Test Cricket’s Annual Milestones: Highest Individual Score Each Year

Charles Bannerman, an English-born Australian cricketer, scored a massive 165 in the very first Test match in 1877.

Since then, Test cricket, the oldest and most revered format of the game, has been witnessing batting masterclasses . The 5-day format exists as the purest examination of a batter’s ability.

This blog, an year-by-year compilation of the highest individual Test scores, is a depiction of more than just statistics. It further represents a fascinating timeline of how batting approaches have evolved across three different centuries, from the defensive techniques of the Victorian era to the aggressive stroke-making of modern times. However, it still honours the format’s traditional values.

From Bannerman’s pioneering innings to Don Bradman’s dominance in the 1930s, Len Hutton’s pre-war 364, Garfield Sobers’ majestic 365* in 1966, and finally to Brian Lara’s still-standing pinnacle of 400* in 2004, each record represents not just an individual triumph but reflects the technical innovations, changing pitch conditions, evolving intelligence, and the shifting landscape of each era.

This recording of the marathon innings shows the chronological journey through cricket’s highest individual scores every year in Test cricket.

Decoding the Data: Key Insights from Test Cricket’s Annual Highest Scores

Pakistan’s Hanif Mohammad scoring 337 against West Indies in Bridgetown is still the highest individual Test score by a batsman in an away Test match.

Here are the firsts in 100X scores in Test cricket:

• First century: Charles Bannerman’s 165 in the very first Test (1877)
• First double century: R.E. Foster’s 230* (1898)
• First triple century: Andy Sandham’s 323 (1928)
• First 350+: Len Hutton’s 364 (1938)
• First 400: Brian Lara’s 400* (2004)

Several cricket legends dominated the list in different eras:

• W.G. Grace in the 1880s
• Jack Hobbs in the 1910s-20s
• Don Bradman in the 1930s
• Garfield Sobers in the 1960s
• Greg Chappell in the 1970s
• Brian Lara in the 1990s-2000s

Brian Lara holds the all-time record with his 400* against England in 2004, which still stands today.

There were no Test matches during World War I (1913-19) and World War II (1939-45).

The table above also shows how cricket’s competitive aspect with respect to the playing nations has evolved:

• Early dominance by England and Australia
• West Indies’ golden era (1950s-1980s)
• Rise of Asian cricket powers (Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka) from the 1980s onward

Recent years have seen slightly lower top scores, with only two new triple centuries since Karun Nair’s 302* in 2017: David Warner in 2019 and Harry Brook in 2024.

Find out the Test triple centuries record analyses by teams here,