When a youngster picks up the bat or ball to play cricket for the first time, he or she often dreams of one day making it pro and representing the country, winning matches for their team. The dream would also be to become a part of the history books, by capturing a record that will be indelible against the test of time.
In today’s fast-paced game with so much cricket being played worldwide, no record seems safe as there is always a competitor who would want to one up and usurp a record. Nevertheless, there are some records that we believe would stand the test of time and might never be beaten. Here are five cricket records that might never be broken.
- Most Test wickets – Muttiah Muralitharan
Picking just a single Test wicket is often a cause for celebration, but the wily off-spinner from Sri Lanka managed to pick 800 of them. He ended his career with a Test average of 22.72 and 67 five-wicket hauls. The longevity and quality of his Test career might never really be surpassed, all the more so with fewer Tests being played today and players being rested for workload management.
2. Highest batting average – Sir Don Bradman
It seems almost mythical since most have probably never seen him in the flesh, but Sir Don Bradman was truly a cut above the rest in his generation. In a career that spanned 20 years (which included the World War years), he played 52 Tests and scored a whopping 29 hundreds, which included 12 doubles. He retired with a staggering average of 99.94, which would have gotten even better had he not scored a duck in his final Test innings.
3. Lowest ODI Economy Rate – Phil Simmons
He is now known for his coaching, but Phil Simmons was once a marauding fast bowler for the West Indies who achieved God-like figures on a December night in an ODI in Sydney against Pakistan. Defending a target of 215, Phil Simmons opened the bowling and finished his quota of 10 overs, conceding just 3 runs and picking up 4 wickets. He bowled a staggering 8 maidens and ended with an economy rate of 0.30.
4. Shortest ever Test match – Australia vs South Africa
In 1932, South Africa traveled to Melbourne and played against Australia in a Test match that lasted a grand total of 1 day. On a ragged pitch, South Africa managed 36 and 45 in their first and second innings respectively, and suffered innings defeat to Australia, who scored 153 in their only essay. The whole Test match ended in 5 hours and 53 minutes. Today, games are likely to be called off if the pitch is spitting such demons.
5. Highest individual Test score – Brian Lara
With Tests in today’s day and age getting more and more skewed towards home advantage and playing to a result, it is difficult to imagine that not very long ago a certain Brian Lara managed to score 400* against England.
On a fairly docile batting surface in Antigua, Brian Lara walked out to bat at 33/1 and just played and played and played. The collective might of Andrew Flintoff, Steve Harmisson, Matthew Hoggard, and Simon Jones couldn’t stop him as Lara toyed with the English bowlers.
In an innings decorated with 43 fours and 4 sixes, Brian Charles Lara managed to etch himself in the history books with an individual score that is unlikely to be ever overtaken in Test cricket.
