The timeless Test - Story of the longest cricket match in history

England’s Bill Edrich on his way to the double hundred – the highest individual score in the match

The longest cricket match in the history of the game was played from the 3rd to the 14th March in 1939 between the visiting English and the South African sides at the historic Kingsmead, Durban. The match included 9 days of play spread over 12 days due to torrential showers.

The game was played under the format of a ‘timeless test’, ie; there were no time limitations. It was the fifth and the last match of England’s tour of South Africa in 1938-39.

The match was declared a draw by mutual agreement on the twelfth day, because of the strangest reason ever heard of – the English team could not afford to miss their ship.

The Concept of a Timeless Test

A timeless test is similar to modern test cricket, except for the fact that there are no time restrictions. The teams play on until a result is derived. Hence, a team cannot adopt a defensive strategy and aim for a draw.

Moreover, factors like bad weather and declaring an innings hold no major influence due to the abundance of time. This method, however, was abandoned due to the various inconveniences, which included scheduling and commercial aspects.

The Background

The Proteas and the English shared an intense rivalry even back then in the 1930s.

England, at that time, had just played hosts to the Australians in the previous year and had a point to prove.

The South Africans, on the other hand, were always game when it came to matches as important as these.

The 5 match series was 1-0 in the favour of the visitors. This was the last chance for South Africa to at least fancy a tied series against the mighty English.

How the match progressed

The game started with South Africa winning the toss and choosing to bat.

The South Africans took full advantage of the amazing batting conditions and put up a marvellous 530 runs on the board. Major contributions came in from Van der Bijl(125) and Nourse (103). Debutant Perks was spot-on with the ball and collected 5 wickets with just 100 runs in exchange.

England, however, could only manage 316 runs with no outstanding batting display. Dalton was the key for the South Africans with his brilliant performance of 59/4. The South Africans went to the second innings with a major lead of 214 runs.

In the second innings, South Africa again succeeded with the bat as they managed a decent total 481 runs. This time, it was Melville(103) who played the perfect captain’s knock and scored the century for the team. Van der Bijl (97) was again productive with the bat but missed out on another century. Farnes was the best with the ball for England with his figures of 74/4.

The stage was set for the English to chase the intimidating total of 695 runs. South Africans suddenly seemed like huge favourites to level the series. But, what followed next was something only a few had imagined.

England went all guns blazing and put up one of the longest batting displays in the history of the sport. England batted for 6 days in total, with a rest day and a heavy rainy day included. On the 10th day, England had garnered a total of 654/5 and were only 42 runs shy of the target.

Edrich (219) went on to make a double hundred and steal the limelight while the English captain Hammond(140) played the supporting role flawlessly. Dalton again was the bowler to be fancied with the figures of 100/2.

The scoreboard at Kingsmead, Durban.

Both the captains Hammond and Melville agreed to call the match off and decide upon a draw as rain had interrupted the play yet again after tea on the 10th day. The match could not be carried on to the next day as the British had to leave Durban for Cape town at 8:00 pm that evening, and later on board a vessel back to the Midlands.

The day went down in the history books for various reasons:

• It was marked as the longest cricket match ever played.
• This match had the highest aggregate of runs in any test match – 1981 runs.
• It witnessed Hammond make his 21st test century placing him among the all-time greats, as he had equalled the record of Sir Don Bradman.

Thus, this match is always remembered even today when these world-class teams go head to head and battle it out on the field.

The England Team for the TIMELESS TEST

The South Africa team for the TIMELESS TEST