Fort Augustus cricketer Ash Anjum believed to have broken Nosca record after steering side to 39-run over in T20 Cup match against Ross County in Inverness
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Fort Augustus Cricket Club may not have made it through to the Nosca T20 Cup final, but it is believed one of their players had made history after a 39-run over.
The maximum possible score in a normal over of cricket is 36 – hitting sixes off of all six deliveries – but with a free hit rule in place Ash Anjum was able to take advantage of a no-ball to score 38 runs, plus one for the no-ball itself, against Ross County.
Anjum hit four consecutive sixes, the second off the no-ball, before having to settle for two boundaries and one final maximum.
Fort Augustus would go on to win that match by 77 runs, but defeat in their second round robin match against host side Northern Counties meant they were knocked out of the competition.
Still, The Abbey outfit and Anjum had something to celebrate, with opposition bowler and Nosca vice-president Chris Blake informing them that it was a historic over.
"We got off to a really good start with Ross Lavin and Nilesh Pote – Nilesh hit about 70 off 35 balls, scoring fours and sixes all over the place," Fort Augustus captain Kevin O'Meara explained.
"Ross Lavin started off great, hitting three boundaries, but he ended up only getting 49 not out in the whole game – still really good.
"When Ash came to the crease, he only scored 43 runs in the whole game, but 38 of them came in one over.
"Chris Blake was bowling for Ross County. I think they lost nine balls in total into the Eden Court car park, and Ash scored five sixes in that over alone, losing two balls.
"Fair play to Chris, he did smile after the game and said Ash had broken a Nosca record. He's a tremendous player, only 30 years old and such a nice guy who plays every week."
It was certainly a knock that will live long in the memory, but for O'Meara there was an extra sense of relief – as Anjum almost did not feature at all.
"He actually nearly wasn't available," O'Meara revealed.
"He only let us know at 8pm the night before that he could play, and thankfully he did.
"I was scoring at the time, and I couldn't actually see where the balls were landing. It was almost a 15-minute over because they were out looking for the ball so often!
"He ended up getting caught on the boundary. I told him to have a slow start when he went out, but he went six, six, six. I think the world record is 43 in one over, and I thought he was going for that at one point.
"I've never witnessed anything like that. It was ridiculous, everyone was applauding it in the end. I think he smashed a couple of cars, so I hope Northern Counties have insurance!
"That's the thing about cricket – if someone does a great achievement, you appreciate it even if you don't like it at the time and take your hat off to them.
