A new ‘cricket-themed fun bar’ which combines food, drink and a spell in the nets facing a high-tech bowling machine, is to open in Bristol next week.
Sixes has been a hit in London and the South East, and has even opened in the US, but now comes to the home of WG Grace with a new bar and restaurant on the first floor of Bordeaux Quay on the harbourside – above Coyote Ugly.
The new bar, the first of its kind in Bristol, will open for the first ball to be faced, and cider to be poured, on Friday, October 11, with bookings being taken for sessions in the nets already.
Since launching as the nation emerged from the Covid lockdown, the idea has been a success, with seven Sixes Cricket Bars opening up in London, more in Guildford, Southampton, Brighton, Oxford, Manchester, Birmingham and Leicester and this year two more in Dallas and Trinidad.
The concept takes a regular bar but with the inclusion of cricket nets, bowling machines and ‘a hilarious batting challenge, powered by world class sports technology that tests hand eye skill, upper body reflexes, power and speed’, according to the founders, two Scottish entrepreneurs called Callum and Andy.
“Guests cheer from the side of the nets whilst enjoying craft cocktails, beers, epic beats and delicious shareable plates, whilst keeping their eyes firmly on the scoreboards,” a spokesperson for Sixes explained.
Sixes is pitched at groups and children’s parties in the daytime, with people booking time in the nets depending on how many are in each party. That ranges from half an hour for a group of two or three people, to an hour or 90 minutes for larger groups. It generally costs £15.50 a person, and there are different ‘game modes’: ‘World Cup’, ‘Hundred’, or ‘T20’, which mix up formats – but the idea is still the same, you face a virtual reality bowling machine with a bat in hand and try to score as many ‘runs’ as possible, without actually having to run.
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