10 Cricketers who batted on all five days of a Test match

Test cricket is a game of patience. A batsman has a near unlimited time to get set and play each ball on its merit. It's a battle between ball and bat that's not defined by the number of deliveries.

However, despite this -- and especially in the modern game, batsmen have struggled to stay at the crease as conditions and lapses in concentration lead to a loss of their wicket. In fact, in 142 years of Test cricket, there have been only 10 batsmen who have batted on all five days of the same Test match across two innings. This usually involves a batsman fighting off the opposition bowling while wickets fall around him.

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#1 ML Jaisimha

The Indian batsman was the first in Test cricket to bat on all five days of the same Test match. He did this against a touring Australian team in 1960 at Kolkata.

Australia were 2-1 up in the five-match Test series against India, after beating the hosts at Delhi in the first Test, losing the second in Kanpur, drawing the third in Mumbai and once again beating the hosts in Chennai. The fifth Test ended in a draw and Australia clinched the series by a margin of 2-1.

He batted at No 9 in India's first innings and came in to bat at the end of day 1. He resumed his innings on day 2 and ended 20 not out.

He started his second innings at the end of the third day and batted right through the fourth day and was finally dismissed on day 5 after he scored 74. The Australian bowlers found it difficult to get Jaisimha out on the fourth day as he negotiated the bowling patiently.

He played 39 Tests for India from 1959 to 1971 and scored 2056 runs with three hundreds and 12 half centuries.

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#2. Geoffrey Boycott

Boycott became the second batsman in the history of Test cricket to bat all five days while making a comeback to the English team after a period of three years of self-imposed exile. The comeback match, in 1977, at Trent Bridge was special as it was the third Ashes Test of the English summer.

England were 1-0 up after the conclusion of the first two Tests and they had beaten Australia by a margin of 9 wickets at Manchester. The English public and the media were looking forward to Boycott's comeback and he did not disappoint.

Australia were bowled out for 243 in their first innings and Boycott came in to bat at the end of the first day's play and batted right through the second day and was dismissed on the third day. He scored a patient 107 of 315 balls. He added 215 runs with Alan Knott for the sixth wicket.

The Australian bowlers namely Jeff Thompson, Len Pascoe, Kerry O'Keeffe and Max Walker could not get through the defense of Boycott and he frustrated the Australian bowlers. Australia scored 309 in their second innings and England were left to chase a target of 189 late on day 4.

Boycott started his second innings at the end of the fourth day after Australia were bowled out in their second innings and continued to bat on day 5 and scored a match-winning unbeaten 80 of 231 balls to help England gain a 2-0 lead. He added 154 runs with his fellow opener Mike Brearley.

Boycott batted for 546 balls across 5 days and scored 187 runs, exhausting all the Australian bowlers and led England to a famous win.

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#3. Kim Hughes

A centenary Test match was played between England and Australia in 1980 at Lord's to commemorate the first Test match in England at the Oval in 1880. Australia toured England for a solitary Test and it was Kim Hughes' turn to replicate Boycott's the marathon performance.

Though the Test ended in a draw, the Australian No 4 dominated the Test from the word go. Batting first, Australia scored 385 runs for the loss of 5 wickets and then declared the innings. Batting at No 4, Hughes batted through the first two days and got dismissed on the third day. He scored 117 runs in his first innings. The second day of the Test was affected due to rain and Hughes scored only 35 runs on the second day to add to 47 on the first day.

England were bowled out for 205 in their first innings and Hughes once again resumed batting on day 4 when he scored 38 runs and then continued into day 5 for a total of 84 runs in his second innings. He added 111 runs with Greg Chappell in the second innings.

The match ended in a draw, but Hughes also earned the distinction of being the only batsman in the history of Test cricket to hit a six on all five days of the same Test.

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#4. Allan Lamb

West Indies were almost invincible in Test cricket in the year 1984 and the Test series against England in England that year was an anticipated one. The first Test at Birmingham was a reminder for the hosts as to what lay in store for them for the remaining of the summer as the visitors thrashed them by an innings and 180 runs.

The action shifted to Lord's, where once again the visitors dominated the Test and the hosts were beaten by nine wickets. However, Allam Lamb entered the record books as the second Englishman and only the fourth batsman to bat on all five days of a Test.

England ended day 1 on 167 for the loss of 2 wickets and Lamb scored 13 of those. He came in to bat at No 4 after the wickets of Chris Broad and David Gower. Lamb added 10 more runs to his tally on day 2 before being dismissed for 23 by Malcolm Marshall and England were bundled out for 286. West Indies, though, only scored 245 in reply.

Lamb was unbeaten on 30 at the end of day 3 in his second innings, and unbeaten on 109 at the end of day 4 and was finally dismissed on day 5 after scoring 110 runs of 260 balls. He played the likes of Joel Garner, Milton Small, Marshall, Eldine Baptiste and Roger Harper with relative ease on days 3 and 4 and batted without any discomfort. He added 128 runs with Ian Botham and helped England post 300 for the loss of 9 wickets in the third innings before the declaration was made.

However, West Indies were still able to win the Test by 9 wickets as Gordon Greenidge scored an unbeaten 214 off just 242 balls in the fourth innings to lead West Indies to a famous win. West Indies won the five-match series 5-0.

Also read – Ashes Most matches played

#5. Ravi Shastri

The current Indian coach became the second Indian player to bat on all five days of a Test in 1984. Shastri scored 111 in his first innings and 7 not out in the second. The Test was against England at Kolkata in 1984.

The five-match Test series was delicately poised with both teams winning a Test each. India won the first Test at Mumbai by a margin of eight wickets and England came back strongly in the second Test at Delhi to win by the same margin of eight wickets.

