Taking a high catch is no mean feat. During the day, the sun can play spoilsport and block your view, and at night, it can be the floodlights. So if you’re not positioned correctly or don’t look up for the ball till the last moment, it’s easy to miss the ball. During matches, fielders consider wicketkeeper to be the safest best for catches within the 30-yard circle for good reason.
Australian women’s team wicketkeeper Alyssa Healy entered the Guinness World Records by taking a catch as high as 82.5 metre at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). The ball was dropped by a drone, and Alyssa took the catch in her third and final attempt.
She explained how tough it was to catch the ball being dropped by a drone and not hit by a batter. She told cricket.com.au:
“After I didn’t get a hand on the first practice and then the next one went straight through my gloves there was cause for concern. You don’t get the cue from the ball going up in the air off the bat and it was swinging a lot on the way down because it just gets dropped.”
The 28-year-old was ecstatic after breaking the previous record held by Englishman Kristan Baumgartener, who caught the ball dropped from 62 metres in 2016. Talking about who was around to cheer her on, Healy explained why her husband Australian fast bowler Mitchell Starc wasn’t invited:
“As you can tell in the video, it was pure elation to get it, I didn’t want everyone to come and not get the record so when I’d secured it in the gloves I carried on like a bit of a pork chop but overjoyed to break the record.”
ALSO READ: Internet Can’t Stop Raving About 4-Year-Old Odisha Girl Who Hits The Ball ‘Like’ MS Dhoni
ALSO WATCH:
