Test cricket is the longest and most traditional format of the game, and it is played in an attritional way. It remains the same for both batters and bowlers, where they need to strive hard to score runs and take wickets, respectively.
The players need to work hard to achieve success in the format, and sometimes it could be draining for them. Since in Test cricket, there is no limit on the number of overs a team bats, a bowling team could be on the field for the day(s) together.
So a bowler must be prepared to bowl long spells across various conditions, and here are the top 10 bowlers who have bowled long spells in Test cricket.
Most Balls Bowled in a Test Innings
| Player | Balls (Overs) | Bowling Figures | Against | Venue | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sonny Ramadhin (WI) | 588 (98.0) | 2/179 | England | Birmingham | 30 May 1957 |
| Tom Vievers (AUS) | 571 (95.1) | 3/155 | England | Manchester | 23 Jul 1964 |
| Alf Valentine (WI) | 552 (92.0) | 3/140 | England | Nottingham | 20 Jul 1950 |
| Chuck Fleetwood-Smith (AUS) | 522 (87.0) | 1/298 | England | The Oval | 20 Aug 1938 |
| Fazal Mahmood (PAK) | 512 (85.2) | 2/247 | West Indies | Kingston | 26 Feb 1958 |
| Bill O’Reilly (AUS) | 510 (85.0) | 3/178 | England | The Oval | 20 Aug 1938 |
| Haseeb Ahsan (PAK) | 504 (84.0) | 6/202 | India | Chennai | 13 Jan 1961 |
| Vinoo Mankad (IND) | 492 (82.0) | 5/228 | West Indies | Kingston | 28 Mar 1953 |
| Sonny Ramadhin (WI) | 488 (81.2) | 5/135 | England | Nottingham | 20 Jul 1950 |
| George Geary (ENG) | 486 (81.0) | 5/105 | Australia | Melbourne | 08 Mar 1929 |
Key Insights
588: The highest number of balls a bowler has bowled in a single Test innings, and this record belongs to Sonny Ramadhin of the West Indies, who sent in 98 overs of the 258 bowled by his team in the 2nd innings against England in a Test match at Birmingham in 1957. The game ended in a draw.
87 & 85: Australia’s bowling pair of LO Fleetwood-Smith & Bill O’Reilly bowled 87 & 85 overs, respectively, out of the 335.2 overs the team bowled against England at the Oval in 1938. The home team made 903 runs in that innings — England’s highest team total in Tests — and won the Test by an innings and 579 runs.
1/298: Chuck Fleetwood-Smith’s 1/298 is the most expensive spell ever bowled in a Test innings, followed by Rajesh Chauhan’s 1/276 (87 overs) against Sri Lanka in Colombo in 1997.
20: There are over 20 instances where a bowler has bowled 450 or more balls in a Test innings, and Vinoo Mankad’s economy of 0.76 (4/58 in 76 overs at Delhi in 1951 against England) is the least.
Only 2 times has this happened post-2000. One was by Zimbabwe’s Ray Price in 2001, where he bowled 474 balls, taking 5/181 against South Africa in Bulawayo, and the other was by Australia’s Steve O’Keefe, who took 3/199 in the 462 deliveries he bowled against India in Ranchi in 2017.
