Gary Sobers hit Malcolm Nash for six consecutive sixes in a single over at Swansea — the first time six sixes in an over had been achieved in first-class cricket, a feat since matched only by Ravi Shastri in 1985 and a handful of others.
The County Championship match between Nottinghamshire and Glamorgan at Swansea was a routine county game. Sobers, captaining Nottinghamshire, had been batting freely. Malcolm Nash was a medium-left-armer for Glamorgan who represented no particular threat to a batsman of Sobers's quality.
Nottinghamshire were in a comfortable position. Sobers was in the nineties and looking for quick runs to allow a declaration. Nash was brought on to bowl what appeared to be a containing over.
Ball 1: Sobers drove Nash over midwicket for six. Ball 2: Another drive, straight and flat, over long-on for six. Ball 3: A pull shot, six over square leg. Ball 4: Lofted drive over cover for six — one of the fieldsmen nearly caught it. Ball 5: Pulled over midwicket again for six. Ball 6: Nash tried a different delivery — Sobers hit it high over long-on. A fielder ran, got his hands to it, and it went over the ropes. Six. The first six sixes in an over in first-class cricket.
BBC Wales were filming the match — one of the rare occasions when county cricket was being broadcast. The footage exists, grainy and black-and-white, and has been watched millions of times since. Nash — who went on to score a first-class century and take hundreds of wickets — is remembered entirely for this over.
Ball four — a fielder nearly catches it, six only narrowly achieved
Ball six — the final six, narrowly clearing the fielder on the boundary
The BBC Wales camera capturing it — the reason it lives in perpetuity
August 31, 1968
Nottinghamshire vs Glamorgan, Swansea
The over
Sobers hits Nash for six consecutive sixes — first in first-class history
The broadcast
BBC Wales footage preserved — the over lives on in history
Sobers continued his innings and Nottinghamshire declared. Nash took the over philosophically — he continued to play county cricket for years and was generally well-regarded for his sporting attitude about the record. The ground at Swansea no longer exists as a first-class venue.
The original six sixes in an over — an achievement that predates Yuvraj Singh's international equivalent by 39 years. Sobers did it first, and his six sixes off Nash became one of the defining stories in cricket history.
Every subsequent six sixes in an over (Shastri in 1985, Yuvraj in 2007, Pollard in 2021) is measured against this original moment. The grainy BBC Wales footage is among the most frequently replayed clips in cricket broadcasting.
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