‘June is bustin’ out all over’, they sang in Carousel, and cricketers all over England have certainly joined the frolics. Since they returned to the county championship last weekend there have been some remarkable feats, and some astonishing ones.
Dan ‘Friar’ Lawrence may have thought he had put the juiciest cherry on the cake when he belted fives sixes at New Road on Monday. He belted Shoaib Bashir for 38 runs in an over, to equal Andrew Flintoff’s championship record, as Surrey achieved another victory in pursuit of a third successive pennant. Lawrence, who jumped ship from Essex last winter, made 175 not out.
But he had reckoned without Louis Kimber, and so had we. ‘The sun king’ of Grace Road clobbered five sixes and three fours in an extraordinary over on the last day at Hove. Ollie Robinson, who could do with a decent run before the first Test, went for 43 runs, as Kimber plundered the fours off no-balls. That’s not the way to do it, as Mr Punch might have said.
Lawrence and Kimber with bullion in their eyes! Bashir and Robinson reduced to rubbing rags! Kimber’s was the fastest double century in championship history, and his 21 sixes set another record. Twenty one! In the old days he could have strolled to the pier in Brighton, and regaled punters with tales of his great day. But Sussex took the gilt off the gingerbread, winning by 18 runs.
On the first day John Simpson helped himself to another century, 183 not out, his third of the summer. It has been a terrific start for the man from Ramsbottom, who left Middlesex last autumn to surprise and not a little muttering. Sussex are charging away at the top of the second division.
James Vince was another man in the runs. What a handsome batsman he is at his best. He made 166 not out as Hampshire drew with Warwickshire. Like Vince, who was not quite good enough to hold down a Test place, Hampshire are not quite strong enough to unsettle Surrey and Essex.
At Canterbury ‘the disco king’ was in fine fettle. Josh Bohannon made a double century as Lancashire overwhelmed feeble Kent by an innings. Will Bohannon, who is a jolly good player, suffer Vince’s fate? It’s difficult to see how he can force his way into the Test XI unless he scores so many runs the selectors can’t ignore him. But they’re unwilling to unseat Ollie Pope, who has acquired some of Ian Bell’s stickability, and Friar Lawrence will get first dibs should they look beyond him.
Centuries too for a pair of openers: Alex Lees of Durham and Ben Slater of Nottinghamshire, who blow hot and cold. Jordan Clark stood out among the bowlers, taking five second innings wickets at New Road. The Cumbrian has developed into a fine all-rounder.
So Lawrence couldn’t manage six sixes in an over, the faint heart. The great Garry, Sir Garfield Sobers, managed the feat in 1968, playing for Notts against Glamorgan at Swansea. Fifteen years later Ravi Shastri did it in Bombay. One lucky man was a witness on both occasions, Dicky Rutnagur, the Telegraph’s veteran scribe. A most amusing companion, Dicky. Though some of the tales you couldn’t print in papers.