Charles Bannerman, a 25-year-old Sydney professional born in Kent, scored 165 before retiring hurt with a split finger in the first innings of the first Test at Melbourne in March 1877. It was the first century in Test cricket and represented 67.34% of Australia's total of 245 — a proportion no other Test centurion has ever matched.
Bannerman had been born at Woolwich in Kent in 1851 and emigrated to Sydney as a child. He had made his name in NSW intercolonial matches in the early 1870s. Before the match he was already considered the leading professional batsman in the colonies.
Bannerman had opened the batting for the All-Australian XI alongside Nat Thompson. Thompson fell early to Allen Hill for one. Thereafter Bannerman dominated. He was strong off the back foot and on the drive, and the English attack — Shaw, Hill, Lillywhite, Southerton and Ulyett — had no answer on the firm MCG pitch. He brought up the first Test fifty before lunch on day one and the first Test hundred during the afternoon session, off Alfred Shaw. He was eventually forced to retire on 165 when a delivery from George Ulyett split the index finger of his right hand. He had batted for 285 minutes, hit 18 fours, and faced — by reconstructed estimates — about 165 four-ball overs. The next-highest score in Australia's 245 was 18, by wicketkeeper Jack Blackham. Bannerman's share of his side's total — 67.34% — has never been bettered by any Test centurion in nearly 150 years.
Bannerman takes strike to Alfred Shaw — first ball in Test cricket
Thompson falls for 1; Bannerman batting
First Test fifty (Bannerman) before lunch on day 1
First Test century (Bannerman) during afternoon session
Retires hurt 165 after Ulyett delivery splits his finger
Morning, 15 Mar 1877
Bannerman faces the first ball in Test cricket
Late morning
Reaches first Test fifty
Afternoon
Reaches first Test century, off Shaw
Late afternoon
Retires hurt on 165 after Ulyett ball splits his finger
“He played as if he had been born to the new game.”
Bannerman did not bat in Australia's second innings. His finger healed in time for the rematch a fortnight later, in which he made 30 and 4. He played only two more Tests, struggling with health, and retired from first-class cricket in 1888. He umpired Test matches into his fifties.
The first century in Test cricket, and statistically the most dominant individual contribution by any Test centurion before or since.
The 67.34% share of his side's total remains the highest by any Test centurion. Bannerman's name is engraved on every list of Test cricket firsts — first innings, first run, first fifty, first century, first retired-hurt. He was inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame in 2009.
Yorkshire v Essex
1932-06-16
On 15-16 June 1932 Herbert Sutcliffe (313) and Percy Holmes (224*) put on 555 for the first wicket against Essex at Leyton, breaking the world first-class record for any wicket and adding a layer of folklore — including a scoreboard that read 554 for several minutes and a hastily reversed declaration — that has clung to the partnership ever since.
Australia v England
1933-02-14
With the fate of the Bodyline series in the balance and England 216 for 6 chasing 340, Eddie Paynter checked himself out of a Brisbane hospital where he was being treated for acute tonsillitis, taxied to the Gabba in pyjamas and a dressing gown, and batted for nearly four hours to score 83. England drew level on first innings, won the Test by six wickets and the series 4-1.
Australia
1934-09-25
Days after the 1934 Oval Test, Bradman fell seriously ill with appendicitis that progressed to peritonitis. With antibiotics not yet available, he was given little chance of survival; his wife Jessie left Adelaide on a sea voyage to England prepared for the worst. He recovered after weeks of intensive nursing in a London nursing home and returned to first-class cricket the following Australian summer.