Cricket is one of the most popular sports all around the world and with the advent of T20 cricket, it has reached newer countries in the recent past. Although the fans love T20 cricket, one cannot deny the fact that Test cricket is the best format of the sport. The reason behind it is that in T20 cricket, a player can become a hero just by playing two-three good shots or bowling a few good deliveries.

On the other hand, Test cricket requires a player to maintain his fitness and showcase his talent on all 5 days before a team emerges as the winner. The real fans of cricket enjoy Test cricket more and one of the most interesting rules of the longest format is that a team can declare its innings whenever it wishes to. Over the years, we have seen captains play tactical masterstrokes by declaring their innings at the right time.

However, at the same time, there have been certain occasions where a decision to declare the innings left the cricket universe scratching its heads.

Here is a look at the 5 weirdest declarations in Test cricket history:

1. South Africa vs England, 5th Test, 2000

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-407080" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/South-Africa-and-England.jpg" alt="South Africa and England" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-407080" class="wp-caption-text">South Africa and England. (Photo Source: Getty Images)</figcaption>

At the start of the century, England toured South Africa to play a Test series. The hosts had already taken a 2-0 lead in the series heading into the final Test in Centurion. There were predictions for heavy rainfall at the venue and even then, the organizers did not alter the schedule and continued the tour as per the original plans.

South Africa batted first and ended Day 1 at 155/6 and not even a single delivery was bowled during the next three days owing to rain. Thus, the team management of the two teams came to a mutual agreement.

Hansie Cronje&#8217;s team ended its innings at 248/8. England declared its first innings at 0/0 and even South Africa did the same thing in their second innings. Hence, England got a target of 249 runs to win the match. Half-centuries from <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/what-a-shambles-michael-vaughan-lambastes-icc-for-not-scheduling-reserve-day-for-semi-finals/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Michael Vaughan</a> and Alec Stewart helped England win the match by 2 wickets. Vaughan was adjudged the Man of the Match.

2. The Ashes, 3rd Test, 1937

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-407081" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Sir-Gubby-Allen.jpg" alt="Sir Gubby Allen" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-407081" class="wp-caption-text">Sir Gubby Allen. (Photo Source: Twitter)</figcaption>

Australia and England clashed against each other in the Ashes series of 1937 with the Aussies hosting the series. Melbourne played the host to the 3rd Test and the home side batted first in that game. They posted 200 runs on the board but declared the innings at the loss of 9 wickets. The visitors did the same thing in their first innings.

England&#8217;s captain Sir Gubby Allen and tail-enders Bill Voce were batting on zero when England&#8217;s scoreboard read 76/9. They were still 124 runs behind Australia&#8217;s total thus, it seemed like the two batsmen would try their best to curb the lead.

However, Allen surprised everyone by declaring the innings as the pitch was wet. The move totally backfired as Sir Don Bradman scored a double hundred in the second innings and Australia went on to win the match by 365 runs.

3. India vs Australia, 2nd Test, 2012-13

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-407083" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Michael-Clarke-1.jpg" alt="Michael Clarke" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-407083" class="wp-caption-text">Michael Clarke. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)</figcaption>

This series would be fresh in the minds of Indian fans as MS Dhoni inspired the home team to a memorable 4-0 series victory against Australia in this series. The Indian spinners ruled their opponents in this series as the pair of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja decimated the Australian batting unit with their spin bowling.

During the 2nd Test match of the series though Australian skipper, <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/michael-clarkes-ex-girlfriend-lara-bingle-dragged-into-his-40-million-divorce-proceedings/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Michael Clarke</a> tried to catch the Indian team off guard by pulling off a weird declaration. Australia was 236/8 before Michael Clarke lost his wicket to Jadeja.

The visitors played a few deliveries before Clarke ended the innings at 237/9. It looked like he wished to end the day by dismissing one or two Indian batsmen. The plan did not work as India posted 503 runs on the board, later winning the Test by an innings and 135 runs.

