10 cricketers to bat on all five days of a Test
The stars need to align in a perfect way for a batter to enter his name into this catalogue.
4. Allan Lamb – England vs West Indies, 1984
Allan Lamb was born in South Africa, traded his ply for Northamptonshire, and later played for England in the international arena. He made his Test debut for England in 1982 and was a mainstay in the middle-order for a decade. He became only the second Englishmen to bat on all five days of a Test match after Sir Geoffrey Boycott.
Lamb accomplished this record when England hosted Clive Lloyd’s West Indies in 1984. West Indies were on a high leading 1-0 into the second Test at Lord’s. Lloyd won the toss and put England in to bat on day one. The openers build up a hundred-run partnership, but others failed to capitalize on the start. Batting across two days, Lamb scored 23 from 77 balls and the hosts were bowled out for 286. Sir Ian Botham ran through the West Indies line-up and took 8 wickets in the first innings.
In the second innings, Lamb came in to bat on day 3, batted through day four, and was dismissed on the fifth day. He scored a gritty 110 against the likes of Malcolm Marshall and Joel Garner helping England reach 300. However, Gordon Greenidge charged against the English bowlers and chased down the target of 344 with a magnificent 214 of 242 balls.
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