Flashback: When 721 runs were scored in a day of first-class cricket

Test cricket is a format in which batsmen take their time to settle and are in no hurry to score runs. However, in some of the matches, it has been seen that players go on the acceleration mode even in the longest format. The record for most runs scored by a team in a day in a Test match belongs to England. They piled up 588 runs in a single day against India in the 1936 Test match played in Manchester.

However, do you know that in first-class cricket, more than 700 runs have been scored by a team in a day? This record belongs to the Australian team who scored 721 runs against the Essex team in 1948. Don Bradman was leading the Australian team in this match, and he decided to bat first after winning the toss.

Even in an era of fast scoring, it’s hard to see the record of 721 runs in a day Australia scored against Essex at Southend on May 15th 1948 being eclipsed. The runs came off 129 overs with Don Bradman’s 125-ball 187 the highest score pic.twitter.com/LbMxGJ95jj

— Historic Cricket Pictures (@PictureSporting) May 15, 2021

Opener Sid Barnes and Bill Brown added 145 runs for the first wicket with Brown getting a brilliant century. He scored 153 runs opening the innings while Barnes got out after scoring 79 runs. Captain Don Bradman who came to bat at number 3 continued the Essex bowlers’ misery as he smashed 187 runs with the bat.

Bradman and Brown added 219 runs for the second wicket, and at the score of 364 both Brown and Keith Miller lost their wickets. Bradman later got dismissed when the team score was 452 after sharing an 88-run partnership with Ron Hamence.

The lower-middle order displayed terrific performance for the Australians as both number 6 and number 7 batsmen slammed hundreds. Sam Loxton scored 120 runs while wicketkeeper Ron Saggers smashed 104 runs. Both added 166 runs for the sixth wicket. Loxton got out at the team score of 664 runs while Rogers remained not out till the end of the innings.

At the end of day one, Australians were all-out for 721 runs in 129 overs. This is still the highest total in a day in first-class cricket. In response to this mammoth score, the Essex team got dismissed for 83 runs and 187 runs respectively in the first and second innings. Hence they lost the match by an innings and 451 runs.