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Sussex cricket club bans sixes after complaints from neighbours

Sussex cricket club bans sixes after complaints from neighbours

Players at one of the world’s oldest cricket clubs have been banned from hitting sixes following complaints of damage caused by neighbours.

Southwick and Shoreham, a West Sussex-based cricket club founded in 1790, banned high-scoring batting after one of their neighbours threatened to call the police because of the damage caused to their property by balls flying off the boundary.

There were reports of damage to windows, cars and sheds after players threw the ball over the boundary rope on the small pitch.

The club warned batters that the first six hits would not count as runs and that they would be out if they hit a second hit during the inning.

A hitter told PostaOnline“It’s part of the glory of the sport to make the pitcher hit a six. How can you ban that? It’s ridiculous. I don’t think the rules should be changed that way.”

Another player added: “If you buy a house next to a cricket ground you can expect to have a few cricket balls in your garden.”

Although the club has erected nets around its pitch, which Southwick calls The Green, the height of the nets is limited by the surrounding trees, providing little protection for nearby residences.

However, the introduction of laws that are at times a little vague is not a new phenomenon for cricket clubs in this country.

At one end of the pitch at Canterbury’s St Lawrence Ground (home to Kent County Cricket Club) was a lime tree which one of the batsmen hit, counting as four points.

Canterbury lime tree becomes legendary
Canterbury lime tree becomes legendary (Getty Images)

But the Southwick and Shoreham club has not had the response they were hoping for from locals, with some wanting to oppose the change.

Retired taxi driver Peter Naghten said: “I’ve never played ball on my property but I don’t agree with the sixes being banned. It’s one of the most interesting aspects of the sport.”

“Of course it’s in their blood and when the ball comes to you you hit it hard.”

Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), the former governing body of cricket, is responsible for setting the rules of the game; it was first established in 1788.

But the organisation is yet to respond to the ban imposed on Southwick, leaving the potential for an appeal as the future of the batting force in West Sussex remains uncertain.