London: Essex all-rounder Graham Napier has equaled Australian batsman Andrew Symonds’ record 16 sixes in a first-class innings in his team’s county championship match against Surrey.
The 31-year-old hit an astonishing 196 off 130 balls on his return to the first-class game after an 11-month absence due to a career-threatening back fracture.
Symonds had achieved the feat while playing for Gloucestershire against Glamorgan in 1995.
“It’s an honour (to hold the record) and a good bat helps. I had an idea I was close to the world record for hitting sixes when I saw the figures at lunch time. I knew it was just around the corner,” The Telegraph quoted Napier, as saying.
“I probably don’t have the restrictions some batsmen do, that when they hit a boundary they look for a one - I tend to look for two or three more,” he added. Napier’s knock prompted Essex coach Paul Grayson to declare: “That was just unbelievable.”
ANI
First Published: Friday, May 20, 2011, 00:00
