Sydney | 1st December 2019

Ever since England opener Andy Sandham stroked his way to 325 (640 balls, 28 fours) against the West Indies in the 4th Test of 1930 at Sabina Park, it has been a dream for batsman to crown their career by achieving a triple century in test cricket. It took 53 long years since the birth of test cricket for Sandham to break the 300 run mark for the first time as he helped England make 849 runs in a match that was ultimately drawn.

Flood gates open between the wars

In the following decade leading to the outbreak of World War II in 1939, the flood gates were opened as the triple ton mark was reached four more times by several greats of the game.

Sir Don Bradman reached this feat twice. He scored 309 in a day (see photo) during his epic 334 in 1930 in the Ashes series against England. Bradman then scored 304 in 1934 in the Ashes battle with England.

Wally Hammond took over Bradman's record when he scored 336 out of England’s 548-7 declared as they had the upper hand in a draw with New Zealand at Eden Park in 1933.

This golden period of triple centuries was brought to a conclusion with a monumental knock by 22-year old Len Hutton against Australia in 1938 at the Oval. His 364 took a massive 847 balls and contained 35 fours.

England went onto win by an innings and 579 runs after they eventually declared at 903-7, a record that stood until 1997 when Sri Lanka bettered it with a massive 952-6. During this record breaking total against India, Sanath Jayasuriya became the first ever Sri Lankan to make a triple century with 340 which contained 36 fours and two sixers.

Hutton’s record stood for twenty years until Sir Gary Sobers made 365 not out as the West Indies made 790-3 to win by an innings against Pakistan in 1958 at Sabina Park. 36 years later, Sobers was at the ground when Brian Lara moved past his record when he smashed 375 not out against England in the 5th Test at Antigua in 1994.

Lara regains record from Hayden

Australian opener Matt Hayden took the record off Lara when he compiled 380 against Zimbabwe in 2003 at Perth as the visitors were crushed by an innings and 175 runs.

Just 6 months later, Brian Lara regained the record when he became the first ever batsman to cross the quadruple century mark with his epic 400 not out against England at Antigua in 2004.

Since this high watermark of scoring, there has been a spate of triple tons but none have gone past Lara’s record. The closest attempt was when Mahela Jayawardena made 374 against South Africa before he was bowled by Andrew Nel during the 1st Test at the SSC in Colombo in 2006.

Indian opener Virendra Sehwag made 309 against Pakistan in 2004 and 319 against South Africa in 2008 to join Bradman and Lara as the only batsmen to score more than one triple ton. Sehwag’s knock against South Africa is also the fastest recorded triple ton when he achieved this feat in 278 balls.

West Indian opener Chris Gayle scored 317 against South Africa in 2005 at Antigua. The next batsman to score a test triple ton was Pakistani captain Younis Khan when he complied 313 against Sri Lanka at the National Stadium in 2009.

Recent triple tons

Michael Clarke scored an unbeaten 329 to wipe out India by an innings in the 2nd Test at the SCG in Jan 2012.

A maiden triple ton was scored by Hashim Amla in the first test against England at the Oval. Amla's 311 not out made him the first ever South African to score a triple ton.

The next triple century was posted by Kumar Sangakkara against minnows, Bangladesh in Feb 2014. This made him the 3rd triple centurion from Sri Lanka, joining Sanath Jayasuriya and Mahela Jayawardena.

Brendon McCullum batted 13 hours to save New Zealand against India in the 2nd Test in Wellington (Feb 2014) - during this innings, he also became the first ever Kiwi to score a triple ton. McCullum's 302 surpassed Martin Crowe's 299 - compiled at the same ground in 1991.

Pakistani opener Azhar Ali struck 302 not out in the first Test against the West Indies in Oct 2016. Azhar became the fourth Pakistani to gain this honour after Hanif Mohammad, Inzaman Ul Haq and Younis Khan.

In Dec 2016, Karun Nair became the second Indian batsman to score a test triple hundred (303 not out) as India scored a massive 759 for seven against England at Chennai in the 5th Test. It was Nair's maiden test ton.

