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Celebrating Test cricket's history with interesting facts

The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians' David Kendix has compiled the following factoids on the history of Test cricket, as it turns 2000 this coming week.

  1. 1,959,654 runs have been scored in Test cricket for the loss of 61,175 wickets, so that?s an average of 32 runs per wicket.

  2. 3,450 centuries have been scored but also 7,554 ducks.

  3. Of the wickets lost, 58% have been caught (39% by a fielder, 16% by the keeper and 3% by the bowler), 22% bowled, 14% lbw, 4% run out and 2% stumped.

  4. More unusually, 152 batsmen have been out hit wicket, seven handled the ball, one obstructed the field and two chose to retire out (in the same innings having already scored big centuries).

  5. 11 teams have played Test cricket, ten countries plus the ICC World XI who played one Test against Australia in 2005.

  6. Australia is easily the most successful team having won 78% more matches then they have lost (won 341, lost 192). The only other countries in credit are England 23%, Pakistan 8% and South Africa 1%.

  7. The countries with the highest proportion of draws are India (45%) and Pakistan (42%), including 64% of all matches between them.

  8. England has played in nearly half of all Tests (911) and Australia in 730. West Indies (473) and India (451) come next.

  9. Nearly a sixth of all Tests have been England v Australia (326 matches). The only other contests in three figures are England v West Indies (145), England v South Africa (138), Australia v West Indies (108) and now the 100th Test between England and India.

  10. 1299 Tests have been won, 698 drawn and 2 tied. Of the matches won, 347 have been by an innings, 443 by runs, 508 by wickets and 1 was forfeited.

  11. The 500th Test was in 1960, the 1000th in 1984 and the 1500th in 2000. So the first 500 Tests took 83 years, the next 24 years, then 16 years, and the last 500 only 11 years.

  12. Two Tests lasted only one day, both West Indies v England, abandoned because of unfit playing conditions. But a further 19 Tests have been over in just 2 days.

  13. By contrast, 6 Tests lasted 7 days, one was 8 days long, one was 9 days and one lasted 10 days (yet still finished as a draw).

  14. Twice there have been four Tests played on the same day, on 21 March 1998 in Calcutta, Cape Town, Antigua and Harare and on 11 March 2001 in Kandy, Auckland, Georgetown and Calcutta.

  15. Tests have been played on all 366 days of year, the most popular being 3 January with 108 Tests, followed by 4 January (105), 2 January (103), 27 December (81) and 26 December (80) 16. The least popular dates for Test cricket are 9 May, 10 May and 5 September with only three Tests ever having taken place on each of these days 17. On four dates in 1930, 13 January and 21, 22 and 24 February, England played two Tests simultaneously with one team in the West Indies and the other in New Zealand.

  16. In the last 1000 Tests, the team winning the toss went on to win the match 339 times but went on to lose the match 342 times.

  17. There have been 2,631 Test cricketers including 650 for England, 419 for Australia and 309 for South Africa. 14 have played for two countries and 11 for their country and the ICC World XI.

  18. Tests have been played on 106 venues across 11 countries (including UAE). India has used 21 venues, Pakistan 17, West Indies 12, South Africa 11, England 10 and Australia 9.