After a 2015 that saw him clear the New Stand at Trent Bridge – and land one on the roof of the Gabba – Dan Christian is on the lookout for his next big-hitting target.
The 32-year-old Australian international hit the Big Bash headlines in December by launching a 117-metre maximum in Brisbane, the biggest hit of the tournament so far.
While the Australian media, not to mention the non-striker Darren Sammy, were left open mouthed in amazement, supporters that saw Christian whack one over the New Stand during the Royal London One-Day Cup match against Kent back in August will have been less surprised.
Christian played down his clean striking feat at Trent Bridge, but admitted that hoisting one out of the Gabba, en-route to a rapid and ultimately match-winning half-century, was a special moment.
“It was a bit of a fluke to be fair,” he said. “It was that time of the innings; I’d been in for a while, I was seeing the ball okay and I had the pace of the wicket.
“I swung as hard as I could, was lucky enough to get it out of the middle and it went a little bit further than I was expecting. It was a pretty good feeling and pretty funny.
“I knew I’d got it pretty cleanly as I watched it go up. I looked up at Darren Sammy, who was laughing and looking pretty excited.
“Then I realised it had gone on or over the roof. That’s when I was most surprised.
“The pitch when I did it at Trent Bridge was pretty close to the New Stand,” Christian continued.
“It was obviously a decent hit but I’m not going to take too much from that one.
“I just tried to get it over backward square-leg for four or six. I wasn’t trying to hit it as far as I did. It is just luck of the draw I suppose.
“I’ve not got any other hits in my sights really. I’ll just keep striking the ball and see how far it goes.”
As an all-rounder, Christian spends half his time in the middle aiming to prevent sixes rather than strike them. He is, however, in no doubt that T20 cricket is a batsman’s game.
“One of the big things about T20 is that people are there to see plenty of sixes and lots of runs,” he said.
“It’s one of the things I think about when I bowl as well. You’re obviously there to do your best and to go for as few runs as possible.
“But, at the end of the day, people are there to see sixes and unfortunately it’s just going to happen.”
The 2015 season saw dramatic last-gasp four day victories, thrilling limited-overs contests and an historic Investec Ashes Test, all in the unique surroundings of Trent Bridge.
Next season, we’d wager, will be no less enthralling and frankly we’d hate for you to miss out.