On a December afternoon in 1926, the 31-year-old C.K. Nayudu hit eleven sixes in an innings of 153 against the touring MCC at the Bombay Gymkhana. Watched by Arthur Gilligan and an emotional crowd of 50,000, the innings is regarded as the single performance that secured India's case for Test status — granted three years later.
Arthur Gilligan's MCC team was touring India in 1926-27 to assess whether Indian cricket was strong enough to merit Test status. The crucial fixture was the match between MCC and the Hindus team at the Bombay Gymkhana, the most important Indian XI on the schedule. C.K. Nayudu, captain of the Hindus and already a legendary figure in the Bombay Quadrangular, walked out at 84 for 2 in front of around 50,000 spectators.
Nayudu attacked from the first ball. He hit Maurice Tate, the senior English bowler, for two sixes inside an over. He hit George Geary, the Leicestershire fast-medium specialist, for further sixes over long-off. By the time he was out for 153 in 100 minutes, he had hit 11 sixes — at the time a record for an innings in Indian first-class cricket — and 13 fours. Gilligan, watching from short cover, walked across to him as he left the field and shook his hand at the boundary edge.
The match was drawn but the symbolism was decisive. Gilligan privately told the Maharaja of Patiala that night that he would recommend India for Test status to the Imperial Cricket Conference at Lord's. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) was constituted in December 1928 with Gilligan's encouragement, and India was admitted to the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1926-29 and granted Test status in 1929.
Nayudu walks out at 84/2 against MCC at Bombay Gymkhana
Hits Maurice Tate for two sixes in one over
Reaches 100 in 65 minutes
Eleven sixes in total, 13 fours; out for 153 in 100 minutes
Gilligan crosses to congratulate him on the boundary
Nov 1926
MCC arrive in Bombay for tour
Dec 1926
Nayudu's 153 against MCC at Bombay Gymkhana
Dec 1928
BCCI formed
1929
India granted Test status
Jun 1932
India play first Test, Lord's, with Nayudu as captain
“I have never seen the ball hit so often, so high, and so straight. India must have a Test team.”
Nayudu's 153 was the demonstration innings that turned the British cricket establishment from sceptics into supporters of Indian Test status — a single afternoon's batting that arguably did more for the Indian Test cause than any administrator.
C.K. Nayudu became the first captain of independent India in Test cricket and remained a national figure into the 1960s. The 1926 innings is the founding moment of Indian Test cricket and is commemorated annually in the Indian cricket calendar.
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.