A Leaf Out Of Gully Cricket: England’s 234-year-old Club Bans Sixes To Curb Neighbourhood Complaints

A 234-year-old cricket club in England has pulled out a rule straight from Gully Cricket banning the player from smacking the maximums. The decision was taken after the nearby homeowners complained of property damage and players at Southwick and Shoreham Cricket Club have been prohibited from playing big shots.

Sussex (England): One of the oldest cricket clubs in England has taken a page straight out of Gully Cricket to implement a bizarre move. According to a recent report published by the Guardian, the players at Southwick and Shoreham Cricket Club have been banned from hitting sixes to curb the complaint received by neighbourhood homes of property damage. The rule coincides with the rule many Indian kids grew up with.

The club’s matches are played at the Green in Southwick, West Sussex and the venue is surrounded by homes. Southwick and Shoreham Cricket Club has conveyed batters that they will get no score for the first six they hit. But on the second occasion, they will be given out by the umpire. Club treasurer Mark Broxup stated that the decision was made considering the instances of cars or houses getting damaged as the ball hit them as a result of the batter going big in the past.

“We took the proactive decision to ban sixes on the ground after a few incidents in the past when cars, houses and even roofs were damaged. We don’t want to have to pay costly insurance or have any legal claims against us so it seemed a sensible thing to do,” Southwick club treasurer Mark Broxup explained, as quoted by The Telegraph.

The ground has hosted matches since the 1970s. Protection nets have been put up but their height is usually restricted due to the surrounding trees.

For now, the batters at the Southwick and Shoreham Cricket Club will have to focus on placement over power to earn maximum runs.