The third Test was at Kolkata and was largely affected by rain and bad light. Batting first, India scored 437 runs for the loss of 7 wickets in 200 overs. The innings was played across the first four days. Shastri ended day 1 on 26, could not open his account on day 2, scored another 82 on day 3 and was finally dismissed on 111 on the fourth day. He added 214 runs with Mohammad Azharuddin and guided India to a score of 437 for 7 when they declared the innings on day 4.

England were bowled out for 276 runs in their first innings and India had 18 overs to negotiate on the fifth day. Shastri opened the batting in India's second innings on day 5 and scored an unbeaten 7 of 50 balls.

The two teams would play at Chennai and Kanpur next -- England winning the first and the series by a margin of 2-1 with the Kanpur Test ending in a draw.

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#6. Adrian Griffith

West Indies were way past their prime in 1999 and were expected to struggle in the two-match Test series against hosts New Zealand.

West Indies got off to a blazing start in the first Test as the openers added 276 runs in 89.1 overs at Hamilton. A tall left-handed opener, Griffith scored 114 while his opening partner Sherwin Campbell scored 170. He was dismissed on the second day of the Test. Despite the start provided by the openers, West Indies were bundled out for just 365 in their first innings. New Zealand would score 393 as a reply in their first innings.

The West Indies openers came in to bat at the end of day 3 and Griffith survived the solitary over. The fourth day was affected by rain and only 29.1 overs were bowled and Griffith ended the day unbeaten on 14. He was dismissed on 18 by Chris Cairns on day 5 and West Indies were bowled out for 97 in the third innings. New Zealand won the Test by 9 wickets and subsequently the series by a margin of 2-0.

Griffith scored 638 runs in 14 Tests from the year 1997 to 2000.

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#7 Andrew Flintoff

The Test series between India and England in India in 2006 saw some exciting cricket being played by both sides. The first Test in Nagpur ended in a high-scoring draw and attention shifted to Mohali for the second Test.

Batting first, England scored 300 with Flintoff scoring 70 runs. He scored four runs on day 1, 22 runs on a rain-affected day 2 and 44 on the third day. He added 103 runs with keeper-batsman Geraint Jones and led England to a respectable total. India would reply with 338 runs in their first innings.

Flintoff would then score another half-century in England's second innings -- 16 runs on day 4 and 35 on day 5. England would lose the Mohali Test, but came back strongly to beat India in Mumbai and draw the series 1-1.

Also read – Ashes AUS vs ENG head to head

#8. Alviro Petersen

South Africa had a successful tour of New Zealand in 2012. They won the T20 series against the hosts 2-1 and thereafter whitewashed the hosts in the three-match ODI series.

The focus shifted to the three-match Test series. After the first two Tests, South Africa held a lead of 1-0 over the hosts. The first Test at Dunedin ended in a draw and South Africa thrashed New Zealand by 9 wickets in the second Test at Hamilton.

The third Test at Wellington was the final chance for the hosts to beat the visiting South Africans. However, it was not to be. The first two days of the Tests had rain interruptions and South African opener Alviro Peterson would bat on all five days.

Peterson scored 44 runs of 136 runs scored on day 1 before rain stopped play. Only 110 runs were scored on a rain-interrupted day 2 and Peterson was unbeaten on 96 at the end of the day. He was subsequently dismissed on 156 on day 3 by Chris Martin. He added 200 runs for the third wicket with JP Duminy, who also scored an impressive century.

South Africa would declare their first innings 474 and then bowl out New Zealand for 275 so that the hosts could resume batting on day 4, continuing into the fifth day. The opener scored 39 in his second innings. Peterson scored 38 on day 4 and added 1 more run on day 5.

Peterson's 156 in the first innings was enough for the South Africans to play out a draw in the third Test and win the series 1-0.

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#9. Cheteshwar Pujara

Sri Lanka toured India for a three-match Test series, three ODIs and three T20s towards the end of 2017. The first of the three Tests was in Kolkata and Sri Lanka got off to a splendid start by dismissing Indian opener KL Rahul with the first ball of the Test.

Shikhar Dhawan too could not last long and then skipper Virat Kohli was dismissed without opening his account. Rain stopped play early on day 1 with India struggling at 17-3 with Pujara unbeaten on 8.

Rain and bad light ensured that only 21 overs were bowled on day 2 and India struggled to 74 runs for the loss of five wickets. The Indian No 3 was unbeaten on 47 at the end of day 2. He resumed his innings on day 3 and got out on 52 after playing 117 balls. Pujara's half century ensured that India reached a total of 172.

Sri Lanka would score 294 in their first innings, and Pujara had to come in to bat at the end of day 4. He resumed batting on day 5, scoring 22 runs. The match ended in a draw and Pujara became the third Indian to bat on all five days of a Test.

#10. Rory Burns

England had just won the 2019 World Cup and winning the Ashes is the icing on the cake for which the hosts were hoping.

But Australia had other ideas. Riding on Steve Smith's innings of 144, Australia posted 284 in their first innings. England had to negotiate two overs on day 1 and openers Jason Roy and Burns remained unbeaten.

Burns resumed batting on the second day and added 132 for the second wicket with skipper Joe Root. He ended day 2 with a brilliant hundred and a score of 125 to his name. He added four more runs on day 3 before he was dismissed for 133 by Nathan Lyon. And England managed a 90-run lead riding on Burns' innings.

Australia scored briskly on days 3 and 4 and managed 487 runs in just 112 overs, and declared their innings. The England openers had to survive for seven overs on day 4 and they did. Day 5 saw Australia bowling England out for 146 and Burns could add only 4 runs to his overnight tally and was dismissed for 11 by Pat Cummins. Australia won the Test by 251 runs.

Also read – Ashes Lowest total defended