# Hitting it out of the park in the sport of cricket **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 18, 2007, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitting-it-out-of-the-park-in-the-sport-of-cricket/419676 "2007-09-18T23:40:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Randy\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee7513/32.png) [@Randy\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randy_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2007, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitting-it-out-of-the-park-in-the-sport-of-cricket/419676/1 "2007-09-18T23:40:09Z")
Hopefully, someone from [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=431005&highlight=cricket) thread can help me out. We read an English case today where a woman lived near a cricket oval (field? pitch?), and was hit on the head by a batted ball as she stood in her front yard. She sued the team for her injuries. Over the course of the discussion, someone said, “Well part of the goal of the game is to hit it out of the field.” And someone else said, “No, you don’t get any runs if you do that.” And we - stupid Americans - quibbled about that for a few minutes. So purely out of curiosity, I’ve been educating myself on the game of cricket, but I can’t seem to figure out the answer to this question. Yes, I’ve figured out that if the ball lands beyond the boundary rope without bouncing, that’s worth six points (runs?), and is desirable for the batsman (robin?). But I can’t figure out what happens when the ball is hit entirely out of the field of play, into the stands or whatnot. So is that still worth six? Does this happen often? If it’s in a stadium, does the lucky spectator get to keep the ball? Do kids bring keeper-gloves to cricket matches in hopes of catching the ball (quaffle?)? ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2007, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitting-it-out-of-the-park-in-the-sport-of-cricket/419676/2 "2007-09-18T23:57:09Z")
[QUOTE=Randy Seltzer] We read an English case today where a woman lived near a cricket oval (field? pitch?), and was hit on the head by a batted ball as she stood in her front yard. She sued the team for her injuries. [/quote] Ah yes. Good old Miller v Jackson > [@Randy Seltzer](#): > > So is that still worth six? Does this happen often? If it’s in a stadium, does the lucky spectator get to keep the ball? Do kids bring keeper-gloves to cricket matches in hopes of catching the ball (quaffle?)? I’m not a cricket afficionado, but I think the batsman gets credited with six runs. I don’t think there are any penalties for hitting the ball out of the ground. I don’t know how often it happens. It probably depends on how big the ground is. It happens all the time when visiting international cricket teams play Australia in a country town called Bowral (in NSW) because they’re playing on what is effectively a suburban park/oval and the batsmen’s shots frequently end up in one of the neighbour’s front gardens. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitting-it-out-of-the-park-in-the-sport-of-cricket/419676/3 "2007-09-19T00:06:13Z")
I suggest you watch this video (44 secs.) of [Garfield Sobers](http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=A8dLac__KKk) striking Malcolm Nash for six sixes in one over. We see the final four balls, two of which land in the stadium and two of which are struck beyond the perimeter. The last delivery is hit totally out of the ground and was last seen heading in the general direction of Swansea city centre. Each momentous blow was worth, and duly counted for, the statutory six runs. If the ball is hit out of the stadium it is unlikely to be returned. The umpires wheel out a box of used balls and invite players from both sides to agree on one which most closely resembles the condition of the lost ball. The game then continues. Where the ball is hit into the crowd it is normally thrown back onto the field of play. I’ve seen some impressive catches taken by spectators, some of them the worse for a few beers, but never by someone wearing a pair of keeper gloves. ---
**Author:** ![Randy\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee7513/32.png) [@Randy\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randy_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitting-it-out-of-the-park-in-the-sport-of-cricket/419676/4 "2007-09-19T00:10:44Z")
[QUOTE=Cunctator] Ah yes. Good old Miller v Jackson [/QUOTE] _Stone v. Bolton_ > [@Chez Guevara](#): > > Each momentous blow was worth, and duly counted for, the statutory six runs. Thanks **Chez**! > [@](#): > > The umpires wheel out a box of used balls and invite players from both sides to agree on one which most closely resembles the condition of the lost ball. Are you serious?? Jeez, the Brits are funny. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitting-it-out-of-the-park-in-the-sport-of-cricket/419676/5 "2007-09-19T00:26:09Z")