4. The Ashes, 1st Test, 1950

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-407082" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/The-Ashes.jpg" alt="The Ashes" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-407082" class="wp-caption-text">The Ashes. (Photo by Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)</figcaption>

The Ashes marks its presence once again on this list as there was one more occasion where the English team ended its innings early in order to get assistance from the pitch. Unlike the previous instance, this time they achieved a bit success however, they could not win the Test match. Brisbane hosted the opening Test of Ashes 1950 and the home side batted first.

Neil Harvey scored a brilliant fifty at the top as Australia scored 228 runs in the first innings. England got off to a good start but they slumped to 67/7. As the visiting captain, Freddie Brown felt that the pitch had changed, he soon declared the innings at 68/7.

Australia had a lead of 160 runs in the second innings but the English fast bowlers reduced them to 32/7 in the second innings. The Aussie skipper used the same ideology as his English counterpart and called his batsmen back. Chasing 193 runs to win, England could only score 122 runs as Australia luckily won the match by 70 runs.

5. West Indies vs England, 4th Test, 1968

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-407079" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Sir-Garfield-Sobers.jpg" alt="Sir Garfield Sobers" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-407079" class="wp-caption-text">Sir Garfield Sobers. (Photo Source: Twitter)</figcaption>

It is good to have a desire of winning every series that you play but it led to West Indies&#8217; defeat in the 4th Test of their series against England played way back in 1968. The first three games of the 5-match series did not produce a result and the frustrated West Indian captain Sir Garfield Sobers wanted to win the Port of Spain Test at any cost.

Riding on the centuries of Seymour Nurse and Rohan Kanhai, West Indies scored 526 runs for the loss of 7 wickets before declaring their innings. England could not take the first-innings lead as Basil Butcher&#8217;s five-wicket haul helped West Indies bowl the visitors out for 404 runs.

Sobers then pulled off a bold but strange move by ending West Indies&#8217; second innings at 92/2 on day 5. England needed 215 runs to win and almost three hours were left in the day&#8217;s play. Captain Colin Cowdrey led England from the front as his century stand with Geoff Boycott helped England win the Test by 7 wickets. This was the first occasion where a team lost a Test despite declaring both of its innings.

