SAM Johnston is “Slammer” by nickname at Strathdale-Maristians and so too by nature with the bat.

Over the past five seasons, plus the first 10 rounds of this season, no player has “slammed” more sixes in the Bendigo District Cricket Association than Suns’ all-rounder Johnston.

Excluding Twenty20 games and based off MyCricket information, Johnston has clubbed 63 sixes for the Suns throughout the 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19 BDCA seasons.

Johnston is one of four players in the competition to have smacked more than 50 sixes through the time period.

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And it would seem that regularly playing on the small confines of Bell Oval is a common theme among the BDCA’s most prolific players to clear the boundary.

The four players to have hit at least 50 sixes since 2013-14 include three from Strathdale-Maristians – Johnston, skipper Ben DeAraugo (62) and Adrian Pappin (55).

The other is the competition’s premier batsman, Golden Square skipper Ben Gunn, who has blasted 57 sixes since 2013-14.

Gunn leads the BDCA for sixes this season with 18 – eight of which came when he cracked 155 n.o. off just 101 balls in Square’s one-day win over the Suns at Wade Street in round seven.

Gunn was the competition’s leading six-hitter in 2016-17 – his last season at Bendigo United – with 16.

Along with Gunn, Pappin (13), Johnston (12), Strathdale’s Jack Neylon (12) and Bendigo United’s Tyson Templeton (12) have all hit at least a dozen sixes so far this season.

Eight of Templeton’s 12 sixes came at Bell Oval – there’s that ground again – when he belted 116 n.o. off 109 balls against the Suns in round four.

Gunn and Templeton are among five players, along with Sandhurst’s Shasheen Fernando, Golden Square’s Grant Connelly and Kangaroo Flat’s Dylan Klemm, who have hit at least four sixes in an innings against Strathdale this season.

Since 2013-14, only one player has hit more than 20 sixes in a season – Sandhurst’s explosive Ash Gray.

Gray plundered 25 sixes for the Dragons last season, which included a game-breaking five in his unbeaten 57 in the grand final victory over Strathdale-Maristians.

According to MyCricket, there have been 1471 sixes hit in the BDCA season-proper since 2013-14 by 182 players – 22 of whom have at least 20.

Sam Johnston – 63

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Ben DeAraugo – 62

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Ben Gunn – 57

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Adrian Pappin – 55

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Ash Gray – 39

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Ollie Geary – 37

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Jack Neylon – 35

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Jacob DeAraugo – 34

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Josh Collinson – 34

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Tim Wood – 31

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Miggy Podosky – 28

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Grant Connelly – 26

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Heath Behrens – 26

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Leigh McDermott – 26

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Scott Trollope – 26

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Craig Howard – 24

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Linton Jacobs – 24

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Alex Pearson – 22

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Adam Ward – 20

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Andrew Smith – 20

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Kyle Humphrys – 20

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Jeremy Brown – 19

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Shaun Knott – 19

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Zane Keighran – 19

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Brayden Stepien – 18

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Cameron Taylor – 18

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Nayana

Palamandadidge – 18

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Ben DeAraugo – 17

Adrian Pappin – 16

Brayden Stepien – 14

Matt Pinniger – 13

Adrian Pappin – 18

Miggy Podosky – 12

Ben DeAraugo – 10

Nick Baker – 10

Ben DeAraugo – 16

Jacob DeAraugo – 12

Leigh McDermott  – 12

Shaun Knott – 11

Ben Gunn – 16

Sam Johnston – 15

Clayton Holmes – 14

Andrew Smith – 12

Ash Gray – 25

Sam Johnston – 19

Jeremy Brown – 19

Nayana 

Palamandadidge – 18

Ben Gunn – 18

Adrian Pappin – 13

Sam Johnston – 12

Jack Neylon – 12

Tyson Templeton – 12

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8 – Ben Gunn (Golden Square) v Strathdale, 155 n.o.

8 – Tyson Templeton (Bendigo United) v Strathdale, 116 n.o.

7 – Adrian Pappin (Strathdale) v Bendigo United, 87

6 – Dylan Klemm (Kangaroo Flat) v Strathdale, 103

5 – Ollie Geary (White Hills) v Bendigo United, 106

5 – Grant Connelly (Golden Square) v Strathdale, 81

5 – Sam Johnston (Strathdale) v Sandhurst, 63 n.o.

5 – Adrian Pappin (Strathdale) v Kangaroo Flat, 43 n.o.

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