Totally serious. But then, eccentricity is a byword in the game of cricket. [Law 5 (The Ball)](http://www.lords.org/laws-and-spirit/laws-of-cricket/laws/law-5-the-ball,31,AR.html): **Ball lost or becoming unfit for play** > [@](#): > > If, during play, the ball cannot be found or recovered or the umpires agree that it has become unfit for play through normal use, the umpires shall replace it with a ball which has had wear comparable with that which the previous ball had received before the need for its replacement. When the ball is replaced the umpires shall inform the batsmen and the fielding captain. I’m pretty sure that, in practice, the captain of the fielding side and the two batsmen have more involvment in the selection process than is indicated above. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitting-it-out-of-the-park-in-the-sport-of-cricket/419676/6 "2007-09-19T00:46:48Z")
[QUOTE=Randy Seltzer] Are you serious?? Jeez, the Brits are funny. [/QUOTE] The condition of the ball makes a big difference to how easy or hard it is to score runs with it, and also how it moves on the pitch. A new ball is shiny, hard and bouncy with a thick equatorial ridge formed where the two halves are sewn together. Quick bowlers will be able to bowl quick because the ball loses less energy when it bounces. Also they’ll be able to get it to move sideways off the seam which can make it more difficult to hit. If the batsman hits it well though, then it’s more likely to go to the fence for 4 or 6 runs. An old ball has a flattened seam, is softer and won’t bounce as much. By smoothing one side of the ball with spit and polish (trousers normally) it can be made, by some bowlers, to swing. It may generally be easier to hit as it tends to get used by slower bowlers but it takes more work to hit a long way. So as the ball wears during play, the advantage can change from batsman to bowler and vice versa. It is then in everyone’s best interests to try and find a replacement ball which is similar to the one that’s been lost. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitting-it-out-of-the-park-in-the-sport-of-cricket/419676/7 "2007-09-19T05:48:12Z")
Wearing gloves in the audience, baseball-style, wouldn’t make much sense, because the only player who uses them is the wicket-keeper directly behind the batter. All other catches are made with bare hands. ---
**Author:** ![Dottygumdrop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Dottygumdrop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dottygumdrop)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitting-it-out-of-the-park-in-the-sport-of-cricket/419676/8 "2007-09-19T06:18:10Z")
[QUOTE=Randy Seltzer] > [@](#): > > Cunctator > Ah yes. Good old Miller v Jackson Stone v. Bolton [/QUOTE] [Stone v. Bolton](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolton_v._Stone) was the case where the plaintiff was hit in the head, but I believe Miller v. Jackson was the case with [Lord Denning’s classic cricket judgment](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miller_v._Jackson) ([1977] QB 966, at 976, per Lord Denning MR): > [@](#): > > In summertime village cricket is the delight of everyone. Nearly every village has its own cricket field where the young men play and the old men watch. In the village of Lintz in County Durham they have their own ground, where they have played these last 70 years. They tend it well. The wicket area is well rolled and mown. The outfield is kept short. It has a good club house for the players and seats for the onlookers. The village team play there on Saturdays and Sundays. They belong to a league, competing with the neighbouring villages. On other evenings after work they practise while the light lasts. Yet now after these 70 years a judge of the High Court has ordered that they must not play there any more. He has issued an injunction to stop them. He has done it at the instance of a newcomer who is no lover of cricket. This newcomer has built, or has had built for him, a house on the edge of the cricket ground which four years ago was a field where cattle grazed. The animals did not mind the cricket. But now this adjoining field has been turned into a housing estate. The newcomer bought one of the houses on the edge of the cricket ground. No doubt the open space was a selling point. Now he complains that when a batsman hits a six the ball has been known to land in his garden or on or near his house. His wife has got so upset about it that they always go out at week-ends. They do not go into the garden when cricket is being played. They say that this is intolerable. So they asked the judge to stop the cricket being played. And the judge, much against his will, has felt that he must order the cricket to be stopped: with the consequence, I suppose, that the Lintz Cricket Club will disappear. The cricket ground will be turned to some other use. I expect for more houses or a factory. The young men will turn to other things instead of cricket. The whole village will be much the poorer. And all this because of a newcomer who has just bought a house there next to the cricket ground. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitting-it-out-of-the-park-in-the-sport-of-cricket/419676/9 "2007-09-19T06:51:37Z")
