The only two cricketers to smash two quadruple centuries in first-class cricket

Scoring quadruple centuries in first-class cricket is a big deal as only ten such knocks have been recorded till date across more than 60000 matches in this format and just one in the 21st century. However, only two players were successful in mastering the art of smashing quadruple tons by being the only players to hit 400+ runs in a first-class innings twice. Australia’s Bill Ponsford was the first to do so with the West Indian batting legend Brian Lara being the second.

Bill Ponsford:

429 vs Tasmania, 1923:

Victoria and Tasmania faced off at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in February 1923 during a first-class match outside of the Sheffield Shield competition. Tasmania were bowled out for 217 while batting first and in response, Victoria reached 200/3 before their captain Bill Ponsford came to the crease at No.5 position. Ponsford hit as many as 42 boundaries during his 477-minute stay and got 429 runs.

It was the then highest score in FC cricket and by virtue of that, Victoria piled on a world record total of 1059; the first-ever instance of a team posting 1000+ runs in a first-class innings. In fact, Ponsford became the first player and the only one till date to score a quadruple century while batting outside top four positions.

437 vs Queensland, 1927:

Victoria hosted Queensland at the MCG as part of the Sheffield Shield where they were invited to bat first after losing the toss. But Victoria got the better of the Queensland bowlers scoring 400/2 on the first day. Opening the batting, Bill Ponsford scored an unbeaten 234 before the stumps.

He almost batted through the 2nd day and became the first player with multiple quadruple centuries in first-class cricket. Bill Ponsford scored 437 with 42 fours across 621 minutes as Victoria finished with a total of 793/10. The 437 by Ponsford was the then highest individual FC score breaking his own record.

Brian Lara:

501* vs Durham, 1994:

Brian Lara turned up for Warwickshire for the 1994 County Champions inside 10 days after smashing the World record Test score of 375 against England in Antigua. Warwickshire hosted Durham at the Edgbaston where the visitors smashed 556/8 while batting first.

Lara who was in exceptional form took on the Durham bowlers and smashed a century before the end of 2nd day’s play. No play was possible on the 3rd day and the game resumed a day later with a rest day in use. By the first session, Durham understood what was coming their way as Lara raced to 285 scoring 174 runs in a session.

The summer of ’94 was the summer of Brian Lara. First his record breaking 375 in tests & then this, 501 against Durham for Warwickshire on June 6th. Durham keeper Chris Scott dropped him when he was on 18 & apparently thought to himself that Lara would now definitely get a 100! pic.twitter.com/U94vV2MuiS

— Joy Bhattacharjya (@joybhattacharj) June 6, 2020

He eventually became the first player ever to smash 500 runs in a first-class innings going past Hanif Mohammad’s 499. Lara, by end of the game, moved to 501* from only 427 balls by smashing 62 fours and 10 maximums.

400* vs England, 2004:

Only six days before the 10th anniversary of his 375-run knock, Brian Lara became the first player in the history of Test cricket to smash a quadruple century at the same venue in Antigua also against England. Lara was going through a rough patch with the bat and the series too was gone into England’s hand. He responded to the criticism scoring an unbeaten 400 from 582 balls with 43 fours and four sixes. Lara’s knock was spread over 7 sessions as West Indies finished with 751/5 in 202 overs.