David Warner smashed an epic triple century (335 not out from 418 balls) before Australia declared their first innings on 589-3 against Pakistan at Adelaide in Nov 2019.

 

Legends who didn't score a triple ton

Amongst the many greats of the game that did not record a triple are:

• Sachin Tendulkar (Highest score 248 not out)
• Ricky Ponting (Highest score of 257)
• Rahul Dravid (Highest score 270)
• Allan Border (Highest score 205)

Suprisingly, none of the top 5 run scorers in Test cricket (Tendulkar, Ponting, Kallis, Dravid and Cook) made a triple century.

Watch the triple ton makers in action - the Full List

The full list of players who have scored triple tons in test cricket is shown below in order of their score.

1. Brian C Lara (West Indies) 400 not out: on 10/04/2004 vs England at Antigua Rec Ground
2. Matt L Hayden ( Australia) 380: on 09/10/2003 vs Zimbabwe at W.A.C.A. Ground, Perth
3. Brian C Lara (West Indies) 375: on 16/04/1994 vs England at Antigua Rec Ground
4. Mahela Jayawardene (Sri Lanka) 374: on 27/07/2006 vs South Africa at SSC, Colombo
5. Sir Gary Sobers ( West Indies) 365 not out: on 26/02/1958 vs Pakistan at Sabina Park
6. Sir Len Hutton (England) 364: on 20/08/1938 vs Australia at The Oval
7. Sanath T Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka) 340: on 02/08/1997 vs India at R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
8. Hanif Mohammad (Pakistan) 337: on 17/01/1958 vs West Indies Kensington Oval, Barbados
9. Wally R Hammond (England) 336 not out: on 31/03/1933 vs New Zealand at Eden Park
10. David Warner (Australia) 335 not out: on 30/11.2019 vs Pakistan at Adelaide Oval.
11. Sir Don Bradman (Australia) 334: on 11/07/1930 vs England at Headingley
12. Mark A Taylor (Australia) 334: on 15/10/1998 vs Pakistan at Arbab Niaz Stadium
13. Chris Gayle (West Indies) 333: on 15/11/2010 vs Sri Lanka at Galle
14. Graham Gooch (England) 333: on 26/07/1990 vs India at Lord's
15. Michael Clarke (Australia) 329 not out: on 5/1/2012 v India at SCG
16. Inzamam-ul-Haq (Pakistan) 329: on 01/05/2002 vs New Zealand at Gaddafi Stadium
17. Andy Sandham (England) 325: on 03/04/1930 vs West Indies at Sabina Park
18. Virendra Sehwag (India) 319: on 26/03/2008 vs South Africa at Chidambaram Stadium
19. Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka) 319: on 4/2/2014 vs Bangladesh at Chittagong
20. Chris H Gayle (West Indies) 317: on 29/04/2005 vs South Africa at Antigua Rec Ground
21. Younis Khan (Pakistan) 313: on 21/02/2009 vs Sri Lanka at National Stadium
22. Hashim Amla (South Africa) 311 not out on 21/07/12 v England at the Oval
23. Bob Simpson (Australia) 311: on 23/07/1964 vs England at Old Trafford, Manchster
24. John H Edrich (England) 310: on 08/07/1965 vs New Zealand at Headingley, Leeds
25. Virendra Sehwag (India) 309: on 28/03/2004 vs Pakistan at Multan Cricket Stadium
26. Bob Cowper (Australia) 307: on 11/02/1966 vs England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
27. Sir Don Bradman (Australia) 304: on 20/07/1934 vs England at Headingley, Leeds
28. Karun Nair (India) 303 not out: on 19/12/2016 vs England at Chennai.
29. Lawrence G Rowe (West Indies ) 302: on 06/03/1974 vs England at Kensington Oval, Barbados.
30. Brendon McCullum (New Zealand) 302: on 17/02/2014 vs India, Wellington.
31. Azhar Ali (Pakistan) 302 not out: on 14/10/2016 vs West Indies at Dubai.

 

Source: CricketCrowd Staff Reporter

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