I’m not a cricket fan but I dearly hope the miserable fuckers who succeeded in having Lintz cricket team more or less disbanded are happy. Bastard killjoys, the world is full of spunksponges like them ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitting-it-out-of-the-park-in-the-sport-of-cricket/419676/10 "2007-09-19T12:35:06Z")
By the way, cricket is not played in anything so vulgar as a “park”. Parks are where one’s staff walk one’s dogs. ---
**Author:** ![seosamh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@seosamh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seosamh)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitting-it-out-of-the-park-in-the-sport-of-cricket/419676/11 "2007-09-19T20:25:04Z")
It used to be the case that a batsman only scored 6 if he hit the ball out of the ground and it was declared “lost” (Law 34 of the [1884 Code](http://acscricket.com/Articles/2/2486.html)). I believe there was a brief period in the early 1900s when a hit over the boundary without bouncing (which is nowadays a 6) but not out of the ground was worth 5 but I cannot find the relevant amendment. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitting-it-out-of-the-park-in-the-sport-of-cricket/419676/12 "2007-09-19T21:43:12Z")
[QUOTE=chowder] I’m not a cricket fan but I dearly hope the miserable fuckers who succeeded in having Lintz cricket team more or less disbanded are happy. Bastard killjoys, the world is full of spunksponges like them [/QUOTE] It’s as bad as those people who move near to a church and then complain about the noise of the bells on Sunday mornings. I think In a couple of cases they have even succeeded in permanently silencing the bells. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitting-it-out-of-the-park-in-the-sport-of-cricket/419676/13 "2007-09-19T21:50:27Z")
[QUOTE=Rayne Man] It’s as bad as those people who move near to a church and then complain about the noise of the bells on Sunday mornings. [/QUOTE] My father was headteacher of a local primary school. One of the houses the far side of the playground wall changed hands…and the new owners started complaining about the noise made by the children. How tempting it would have been to relocate games of football, and indeed cricket, to that location. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitting-it-out-of-the-park-in-the-sport-of-cricket/419676/14 "2007-09-19T23:00:24Z")
[QUOTE=1920s Style “Death Ray”] The condition of the ball makes a big difference to how easy or hard it is to score runs with it, and also how it moves on the pitch. A new ball is shiny, hard and bouncy with a thick equatorial ridge formed where the two halves are sewn together. Quick bowlers will be able to bowl quick because the ball loses less energy when it bounces. Also they’ll be able to get it to move sideways off the seam which can make it more difficult to hit. If the batsman hits it well though, then it’s more likely to go to the fence for 4 or 6 runs. An old ball has a flattened seam, is softer and won’t bounce as much. By smoothing one side of the ball with spit and polish (trousers normally) it can be made, by some bowlers, to swing. It may generally be easier to hit as it tends to get used by slower bowlers but it takes more work to hit a long way. So as the ball wears during play, the advantage can change from batsman to bowler and vice versa. It is then in everyone’s best interests to try and find a replacement ball which is similar to the one that’s been lost. [/QUOTE] Footnote for Americans: I understand it is imperative that a baseball be changed the instant it shows any sign of wear. It’s much different in cricket (possibly because a worn ball isn’t considered to impose an unfair risk on anyone) and we normally aim to get about 500 uses out of a new ball (as in, it will be bowled about 500 times before it is changed). Indeed, for reasons obvious from the excellent explanation above, strategy and tactics can revolve around the availability of the new ball - restricting scoring for a while with defensive bowling by the second-string bowlers, in order to give the best attacking bowlers a rest so that they will be fresh for the new ball, and not concede too many runs in the meantime. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitting-it-out-of-the-park-in-the-sport-of-cricket/419676/15 "2007-09-19T23:25:39Z")
