I want Afridi in Test Cricket :naraz: Shocked to see Misbah, Shoaib Akhtar and Gul name there 
Can Southee be Test cricket’s greatest six-hitter?
Tim Southee is fast rising up the sixes charts in Tests; if he maintains his current pace, he is on track to set new records
Bishen Jeswant
June 11, 2014
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[TD=“class: stryPicCptn”]Tim Southee has hit 270 of his 876 Test runs from sixes
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Relate
Tim Southee was handed his Test debut against England in 2008 in Napier and immediately responded with a haul of 5 for 55 before smashing 77 off 40 balls in the second innings. That innings included nine sixes, the most hit by a batsman on Test debut. The next highestin that list is Michael Clarke with four sixes during hisdazzling 151 in Bangalore. In terms of six-hitting, there was no looking back for Southee.
While a batsman like Nathan Astle - who holds the record for the fastest double century in Tests, off 153 balls - has hit only 39 sixes during his 81-Test career, Tim Southee has already hit 45 sixes* from his 32 Tests. Even renowned batsmen like David Warner, Allan Border, Shane Watson, Ian Bell, Michael Clarke and Mark Waugh have all hit fewer sixes than Southee in Tests. In fact, no batsman apart from Shahid Afridi has played fewer than 50 Tests and hit more sixes than the New Zealand seamer.
[TABLE=“class: StoryengineTable, width: 630”]
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Player
Mat
Inns
Runs
Ave
50+
6s
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Shahid Afridi
27
48
1716
36.51
13
52
TG Southee
32
51
876
19.46
2
45
:hayaa: Misbah-ul-Haq
46
80
3218
48.75
30
35
Mohammad Rafique
33
63
1059
18.57
5
34
DJG Sammy
38
63
1323
21.68
6
34
In the list of players who have hit the most number of sixes while batting at No. 8 or below, only Wasim Akram has hit more sixes. However, Akram’s 50 sixes came from 110 innings, while Southee has played only 51 innings till date.
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Player
Mat
Inns
Runs
Ave
50+
6s
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Wasim Akram
87
110
2160
22.26
8
50
TG Southee
32
51
876
19.46
2
45
Harbhajan Singh
101
140
2182
18.49
11
42
MA Holding
59
72
879
14.17
6
36
Sk Warne
141
186
3008
17.79
11
36
Among his countrymen, Southee is already among the top five six-hitters of all time, with all those above him having played a significantly higher number of Tests. Players such as Richard Hadlee, Martin Crowe, Ross Taylor and Jacob Oram have all hit fewer sixes than Southee. At his current rate, it won’t be too long before Southee finds himself at the top of this list.
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Player
Mat
Inns
Runs
Ave
50+
6s
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CL Cairns
62
104
3320
33.53
27
87
BB McCullum
85
146
5226
37.86
37
68
CD McMillan
55
91
3116
38.46
25
54
TG Southee
32
51
876
19.46
2
45
NJ Astle
81
137
4702
37.02
35
39
Southee has faced 994 balls in Test cricket and hit 45 of those for six, which essentially means that he hits a six every 22 balls or so. Post 2000 (consistent balls-faced data is not available prior to that), no player who has faced at least 500 balls in Test cricket hit sixes as frequently as Southee. Shahid Afridi, who hits a six every 32 balls, is the next best.
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Player
Mat
Inns
Runs
Ave
Balls
50+
6s
Balls/6
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TG Southee
32
51
876
19.46
994
2
45
22.09
Shahid Afridi
21
37
1362
37.83
1461
11
45
32.47
CL Cairns
18
30
1265
45.17
1717
8
42
40.88
M Muralitharan
85
102
780
10.98
1029
1
25
41.16
Mohammad Rafique
33
63
1059
18.57
1630
5
34
47.94
**
S**outhee has scored a 876 runs in Tests and has hit 45 sixes, which means that around 30% of his career runs have come in sixes. Among players who have scored at least 500 runs in Test cricket, Southee has hit the largest percentage of his runs in sixes.
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Player
Mat
Inns
Runs
Ave
50+
6s
Percentage of runs in sixes
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TG Southee
32
51
876
19.46
2
45
30.82
Shoaib Akhtar
46
67
544
10.07
0
22
24.26
MA Holding
60
76
910
13.78
6
36
23.74
Umar Gul
47
67
577
9.94
1
20
20.80
Mohammad Rafique
33
63
1059
18.57
5
34
19.26
The top five six-hitters of all time are Adam Gilchrist, Jacques Kallis, Virender Sehwag, Chris Gayle and Brian Lara. By the time Lara had hit his 45th six, he had already scored almost 8000 Test runs. Southee on the other hand has scored less than 1000. Below is a table showing what stage of their career the top five six-hitters were at when they hit their 45th six.
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Rank
Career sixes
Player
Inns
Runs
Ave
100
50
6s
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1
100
AC Gilchrist
64
3073
60.25
9
16
45
2
97
JH Kallis
145
6689
54.82
19
34
45
3
91
V Sehwag
92
4760
53.48
14
13
49
4
90
CH Gayle
134
5109
39.60
8
30
47
5
88
BC Lara
161
7921
50.45
20
38
47
35
45
TG Southee
51
876
19.46
0
2
45
Adam Gilchrist, who holds the record for the most sixes in Tests, hit 100 sixes from 137 innings. If Tim Southee were to continue hitting sixes at his current rate, he would hit 121 sixes by the time he played 137 Test innings, making him the greatest six-hitter of all time.
- Stats are as at the end of the first innings, West Indies v New Zealand at Kingston, 1st Test, Jun 8-12, 2014
