March 15 is a very special day in cricket history. 147 years ago i.e. on this day in 1877, Test cricket was officially started. Then a historic match was played between England and Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). Interestingly, there was no time limit for that test match. Both teams had to play two innings each, no matter how many days it took. The first match in Test history was played between 15 and 19 March. After the first 3 days of play, the fourth day i.e. 18 March 1877 (Sunday) was kept as a day of rest. After this, Australia won by 45 runs on the fifth day.
Bannerman was an important player
That historic test match proved to be very special for opener batsman Charles Bannerman. Bannerman scored a century on the first day of test cricket. Not only this, the first test run also came from Bannerman's bat. The first ball of the Test match was bowled by Alfred Shaw and Bannerman faced that ball. After this, Kangaroo batsman Charles Bannerman took his personal score to fifty. Not only this, he created history by converting that half-century into a century. Whenever there is talk of the first century in international cricket, Bannerman's name will be at the top. Ultimately Bannerman retired hurt after scoring 165 runs. Actually, Bannerman was injured. His finger got injured.
George Elliot took three wickets
If we look at Bannerman's havoc in the middle of winter, Bannerman single-handedly scored 165 runs out of Australia's first innings score of 245 runs. In reply, the English team could score only 196 runs in its first innings. Opener Harry Jupp scored the highest 63 runs. Billy Midwinter took five wickets for Australia. In this way, Australia got a significant lead of 49 runs on the basis of first innings. After this, England counterattacked and reduced Australia's second innings to just 104 runs. Seven Australian batsmen could not even reach double figures. For England, Alfred Shaw took five wickets and George Elliot took three wickets. Now the England team had to score 154 runs to win the match, but they could not do so.
a match was tied
The English batsmen could not stand against Tom Kendall and the team was out for 108 runs and lost the match by 45 runs. Only three England batsmen could reach double figures. Wicketkeeper John Selby scored the highest 38 runs. For Australia, Tom Kendall took seven wickets and John Hodges took two wickets. If seen, 2535 matches have been played so far in Test cricket. England has played the most Test matches (1071 matches). Whereas the Australian team is at second place in this matter (866 matches). So far, Australia has won 414 and England has won 392 test matches. India is at third place in terms of playing the maximum number of test matches. India has played 579 matches so far. During this period, India has won 178 test matches, while losing the same number of matches. Apart from this, 222 test matches of the Indian team ended in a draw.
Status of the first test match in cricket history
Australia team – 1st innings 245 and 2nd innings: 104 Target: 154 runs England team – 1st innings: 196 runs and 2nd innings: 108 Result: Australia won by 45 runs.