[QUOTE=Colophon] By the way, cricket is not played in anything so vulgar as a “park”. Parks are where one’s staff walk one’s dogs. [/QUOTE] I beg to disagree. The land for Riley Park in Calgary was donated to the city, IIRC, with the stipulation that cricket was the only game to be played there. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitting-it-out-of-the-park-in-the-sport-of-cricket/419676/16 "2007-09-19T23:48:10Z")
[QUOTE=Malacandra] Footnote for Americans: I understand it is imperative that a baseball be changed the instant it shows any sign of wear. [/QUOTE] You’re kidding, right? The umps impart a little wear before the ball ever enters the game. I saw [this](http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2005/08/22/8270038/index.htm) on the tube the other night while recuperating from Austin Texas heat. Mind you, I’m not an avid baseball fan, but I’d never heard of such a thing. I do expect some fan to jump in and correct me with insignificant details. That’s okay. BTW; cricket is much funnier than baseball. 😉 Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitting-it-out-of-the-park-in-the-sport-of-cricket/419676/17 "2007-09-19T23:55:23Z")
[QUOTE=Chez Guevara] Totally serious. But then, eccentricity is a byword in the game of cricket. [Law 5 (The Ball)](http://www.lords.org/laws-and-spirit/laws-of-cricket/laws/law-5-the-ball,31,AR.html): **Ball lost or becoming unfit for play** I’m pretty sure that, in practice, the captain of the fielding side and the two batsmen have more involvment in the selection process than is indicated above. [/QUOTE] So, that law would take effect if, say, the cricket ball happened to drop into a spectator’s bag, and he or she hid it and nobody else realized that this person had the ball? 😃 “Now I would say that that was also a very curious event.” ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2007, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitting-it-out-of-the-park-in-the-sport-of-cricket/419676/18 "2007-09-20T00:37:38Z")
[QUOTE=mangeorge] You’re kidding, right? The umps impart a little wear before the ball ever enters the game. I saw [this](http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2005/08/22/8270038/index.htm) on the tube the other night while recuperating from Austin Texas heat. Mind you, I’m not an avid baseball fan, but I’d never heard of such a thing. I do expect some fan to jump in and correct me with insignificant details. That’s okay. BTW; cricket is much funnier than baseball. 😉 Peace, mangeorge [/QUOTE] No. What the ump _may_ do is rub the ball a bit to help remove the patina that each ball has from having been conditioned. This makes the ball less slippery. You rarely see this anymore on the screen because the balls are prepared in advance of the game, so that there is no need to break up the flow of the game, IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2007, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitting-it-out-of-the-park-in-the-sport-of-cricket/419676/19 "2007-09-20T00:46:23Z")
[QUOTE=DSYoungEsq] No. What the ump _may_ do is rub the ball a bit to help remove the patina that each ball has from having been conditioned. This makes the ball less slippery. You rarely see this anymore on the screen because the balls are prepared in advance of the game, so that there is no need to break up the flow of the game, IIRC. [/QUOTE] Yeah, the guy on television was, I think, an assistant equipment manager. He sat there with a can (3lbs) of this mud and was rubbing it on many boxes of balls. I just remembered, the show was “Dirty Jobs”. I got the feeling that all the NBA balls got rubbed. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2007, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitting-it-out-of-the-park-in-the-sport-of-cricket/419676/20 "2007-09-20T10:55:06Z")
[QUOTE=GorillaMan] My father was headteacher of a local primary school. One of the houses the far side of the playground wall changed hands…and the new owners started complaining about the noise made by the children. How tempting it would have been to relocate games of football, and indeed cricket, to that location. [/QUOTE] The said thing is that there are people today who are only happy when they have something to whinge about. If they can’t find a legitimate reason to complain they’ll find something that is total bollocks to have a moan about. Now if I lived near to mould trafford I’d moan about the noise… 😛 but that would be justified [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitting-it-out-of-the-park-in-the-sport-of-cricket/419676.md?page=2)