Ben Stokes was appointed as captain of England's Test cricket team on Thursday. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)A week after being appointed as captain of the England Men’s Test cricket team, Ben Stokes smashed a record 17 sixes for Durham in the ongoing County Championship.
The devil works hard but our sports record team work harder
New record: Most sixes by an individual in a single @CountyChamp innings – 17 by @benstokes38https://t.co/WtagtRDgTr https://t.co/PtHY0ldOVg
— Guinness World Records (@GWR) May 6, 2022
Stokes achieved the feat against Worcestershire on Friday. He broke the previous county record held jointly by Andrew Symonds, the former Australia all-rounder, and Graham Napier.
In his first game after being announced as England Captain Ben Stokes put on a dominant display, scoring 161 from just 88 balls, including taking a Josh Baker over for 34 hitting 5 consecutive sixes.
Stokes took just 47 balls to reach his half-century but then went into overdrive, with his second 50 taking just 17 deliveries. Teenage slow left-armer Josh Baker was on the receiving end of heavy punishment from Stokes.
Thanks for all the messages, proud day for me and my family. I love playing cricket for England, see you at Lord’s pic.twitter.com/AvgN4DDLah
— Ben Stokes (@benstokes38) April 28, 2022
The first five deliveries of Baker’s 20th over were muscled over the boundary rope by Stokes, who raised his bat after the fifth to celebrate reaching three figures, having clubbed 10 sixes in total.
Stokes was one blow away from emulating West Indies great Garfield Sobers, the only batsman in Championship history to hit six sixes in an over, having done so for Nottinghamshire in 1968.
Congratulations to our new Men’s Test captain, @benstokes38! 🏴🏏
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) April 28, 2022
The big-hitting all-rounder, who was announced as Joe Root’s successor last week, went to a hundred off just 64 balls to post Durham’s quickest first-class century, while the 17 sixes he hit represented a new record for the English County Championship.
Stokes is making his first appearance in this season’s Championship after a knee injury on the tour of the West Indies, where England were beaten 1-0 in a three-Test series.
The 30-year-old is due to start his England reign in the first Test against New Zealand at Lord’s from June 2.
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