Halifax cricketer speaks of the the now infamous shot which saw him smash his own car window faces £200 bill

Asif Ali, 38, was playing in an amateur side cup quarter-final yesterday (June 20) afternoon when he unleashed a beastly shot high up into the sky through square leg.

The taxi driver went from ecstasy to agony in a matter of seconds and could only look on in horror as the ball came down through the back window of his Vauxhall Zafira.

The dad-of-two from Halifax said: "I drive for work so I obviously can't do that at the moment.

"I'm trying to get it fixed as quickly as possible so that I can get back to it but no one has been able to come out yet.

"Hopefully it will get fixed today or tomorrow. I've spoken to a few places and it will cost about £200 for a new one."

Asif has also spoken briefly about the lead up to the match and the shot itself.

He said: "When I parked there before the game I thought it was a good place.

"I never even imagined I might end up getting hit with a shot - let alone my own."

Asif, who has been playing cricket for 15 years, added: "The shot felt great coming off my bat, I knew it was going to a big one.

"But as I saw it going towards the cars I said 'no, no, no'.

"I realised quite quickly that it was going to either my car or a white Mercedes next to me.

"Then the ball just smashed through the windscreen - I couldn't believe it.

"After that, it was really hard to focus on the game because I was thinking, 'what have I done? I've done it to my own car?' "I was in shock."

Asif lives in Halifax with his wife and two sons, who were watching a live stream of the game online.

He said: "My wife and children said to me, 'what are you doing? You've smashed your own car'.

"They couldn't believe what I had done."

Despite losing the game and being left out of pocket, Asif said he could see the funny side.

He added: "I understand why people like the video, it's not something you see every day."

His teammates and opposition burst into laughter as a loud smashing sound rings out and the entire pane of glass breaks into smithereens.

Asif can be seen with his head in his hands before dropping to his knees as it dawns on him what has happened.

A joker in the crowd then calls out: "Asif, please can we have your keys so that we can open your car and get the ball back?"

The incident happened during a Halifax Cricket League shield quarter-final between Asif's side, Illingworth St Mary's Cricket Club, and Sowerby's St Peter's.

Despite the ordeal, Asif finished on 43 not out, although his side ultimately fell to a seven-wicket defeat.

Illingworth St Mary's club chairman Jeremy Rhodes said: "We were going along quite nicely when Asif came into bat at six or seven.

"He's a regular big hitter and when he connects it goes a long way.

"The bowler dropped one short and he hit it through square leg very hard and high.

"I think he knew the moment it left his bat, his head was in his hands.

"The ball smashed right through the rear windscreen - that's how much of a hard hitter Asif is.

"Asif is a great guy, we all love him here at the club and he contributes a lot.

"The poor lad was devastated but he carried on like a pro.

"There was quite a big crowd in and the response was a combination of laughter and stunned silence."

Jeremy added: "I moved my car shortly afterwards about 150 yards away from Asif so he couldn't reach me."

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