A patient wait – Longest Ducks in Test cricket

The first hurdle every batsman wants to clear is getting off the mark. However, sometimes they can bat for long periods without scoring and yet be satisfied, especially in Test cricket. This is quite common in the longest format mostly in the final session when the batting team is fighting for a draw. However, England’s off-spinner Peter Such recorded one such duck on the 2nd day morning in the first innings of a Test. He walked to bat when England were 152/8 and joined Mark Ramprakash to take the total forward.

Peter Such witnessed 31 runs being added for the 9th wicket in 17.3 overs but none of those runs came off his bat. He was eventually dismissed in the bowling of Daniel Vettori following a bat-pad catch to short-leg. It was the 51st ball faced by Such in this innings spending 72 minutes at the crease. England were bowled out for 199 with Ramprakash finishing with an unbeaten 69. Peter’s duck was the then 3rd longest duck in Test cricket in terms of balls faced and the 2nd longest in terms of time batted.

Geoff Allott occupies the top spots in both lists as he bagged a 77-ball duck against South Africa while spending 101 minutes at the crease during a Test held in 1999, five months before Such’s effort. James Anderson came close to this record when he faced 55 balls in 81 minutes to save England from a defeat against Sri Lanka in the 2014 Leeds Test. Anderson ended up getting out in the last over of the match.

In terms of minutes, Miguel Cummins of West Indies stands second having spent 95 minutes for a duck during last year’s Test match against India. The pacer’s innings cut short when he tried to play a slog sweep off Ravindra Jadeja only to see his stumps getting disturbed.

Only four players faced 50 or more balls before bagging a duck in Test cricket and Richard Ellison was the first of them. He faced 52 balls across 50 minutes in the 1984 Mumbai Test against India. Manjural Islam faced 41 balls during his duck against Sri Lanka in the 2002 Colombo Test match. However, the Bangladesh player spent 72 minutes at the crease in due course which is the joint 4th longest duck in terms of minutes batted/spent at the crease.

(Stats as on August 5, 2020)