Stats: Slowest 50s in terms of time and balls faced in Test cricket

‘Little Master’ Sunil Gavaskar once played a patient innings of 326 minutes to make his fifty against Sri Lanka

No format of the game tests the skills of a cricketer more than Test cricket. Apart from skills, the longest format of cricket also pushes cricketers to show some amount of resolve and have bundles of patience too.

But with the advent of Twenty20 cricket, the strike rates in Tests have gone up to a level that is scarcely believable. There have been times when a hundred with a strike rate of 60 was considered a good innings; now, batsmen are scoring centuries at a strike-rate of 80 and entertaining cricket fans in ways that many did not think was possible.

Irrespective of the size of the boundaries, batsmen have demonstrated an ability to clear the rope with consummate ease.

However, Test cricket has been witness to some highly patient yet heroic knocks from batsmen, which have helped their team to secure a hard-fought stalemate. They may seem like inglorious stands, but the mental qualities displayed during such knocks, not to mention the degree of mastering the defensive technique, put these batsmen into the highest order of great cricketers.

We take a look at slowest fifties in Test cricket by minutes and balls till this day.

Here is a table that shows slowest fifties in Test cricket by minutes. (More than 275 minutes).

Minutes	Player name	Country	Opponant	Venue	Year
357	Trevor Bailey	England	Australia	Brisbane	1958/59
350	Christopher Tavare	England	Pakistan	London	1982
333	Bryan Young	New Zealand	South Africa	Durban	1994/95
326	Sunil Gavaskar	India	Sri Lanka	Colombo	1985
318	Rameez Raja	Pakistan	West Indies	Karachi	1986/87
316	Chetan Chauhan	India	Pakistan	Kanpur	1979/80
315	Shoaib Mohammad	Pakistan	Zimbabwe	Lahore	1993/94
313	Derrick McGlew	South Africa	Australia	Johannesburg	1957/58
312	Jeffrey Crowe	New Zealand	Sri Lanka	Colombo	1986/87
310	Bruce Edgar	New Zealand	Australia	Wellington	1981/1982
310	Allan Border	Australia	West Indies	Sydney	1988/89
306	Christopher Tavare	England	Australia	Manchestar	1981
304	Peter Taylor	Australia	Pakistan	Karachi	1988/89
302	Dilip Sardesai	India	West Indies	Bridgetwon	1961/62
300	Geroge Camacho	West Indies	England	Bridgetown	1967/68
300	Kiran More	India	South Africa	Durban	1992/93
298	Evan Gray	New Zealand	England	Nottingham	1986
297	Robert Hart	New Zealand	West Indies	Bridgetown	2002
294	Christopher Smith	England	New Zealand	Auckland	1983/84
290	Geoffrey Boycott	England	Pakistan	Lahore	1977/78
289	Christopher Tavare	England	India	Bombay	1981/82
282	EDAS McMorris	West Indies	England	Kingston	1959/60
282	James Adams	West Indies	England	Manchester	2000
281	Naseer Hussain	England	South Africa	Durban	1999/00
280	Peter Richardson	England	South Africa	Johannesburg	1956/57
280	Geoffrey Boycott	England	Australia	Perth	1978/79
277	Geoffrey Boycott	England	New Zealand	Wellington	1977/78
275	William Lawry	Australia	England	Melbourne	1962/63
275	VVS Laxman	India	South Africa	Durban	2006/07

Here is a table that shows slowest fifties in Test cricket in terms of balls faced. (Min.200 balls faced)

Balls faced	Player Name	Country	Opponant	Venue	Year
350	Trevor Bailey	England	Australia	Brisbane	1958/59
262	Allan Border	Australia	West Indies	Sydney	1989/89
238	Evan Gray	New Zealand	England	Nottingham	1986
236	Christopher Tavare	England	Pakistan	London	1982
235	Peter Taylor	Australia	Pakistan	Karachi	1988/89
229	Bryan Young	New Zealand	South Africa	Durban	1994/95
228	John Brearley	England	Pakistan	Hyderabad	1977/78
222	Clive Radley	England	New Zealand	Auckland	1977/78
219	Christopher Tavare	England	Australia	Manchestar	1981
218	William Lawry	Australia	England	Sydney	1970/71
214	James Adams	West Indies	England	Manchestar	2000
213	Naseer Hussian	England	South Africa	Durban	1999/00
212	Jeffrey Crowe	New Zealand	Sri Lanka	Colombo	1986/87
212	Heath Streak	Zimbabwe	New Zealand	Harare	2000/01
210	Mudassar Nazar	Pakistan	England	Hyderabad	1977/78
209	Rameez Raja	Pakistan	West Indies	Karachi	1986/87
208	Geoffrey Boycott	England	Pakistan	Lahore	1977/78
208	James Adams	West Indies	Zimbabwe	Kingston	1999/00
207	Anothony Greig	South Africa	India	Delhi	1972/73
204	Dennis Amiss	England	India	Mumbai	1976/77
204	Bruce Edgar	New Zealand	Australia	Perth	1985/86
204	Naseer Hussain	England	Pakistan	Karachi	2000/01
204	Rajin Saleh	Bangladesh	Pakistan	Karachi	2003/04
204	Abdul Razzaq	Pakistan	India	Mohali	2004/05
203	Graham Roope	England	Pakistan	Karachi	1977/78
202	Robert Hart	New Zealand	West Indies	Bridgetown	2002
201	Adrian Griffith	West Indies	Australia	Antigua	1998/99
201	Javed Omar	Bangladesh	Zimbabwe	Chittagong	2001/02
200	John Wright	New Zealand	England	Wellington	1977/78
200	Mark Butcher	England	Sri Lanka	Galle	2003/04
200	Thilan Samaraweera	Sri Lanka	England	Colombo	2003/04