Biggest Sixes in Cricket History: The Longest Hits Ever Recorded

Shahid Afridi’s six off Ryan McLaren at the Wanderers in Johannesburg on March 17, 2013 is the hit most often credited as the biggest six in cricket history, widely reported at 153 metres. It’s also the most disputed: ESPNcricinfo’s own measurement analysis puts the real carry closer to 100-120 metres. That gap between legend and measurement is the whole story of cricket’s “biggest six” lists — spectacular hits, unreliable rulers.

The Biggest Sixes in Cricket: Full Leaderboard

The distances below are the figures most consistently cited across broadcast graphics, cricket stats sites, and match reports. None of them come from an official governing-body ledger — cricket doesn’t have one — so treat the numbers as widely reported estimates rather than certified facts. Where a figure is seriously disputed by independent analysis, it’s flagged.

The Top Entries, Explained

1. Shahid Afridi — 153m, Johannesburg 2013 (widely cited, seriously disputed)

Afridi’s free-hit six off Ryan McLaren cleared long-on and landed near the stadium’s upper tier, repeated across highlight reels and stat pages as the longest six ever hit. It’s also the record ESPNcricinfo’s Cricket Monthly pushed back on hardest: mapping the contact point against Google Earth, its analysis found the ball couldn’t have traveled much beyond 100-120 metres unimpeded, calling “130-plus” out of the question. The Wanderers sits roughly 1,700 metres above sea level, and thinner air there does help a ball carry farther than sea-level grounds — likely why a huge hit happened here, even if the number attached to it is inflated.

2. Brett Lee — 143m, the Gabba 2005

Lee, batting at the tail as a fast bowler rather than a specialist, launched Darren Powell over deep square leg and into the practice nets outside the Gabba during a 2005 Test against West Indies. It’s the most commonly cited longest six by a bowler in international cricket, though some broadcast reviews put the true distance closer to 130-135 metres. Either figure puts it among the two or three longest hits ever recorded with any reasonable evidence behind them.

3-5. Oram, David, and Guptill

Jacob Oram’s 130-metre hit against Australia in 2006 remains one of New Zealand’s biggest ODI strikes. Tim David’s 129-metre six off Axar Patel in Hobart during a 2025 T20I is the most recent hit to crack the traditional top five, proof today’s power hitters still produce distances that rival hits from two decades ago. Martin Guptill’s 127-metre six against South Africa is the reference point for New Zealand’s power-hitting tradition — he’s also a former holder of the most sixes in T20I cricket career record.

What “Distance” Actually Measures — and Why It’s Hard to Verify

Six distance isn’t an official cricket statistic the way runs, wickets, or strike rate are. There’s no ICC-certified measurement system, no Guinness-style ratification process, and no consistent methodology across broadcasters. In practice, three different things get called “distance”:

• Carry distance — how far the ball traveled through the air before it would have hit the ground, which is what most broadcast graphics claim to show.
• Unimpeded distance — an estimate of how far the ball would have gone if it hadn’t been stopped by a stand, roof, or fielder.
• Total distance — carry plus any roll or bounce after landing, which inflates the number and is rarely disclosed as such.

Older sixes, especially anything from before the mid-2000s, were often estimated by eye rather than any camera-based system. Even modern ball-tracking varies by broadcaster. That’s why independent reviews — most notably ESPNcricinfo’s Cricket Monthly piece “The longest shot” — have gone back and re-measured famous hits against satellite imagery and stadium dimensions, and found that some of cricket’s most repeated numbers, Afridi’s 153m chief among them, don’t hold up.

How This List Was Cross-Checked

No single source publishes a verified “biggest six” leaderboard, so the ranking above is built by cross-referencing distances that appear consistently across multiple independent trackers, then flagging any figure that a credible outlet has specifically challenged. Afridi’s 153m and Lee’s 143m both clear that bar for “widely and consistently reported,” even though the underlying measurement itself is shaky — which is exactly why both carry a dispute note rather than being presented as settled fact.

Active in 2026: Who’s Chasing the Record

The record at the very top hasn’t moved in years — Afridi’s disputed 153m and Lee’s 143m both date to the mid-2000s and 2013. But today’s power hitters keep the conversation alive. Tim David’s 129m in Hobart (2025) and Shivam Dube’s 117m in the same series are the two biggest broadcast-tracked distances from the last two years. Hardik Pandya’s 109m six against Namibia was the standout blow of the 2026 T20 World Cup so far. With white-ball bats and training now built specifically around bat speed, it’s plausible a modern hitter eventually produces a distance that survives closer scrutiny than the sport’s older, shakier legends.

For the volume side of six-hitting rather than single-shot distance, see our full breakdown of most sixes in international cricket, or browse more cricket records and stats on SportsMonkie.