The legal battle over an old village forge next to a cricket pitch led High Court judge Beverley Lang to ask the question.
She was hearing a case where East Meon Forge and Cricket Ground Protection Association was challenging East Hampshire District Council's decision to grant planning permission for an extension with a residential first floor over the single-storey former blacksmith's workshop.
The baffled judge, sitting at London's High Court, said: "I don't play cricket - what does that mean?"
Fookes explained that sixes were scored in cricket when the ball was hit over the boundary without hitting the ground, while fours "bounced along the ground" before crossing the boundary line, the Belfast Telegraph reported.
Justice Lang made no further comment on the game and the court turned to consider the dimensions of the controversial development in East Meon, which is in the South Downs National Park.
The judge was educated at Wycombe Abbey School and Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, where she is an honorary fellow. She has been a High Court judge since 2011.