On This Day: First Ever Test Match Was Played at Melbourne Between Australia and England

On this day, i.e. March 15, 1877, the game of cricket witnessed its major turning point as Australia played its first-ever Test match against England. This match was played at Melbourne and England’s James Southerton had made a debut in this game. The special part about this cricketer was that he was 49 years and 199 days old when he made a debut. Till date, this still remains Test cricket's oldest surviving record. Needless to say that in this day and age it seems to be quite impossible to make a debut at the age of 49 years.

Talking about the game, the hosts had won the toss and elected to bat first. Charles Bannerman was the one who made 165 runs in the first Test match and was the first one to have scored 150 plus runs in the history of the Test match. Australia put up a total of 245 runs. In reply, Harry Jupp was the one who made the highest score for the team in the first innings as he scored 69 runs. England put up a total of 196 runs.

In reply, Australia put up 104 runs once again. In reply, England once again got bundled out on the score of 108 runs. In the end, Australia won the game by 45 runs and it wouldn't be wrong to say that Australia won the first Test match in the history of cricket.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 15, 2020 09:18 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).