Cricket is one of the most popular sports all around the world and with the advent of T20 cricket, it has reached newer countries in the recent past. Although the fans love T20 cricket, one cannot deny the fact that Test cricket is the best format of the sport. The reason behind it is that in T20 cricket, a player can become a hero just by playing two-three good shots or bowling a few good deliveries.
On the other hand, Test cricket requires a player to maintain his fitness and showcase his talent on all 5 days before a team emerges as the winner. The real fans of cricket enjoy Test cricket more and one of the most interesting rules of the longest format is that a team can declare its innings whenever it wishes to. Over the years, we have seen captains play tactical masterstrokes by declaring their innings at the right time.
However, at the same time, there have been certain occasions where a decision to declare the innings left the cricket universe scratching its heads.
<h3>Here is a look at the 5 weirdest declarations in Test cricket history:</h3>
<h3>1. South Africa vs England, 5th Test, 2000</h3>
<figure id="attachment_407080" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-407080" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"><amp-img class="size-full wp-image-407080" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/South-Africa-and-England.jpg" alt="South Africa and England" width="640" height="400" layout="responsive" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"></amp-img><figcaption id="caption-attachment-407080" class="wp-caption-text">South Africa and England. (Photo Source: Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>
At the start of the century, England toured South Africa to play a Test series. The hosts had already taken a 2-0 lead in the series heading into the final Test in Centurion. There were predictions for heavy rainfall at the venue and even then, the organizers did not alter the schedule and continued the tour as per the original plans.
South Africa batted first and ended Day 1 at 155/6 and not even a single delivery was bowled during the next three days owing to rain. Thus, the team management of the two teams came to a mutual agreement.
Hansie Cronje’s team ended its innings at 248/8. England declared its first innings at 0/0 and even South Africa did the same thing in their second innings. Hence, England got a target of 249 runs to win the match. Half-centuries from <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/what-a-shambles-michael-vaughan-lambastes-icc-for-not-scheduling-reserve-day-for-semi-finals/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Michael Vaughan</a> and Alec Stewart helped England win the match by 2 wickets. Vaughan was adjudged the Man of the Match.
<h3>2. The Ashes, 3rd Test, 1937</h3>
<figure id="attachment_407081" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-407081" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"><amp-img class="size-full wp-image-407081" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Sir-Gubby-Allen.jpg" alt="Sir Gubby Allen" width="640" height="400" layout="responsive" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"></amp-img><figcaption id="caption-attachment-407081" class="wp-caption-text">Sir Gubby Allen. (Photo Source: Twitter)</figcaption></figure>
Australia and England clashed against each other in the Ashes series of 1937 with the Aussies hosting the series. Melbourne played the host to the 3rd Test and the home side batted first in that game. They posted 200 runs on the board but declared the innings at the loss of 9 wickets. The visitors did the same thing in their first innings.
England’s captain Sir Gubby Allen and tail-enders Bill Voce were batting on zero when England’s scoreboard read 76/9. They were still 124 runs behind Australia’s total thus, it seemed like the two batsmen would try their best to curb the lead.
However, Allen surprised everyone by declaring the innings as the pitch was wet. The move totally backfired as Sir Don Bradman scored a double hundred in the second innings and Australia went on to win the match by 365 runs.
<h3>3. India vs Australia, 2nd Test, 2012-13</h3>
<figure id="attachment_407083" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-407083" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"><amp-img class="size-full wp-image-407083" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Michael-Clarke-1.jpg" alt="Michael Clarke" width="640" height="400" layout="responsive" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"></amp-img><figcaption id="caption-attachment-407083" class="wp-caption-text">Michael Clarke. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>
