Test cricket as we all know is the purest format of the sport and it is also highly challenging & draining. A player with optimal level of skill set in their respective trait over is most likely to succeed in the format and attain a legendary status if they continue to churn out good performances over a period.
Hence apart from the numbers with bat or ball, one also need to focus on how long they have featured in the format for their respective countries. This could be based on the number of games or the years they have represented their team in the longest format.
In this article, we will see the top 10 longest serving players in terms of number of years in Test cricket.
| PLAYER | TEST CAREER SPAN | MATCHES |
|---|---|---|
| Wilfred Rhodes (ENG) | 30 y 315 d | 58 |
| Brian Close (ENG) | 26 y 356 d | 22 |
| Frank Woolley (ENG) | 25y 13d | 64 |
| George Headley (WI) | 24y 10d | 22 |
| Sachin Tendulkar (IND) | 24y 1d | 200 |
| John Traicos (SA/ZIM) | 23y 40d | 7 |
| Jack Hobbs (ENG) | 22y 233d | 61 |
| George Gunn (ENG) | 22y 120d | 15 |
| Syd Gregory (AUS) | 22y 32d | 58 |
| Frederick Brown (ENG) | 21y 336d | 22 |
Key Insights
18 – Players have played Test cricket for 20 or more years and out of those, only 4 of them have played 100 or more Tests. Apart from Sachin, James Anderson (188), Shivnarine Chanderpaul (164), and Colin Cowdrey (114) are the ones who have represented their country in over 100 Tests.
James Anderson is the latest to join Test cricketers list who have played at the highest level for more than 20 years. He has represented England for 21 years & 51 days which is a rarity for a pacer to do. Imran Khan having played for Pakistan in 88 Tests is the other pacer to have crossed the 20 years mark (20 years & 218 days).
READ: JAMES ANDERSON’S MOST DISMISSED BATTERS LIST
In the top 10, Wilfred Rhodes, Frank Woolley, Jack Hobbs, George Gunn, Syd Gregory , and Frederick Brown’s career were affected either by World War 1 or 2. Brian Close is the only cricketer whose career started post World War 2 and represented England for over 26 years but still played less than 50 Tests. He, in-fact at 18 in 1949 was the youngest to represent England but an on & off career which meant, Close could feature only in 22 Tests, the last being in 1976 at an age of 45.
Wilfred Rhodes played his last Test match at 52 years and 165 days, making him the oldest to play the format. George Gunn played his last in 1930 at an age of 50 years and 303 days, making him the 4th oldest Test cricketer of all-time. Interestingly, both of them played their last game in the same Test match against West Indies at Kingston.
John Traicos played 3 Tests for South Africa in 1970’s before their exclusion from Test cricket due to Apartheid and then went onto represent Zimbabwe in their first 4 Tests at the age of 45 in 1992 where he took a fifer in his maiden outing. Interestingly, the off-spinner was born in Egypt.
READ: OLDEST DEBUTANTS IN TEST CRICKET
