making it again

Bangladeshi supporters will remember Fazle Mahmud Rabbi, not for his destructive batting in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) or any local franchise tournament but for his ducks in two of his first (and last, so far) international matches. 

Fazle Mahmud Rabbi

Mahmud made his debut against Zimbabwe in October 2018. He went back to the pavilion without scoring any run in his first two matches and hasn't featured in any international matches ever since.

But Mahmud is not the only one in this list. Paul Gillespie, Shadab Kabir, Harunur Rashid, Gerrie Snyman, Riaan Walters - all made their debut, got out without scoring any run and never made it again in international cricket again. 

Jayasuriya better bowler than Shane Warne?

Statistics can be misleading sometimes. How would you feel if someone tells you that Sanath Jayasuriya is a better bowler than Shane Warne? 

Well, apparently that is true. 

Jayasuriya is a more successful ODI bowler than Shane Warne. In 445 matches, Jayasuriya has 323 wickets; while Shane Warne 293 wickets in 194 matches! Wickets do matter, don't they?

Most ducks in an international innings

Mali women's national cricket team holds a pretty bizarre record in international cricket. 

In a T20I against Rwanda women at Rwanda on 18th June 2019, nine Mali batters scored ducks in that game. While they were all out on just six runs, only the opener Mariam Samake (1) managed to open her account and the lower-order batswoman Balkissa Coulibaly remained not out on 0 runs.

Mali Women's cricket team

Ajmal and his Man of the Match issue

Saeed Ajmal has been a great match-winner for Pakistan.

But in a career of 113 ODI's and after taking 184 wickets, the spinning wizard has never won the Man of the Match Award. Ouch!