This series would be fresh in the minds of Indian fans as MS Dhoni inspired the home team to a memorable 4-0 series victory against Australia in this series. The Indian spinners ruled their opponents in this series as the pair of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja decimated the Australian batting unit with their spin bowling.
During the 2nd Test match of the series though Australian skipper, <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/michael-clarkes-ex-girlfriend-lara-bingle-dragged-into-his-40-million-divorce-proceedings/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Michael Clarke</a> tried to catch the Indian team off guard by pulling off a weird declaration. Australia was 236/8 before Michael Clarke lost his wicket to Jadeja.
The visitors played a few deliveries before Clarke ended the innings at 237/9. It looked like he wished to end the day by dismissing one or two Indian batsmen. The plan did not work as India posted 503 runs on the board, later winning the Test by an innings and 135 runs.
<h3>4. The Ashes, 1st Test, 1950&nbsp;</h3>
<figure id="attachment_407082" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-407082" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"><amp-img class="size-full wp-image-407082" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/The-Ashes.jpg" alt="The Ashes" width="640" height="400" layout="responsive" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"></amp-img><figcaption id="caption-attachment-407082" class="wp-caption-text">The Ashes. (Photo by Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>
The Ashes marks its presence once again on this list as there was one more occasion where the English team ended its innings early in order to get assistance from the pitch. Unlike the previous instance, this time they achieved a bit success however, they could not win the Test match. Brisbane hosted the opening Test of Ashes 1950 and the home side batted first.
Neil Harvey scored a brilliant fifty at the top as Australia scored 228 runs in the first innings. England got off to a good start but they slumped to 67/7. As the visiting captain, Freddie Brown felt that the pitch had changed, he soon declared the innings at 68/7.
Australia had a lead of 160 runs in the second innings but the English fast bowlers reduced them to 32/7 in the second innings. The Aussie skipper used the same ideology as his English counterpart and called his batsmen back. Chasing 193 runs to win, England could only score 122 runs as Australia luckily won the match by 70 runs.
<h3>5. West Indies vs England, 4th Test, 1968&nbsp;</h3>
<figure id="attachment_407079" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-407079" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"><amp-img class="size-full wp-image-407079" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Sir-Garfield-Sobers.jpg" alt="Sir Garfield Sobers" width="640" height="400" layout="responsive" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"></amp-img><figcaption id="caption-attachment-407079" class="wp-caption-text">Sir Garfield Sobers. (Photo Source: Twitter)</figcaption></figure>
It is good to have a desire of winning every series that you play but it led to West Indies’ defeat in the 4th Test of their series against England played way back in 1968. The first three games of the 5-match series did not produce a result and the frustrated West Indian captain Sir Garfield Sobers wanted to win the Port of Spain Test at any cost.
Riding on the centuries of Seymour Nurse and Rohan Kanhai, West Indies scored 526 runs for the loss of 7 wickets before declaring their innings. England could not take the first-innings lead as Basil Butcher’s five-wicket haul helped West Indies bowl the visitors out for 404 runs.
Sobers then pulled off a bold but strange move by ending West Indies’ second innings at 92/2 on day 5. England needed 215 runs to win and almost three hours were left in the day’s play. Captain Colin Cowdrey led England from the front as his century stand with Geoff Boycott helped England win the Test by 7 wickets. This was the first occasion where a team lost a Test despite declaring both of its innings.

