I thought I would never hold a cricket bat in anger again, but the Sixes experience in Brighton has made me think again

That day, at Clayton & Belgrave Adelaide CC, I was captain of Three Bridges 3rd XI and I got a duck and we were bowled out for just 79 on the way to a three-wicket defeat.

Since then I have been happily umpiring in the Sussex Cricket League and - when it’s not raining - watching cricket from the best seat in the house.

So when I accepted an invitation from Sixes social cricket in Brighton, there was a little bit of trepidation.

Can I still hold the bat properly? Have I still got that hand-eye coordination that saw me to an average of 9.64 in my final season?! Am I going to get a lower score than my 15-year-old son and my wife Amanda?

Sixes is something I had seen ok TikTok and always fancied having a go at, but I had never found the time - and maybe the fear was holding me back.

But on Bank Holiday Monday, I booked us in for a session at the Brighton venue, which is located underneath the i360 tower.

Sixes is a social cricket venue where you can drink (responsibly, of course), eat and have a lot of fun hitting a ball.

It’s a batting challenge, powered by world class sports technology that tests hand eye skill, upper body reflexes, power and speed. Guests can cheer from the side of the nets whilst enjoying craft cocktails, beers, music and delicious shareable plates whilst keeping their eyes firmly on the scoreboards.

We had eight overs each to face in 45 minutes. When you enter the batting cage you are faced with a big screen, with a hole at the top for where the ball appears, which is surrounded by ‘targets’ which you have to hit. There are 3s, 4s and sixes to go four. And basically you have to hit as many runs as you want.

The ‘bowler’ can be set at five different levels - beginner, amateur, club, professional and world class.

I started at ‘beginner’ to see what it was like and the first ball came out at just 34mph, and I completely missed it as it was so slow (take a look at my effort in the video above).

After that first over, I upped the level so the ball would come a bit quicker and I soon got into my stride, hitting runs for fun. I ended with 133 from my 48 balls.

Noah batted very well but fell short of his century on 96 (although he was ‘out’ twice). Amanda got an impressive 83 for the loss of just one wicket and hit two lovely sixes.

What impressed me about the batting experience was that it wasn;t just the same ball each time. When I went up to World Class level, I faced one ball that turned away from me like it was Shane Warne bowling at me, the next it turned into me like Murali was bowling!

It was a real test but I felt like I passed it with flying colours and made me think ‘is it time to come out of cricketing retirement and wield that bat once again’.

To be fair, if every innings I played ended with a lovely chicken burger and salty fries, just like it did here at Sixes, I would be back in a second.

The food selection, along with the cocktail choice, was plenty. Noah went for a BBQ chicken pizza and Amanda went for the veggie burger. The food was good, but for me it was all about the cricketing experience.

I never thought I would fancy playing a competitive game of cricket again, but Sixes has whetted my appetite. Who knows, next season you could see me averaging 9.64 again!

You can find out more about Sixes at https://sixescricket.com/