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 Jeswant11-Jun-2014Tim 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 highest in that list is Michael Clarke with four sixes during his dazzling 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.

Most sixes by players who have played 50 or less Tests

PlayerMatInnsRunsAve50+6sShahid Afridi2748171636.511352TG Southee325187619.46245Misbah-ul-Haq4680321848.753035Mohammad Rafique3363105918.57534DJG Sammy3863132321.68634In 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.

Most sixes hit by players batting at number eight or below in Tests

PlayerMatInnsRunsAve50+6sWasim Akram87110216022.26850TG Southee325187619.46245Harbhajan Singh101140218218.491142MA Holding597287914.17636Sk Warne141186300817.791136Among 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.

Most sixes hit by New Zealanders in Tests

PlayerMatInnsRunsAve50+6sCL Cairns
62
104
3320
33.53
27
87BB McCullum85146522637.863768CD McMillan55
91
3116
38.46
25
54
TG Southee32
51
876
19.46
2
45
NJ Astle
81
137
4702
37.02
35
39Southee 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.

Balls-per-six ratio for batsmen since 2000 (min. 500 balls)

PlayerMatInnsRunsAveBalls50+6sBalls/6TG Southee325187619.4699424522.09Shahid Afridi2137136237.831461114532.47CL Cairns1830126545.17171784240.88M Muralitharan
8510278010.98102912541.16Mohammad Rafique3363105918.57163053447.94Southee 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.

Highest % of career Test runs scored in sixes (min. 500 career runs)

PlayerMatInnsRunsAve50+6sPercentage of runs in sixesTG Southee325187619.4624530.82Shoaib Akhtar466754410.0702224.26MA Holding607691013.7863623.74Umar Gul47675779.9412020.80Mohammad Rafique3363105918.5753419.26The 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.

Career records of the top five six hitters when they hit their 45th six (end of game)

RankCareer sixesPlayerInnsRunsAve100506s1100AC Gilchrist64307360.2591645297JH Kallis145668954.82193445391V Sehwag92476053.48141349490CH Gayle134510939.6083047588BC Lara161792150.452038473545TG Southee5187619.460245Adam 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.*