Cricket is one of the most popular sports all around the world and with the advent of T20 cricket, it has reached newer countries in the recent past. Although the fans love T20 cricket, one cannot deny the fact that Test cricket is the best format of the sport. The reason behind it is that in T20 cricket, a player can become a hero just by playing two-three good shots or bowling a few good deliveries.
On the other hand, Test cricket requires a player to maintain his fitness and showcase his talent on all 5 days before a team emerges as the winner. The real fans of cricket enjoy Test cricket more and one of the most interesting rules of the longest format is that a team can declare its innings whenever it wishes to. Over the years, we have seen captains play tactical masterstrokes by declaring their innings at the right time.
However, at the same time, there have been certain occasions where a decision to declare the innings left the cricket universe scratching its heads.
<h3>Here is a look at the 5 weirdest declarations in Test cricket history:</h3>
<h3>1. South Africa vs England, 5th Test, 2000</h3>
<figure id="attachment_407080" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-407080" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-407080" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/South-Africa-and-England.jpg" alt="South Africa and England" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-407080" class="wp-caption-text">South Africa and England. (Photo Source: Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>
At the start of the century, England toured South Africa to play a Test series. The hosts had already taken a 2-0 lead in the series heading into the final Test in Centurion. There were predictions for heavy rainfall at the venue and even then, the organizers did not alter the schedule and continued the tour as per the original plans.
South Africa batted first and ended Day 1 at 155/6 and not even a single delivery was bowled during the next three days owing to rain. Thus, the team management of the two teams came to a mutual agreement.
Hansie Cronje&#8217;s team ended its innings at 248/8. England declared its first innings at 0/0 and even South Africa did the same thing in their second innings. Hence, England got a target of 249 runs to win the match. Half-centuries from <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/what-a-shambles-michael-vaughan-lambastes-icc-for-not-scheduling-reserve-day-for-semi-finals/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Michael Vaughan</a> and Alec Stewart helped England win the match by 2 wickets. Vaughan was adjudged the Man of the Match.
<h3>2. The Ashes, 3rd Test, 1937</h3>
<figure id="attachment_407081" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-407081" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-407081" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Sir-Gubby-Allen.jpg" alt="Sir Gubby Allen" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-407081" class="wp-caption-text">Sir Gubby Allen. (Photo Source: Twitter)</figcaption></figure>
Australia and England clashed against each other in the Ashes series of 1937 with the Aussies hosting the series. Melbourne played the host to the 3rd Test and the home side batted first in that game. They posted 200 runs on the board but declared the innings at the loss of 9 wickets. The visitors did the same thing in their first innings.
England&#8217;s captain Sir Gubby Allen and tail-enders Bill Voce were batting on zero when England&#8217;s scoreboard read 76/9. They were still 124 runs behind Australia&#8217;s total thus, it seemed like the two batsmen would try their best to curb the lead.
However, Allen surprised everyone by declaring the innings as the pitch was wet. The move totally backfired as Sir Don Bradman scored a double hundred in the second innings and Australia went on to win the match by 365 runs.
<h3>3. India vs Australia, 2nd Test, 2012-13</h3>
<figure id="attachment_407083" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-407083" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-407083" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Michael-Clarke-1.jpg" alt="Michael Clarke" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-407083" class="wp-caption-text">Michael Clarke. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>
This series would be fresh in the minds of Indian fans as MS Dhoni inspired the home team to a memorable 4-0 series victory against Australia in this series. The Indian spinners ruled their opponents in this series as the pair of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja decimated the Australian batting unit with their spin bowling.
During the 2nd Test match of the series though Australian skipper, <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/michael-clarkes-ex-girlfriend-lara-bingle-dragged-into-his-40-million-divorce-proceedings/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Michael Clarke</a> tried to catch the Indian team off guard by pulling off a weird declaration. Australia was 236/8 before Michael Clarke lost his wicket to Jadeja.
The visitors played a few deliveries before Clarke ended the innings at 237/9. It looked like he wished to end the day by dismissing one or two Indian batsmen. The plan did not work as India posted 503 runs on the board, later winning the Test by an innings and 135 runs.
<h3>4. The Ashes, 1st Test, 1950 </h3>
<figure id="attachment_407082" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-407082" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-407082" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/The-Ashes.jpg" alt="The Ashes" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-407082" class="wp-caption-text">The Ashes. (Photo by Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>
The Ashes marks its presence once again on this list as there was one more occasion where the English team ended its innings early in order to get assistance from the pitch. Unlike the previous instance, this time they achieved a bit success however, they could not win the Test match. Brisbane hosted the opening Test of Ashes 1950 and the home side batted first.
Neil Harvey scored a brilliant fifty at the top as Australia scored 228 runs in the first innings. England got off to a good start but they slumped to 67/7. As the visiting captain, Freddie Brown felt that the pitch had changed, he soon declared the innings at 68/7.
Australia had a lead of 160 runs in the second innings but the English fast bowlers reduced them to 32/7 in the second innings. The Aussie skipper used the same ideology as his English counterpart and called his batsmen back. Chasing 193 runs to win, England could only score 122 runs as Australia luckily won the match by 70 runs.
<h3>5. West Indies vs England, 4th Test, 1968 </h3>
<figure id="attachment_407079" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-407079" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-407079" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Sir-Garfield-Sobers.jpg" alt="Sir Garfield Sobers" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-407079" class="wp-caption-text">Sir Garfield Sobers. (Photo Source: Twitter)</figcaption></figure>
It is good to have a desire of winning every series that you play but it led to West Indies&#8217; defeat in the 4th Test of their series against England played way back in 1968. The first three games of the 5-match series did not produce a result and the frustrated West Indian captain Sir Garfield Sobers wanted to win the Port of Spain Test at any cost.
Riding on the centuries of Seymour Nurse and Rohan Kanhai, West Indies scored 526 runs for the loss of 7 wickets before declaring their innings. England could not take the first-innings lead as Basil Butcher&#8217;s five-wicket haul helped West Indies bowl the visitors out for 404 runs.
Sobers then pulled off a bold but strange move by ending West Indies&#8217; second innings at 92/2 on day 5. England needed 215 runs to win and almost three hours were left in the day&#8217;s play. Captain Colin Cowdrey led England from the front as his century stand with Geoff Boycott helped England win the Test by 7 wickets. This was the first occasion where a team lost a Test despite declaring both of its innings.

There have been certain occasions where a decision to declare the innings left the cricket universe scratching its heads.

5 Weirdest declarations in the history of Test cricket

Although the fans love T20 cricket, one cannot deny the fact that Test cricket is the best format of the sport. The reason behind it is that