Scoring consecutive fifties in Test cricket shows a red hot form of a batsman. Very few batsmen in the longer format cricket were able to be this super consistent, scoring half-centuries consistently – innings after innings for their respective teams.
In numbers, we have six Test batsmen who have scored 7 fifties in consecutive Test innings.
Let’s discuss them all one by one.
Everton Weekes (West Indies) – 7
One should be introduced to the West Indian batsman, Everton Weekes, before getting to know about the record for consecutive fifties or centuries. The Right-handed Caribbean cricketer played International cricket from 1948 to 1958, played 48 Test matches, and scored 4455 runs at an excellent average of 58.62.
Weekes scored his first-century score in his 4th Test match against England. The quality knock of 141, coming against a top English bowling line-up, put him on the plane to India for the West Indies’ next tour. However, it is that Indian series that changed the life of Weekes.
Weekes played all five Test matches of the Indian series, batted 7 times, and scored 6 fifty-plus runs, on which he converted 4 of them to triple-digit scores. He ended up with an aggregate of 779 runs, averaging 111.29. He became the first-ever batsman to hit 7 consecutive fifty-plus scores in Test cricket. He missed the eighth one by just 2 runs when Vijay Hazare bowled him at 48 in the last innings of that series. West Indies won that series 1-0.
Bonus: While performing this streak, Weekes scored five consecutive Test centuries in a row, a world record to date. Few legendary batters came close to this record but couldn’t reproduce what he had done.
Scores:
Period: March 1948 – February 1949
- 141 vs England (Home)
- 128 vs India (Away)
- 194 vs India (Away)
- 162 vs India (Away)
- 101 vs India (Away)
- 90 vs India (Away)
- 56 vs India (Away)
Andy Flower (Zimbabwe) – 7
Andy Flower enjoyed batting against India, as two of his biggest Test century knocks, 183* & 232*, came against in the same Test series in India in 2000. The left-handed wicketkeeper-batsman was at his peak during that 2-match Test series, as he also managed to score 50-plus scores in the remaining two innings.
Preceded and followed by three more fifty-plus scores against New Zealand and Bangladesh, the elder Flower brother managed to equal Weekes in scoring 7 consecutive Test 50s.
Scores:
Period: September 1999 – April 2001
- 65 vs New Zealand (Home)
- 183* vs India (Away)
- 70 vs India (Away)
- 55 vs India (Away)
- 232* vs India (Away)
- 79 vs New Zealand (Away)
- 73 vs Bangladesh (Home)
Shivnarine Chanderpaul (West Indies) – 7
The Caribbean left-handed batter Shivnarine Chanderpaul is one of the most celebrated batters of his generation. He is still remembered firmly for his unique batting stance. He was also known for his superlative performances in the 4th innings of the Test matches.
Chanderpaul was a good player of spin, and he made 69 in the last innings of West Indies’ failed Test match in Pakistan in 2006. He continued his form in his team’s next tour to England as he scored 5 50+ scores in the 5 instances he walked in to bat in that tour. Even though West Indies lost the series none-to-three, Chanderpaul ended as the tournament’s leading run-scorer with 446 runs with an average of 47.05. However, there was no support from his teammates as the next 7 places in the series’ runs chart belonged to England batters.
The stylish middle-order batsman was not done when he hit a century in the first innings of the next home Test match against South Africa. Then, however, he was dismissed for 8 in the next innings by Dale Steyn, thereby putting a closing card to Chanderpaul’s dream run.
Related: Why is “batting in Cricket” different? by Shivnarine Chanderpaul
Scores:
Period: November 2006 – December 2007
- 69 vs Pakistan (Away)
- 74 vs England (Away)
- 50 vs England (Away)
- 116* vs England (Away)
- 136* vs England (Away)
- 70 vs England (Away)
- 104 vs South Africa (Home)
Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka) – 7
A deserved batter to be on this list – the super talented Kumar Sangakkara made it to this list by scoring seven consecutive 50+ plus scores, coming in two different playing conditions.
The first 3 scores, including his career-high 319, came in Bangladesh against the home team, and the next four came in a more important away series in England, where Sri Lanka won their first-ever Test series with more than one match in England. Sangakkara played a big part in the win ending up as the most run-scorer in that series.
Related: Kumar Sangakkara’s Test Performance by Opponents
Scores:
Period: January 2014 – June 2014
- 75 vs Bangladesh (Away)
- 319 vs Bangladesh (Away)
- 105 vs Bangladesh (Away)
- 147 vs England (Away)
- 61 vs England (Away)
- 79 vs England (Away)
- 55 vs England (Away)
Christopher Rogers (Australia) – 7
Even though Chris Rogers debuted against India in Tests in 2008, he was called an Ashes specialist and played most of his followed-up matches against England. His failures against Asian countries could be the reason.
It all changed when he was picked up as the first-choice opener against India in home conditions. India had whitewashed Australia 4-0 in the previous Test series between the sides.
Rogers started poorly with a 9 & 21 in the first Test in Adelaide, but he picked up nicely from the next Tests as his scores in the remaining series read 55, 55, 57, 69, 95, & 56. Add that to the 95 he scored in his next Test innings against England in Sophia Gardens; he entered this elite list of 7 consecutive fifties in Test cricket.
Scores:
Period: December 2014 – July 2015
- 55 vs India (Home)
- 55 vs India (Home)
- 57 vs India (Home)
- 69 vs India (Home)
- 95 vs India (Home)
- 56 vs India (Home)
- 95 vs England (Away)
KL Rahul (India) – 7
The promising young talent from the South of India, KL Rahul, started his Test stint with three centuries in his first 6 Test matches, all coming in three different away conditions against 3 different teams.
However, the peak of his career came in a home series when he scored 5 50+ scores in a row against a challenging Australian bowling lineup in 2017. He resumed his admirable streak by scoring two more fifties in Sri Lanka in the following Test series, becoming the first Indian cricketer to score 7 half-centuries in consecutive Test innings.
Scores:
Period: March 2017 – August 2017
- 90 vs Australia (Home)
- 51 vs Australia (Home)
- 67 vs Australia (Home)
- 60 vs Australia (Home)
- 51* vs Australia (Home)
- 57 vs Sri Lanka (Away)
- 85 vs Sri Lanka (Away)
