This article lists the most marathon individual performances in Test cricket, focusing on the players who occupied the crease for the longest duration of time.
List of Longest Individual Test Innings by Time
| Player | Minutes Batted | Runs (Balls) | 4s/6s | Against | Venue | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hanif Mohammad (PAK) | 970 | 337 (NA) | 24/0 | West Indies | Bridgetown | 17 Jan 1958 |
| Gary Kirsten (SA) | 878 | 275 (642) | 26/0 | England | Durban | 26 Dec 1999 |
| Alastair Cook (ENG) | 836 | 263 (528) | 18/0 | Pakistan | Abu Dhabi | 13 Oct 2015 |
| Sanath Jayasuriya (SL) | 799 | 340 (578) | 36/2 | India | Colombo (RPS) | 2 Aug 1997 |
| Leonard Hutton (ENG) | 797 | 364 (847) | 35/0 | Australia | The Oval | 20 Aug 1938 |
| Hashim Amla (SA) | 790 | 311* (529) | 35/0 | England | The Oval | 19 Jul 2012 |
| Brian Lara (WI) | 778 | 400* (582) | 43/4 | England | St John’s | 10 Apr 2004 |
| Brendon Kuruppu (SL) | 777 | 201* (548) | 24/0 | New Zealand | Colombo (CCC) | 16 Apr 1987 |
| Brendon McCullum (NZ) | 775 | 302 (559) | 32/4 | India | Wellington | 14 Feb 2014 |
| Alastair Cook (ENG) | 773 | 294 (545) | 33/0 | India | Birmingham | 10 Aug 2011 |
Key Insights – Analysis of Marathon Stays in Test Cricket
Pakistan’s Hanif Mohammad holds the record for the longest Test innings by time. He batted for a mind-blowing 970 minutes while scoring 337 runs against the West Indies in the third innings of the 1958 Bridgetown Test.
Hanif Mohammad’s 970-minute marathon innings is only the second longest by time in entire first-class cricket.
The first-class record belongs to India’s Rajeev Nayyar, who batted for 1015 minutes (271 runs off 728 balls) while playing for Himachal Pradesh against Jammu & Kashmir in a 1999 Ranji Trophy fixture.
Hanif Mohammad, however, is level with Nayyar for the longest batting by time in a first-class match. He occupied the crease for 1015 minutes (45 + 970) across both innings combined in the 1958 Bridgetown Test.
Hanif Mohammad’s triple century is also the slowest by time in Tests, having taken 858 minutes to score his 300th run. Read more about the innings here.
Sri Lanka’s Brendon Kuruppu’s unbeaten 201 is the slowest double hundred in Tests, having batted for 776 minutes to reach the milestone.
Kuruppu’s 777-minute knock is also the longest by a wicketkeeper and a debutant batter in Tests.
Gary Kirsten’s 878-minute innings against England in the 1999 Durban Test is the longest by time at home.
Alastair Cook’s 836-minute knock against Pakistan in the 2015 Abu Dhabi Test is the longest by a captain in this format.
England’s Leonard Hutton has recorded the longest Test innings by balls. He faced 847 balls while accumulating 364 runs in 797 minutes against Australia in the first innings of the 1938 Oval Test.
Hutton is the only batter to play more than 800 balls in a first-class innings.
