In the modern era of cricket, where Test matches are strictly confined to five days and often conclude much sooner, the concept of a match lasting over a week seems unfathomable. Yet, in March 1939, England and South Africa engaged in a contest at Kingsmead in Durban that defied all conventional limits. Known as the
The match was the final fixture of a five-Test series, with England holding a 1-0 lead. To ensure a definitive result, the teams agreed to play without a fixed time limit. The contest began on March 3, 1939, and immediately set a grueling pace. South Africa batted first on a surface that provided little assistance to the bowlers, posting 530 runs over nearly three days. Pieter van der Bijl led the scoring with 125, supported by Dudley Nourse’s 103, in an innings that consumed approximately 13 hours of play.
A Record-Breaking Chase Halted by Logistics
England responded with 316 in their first innings, handing South Africa a 214-run lead. Rather than enforcing the follow-on, the hosts opted to bat again, adding 481 runs to set England a daunting target of 696 for victory. When England began their fourth innings on March 9, the lack of a time limit allowed them to approach the massive total with methodical patience. As the days passed, the prospect of a successful chase shifted from improbable to realistic.
The English batting lineup produced a series of significant contributions, headlined by Bill Edrich’s 219 and Gerry Gibb’s 120. Captain Wally Hammond also chipped in with 140, steering the side to 654/5. With the total within reach, England required only 42 more runs to secure what would have been one of the most remarkable victories in the history of the sport. However, while the match had no cricketing deadline, the squad faced an immovable logistical reality: they were scheduled to travel by train to Cape Town to board the Athlone Castle for their voyage back to Britain on March 17.
Although rain had interrupted play throughout the 10-day period, the match was ultimately abandoned as a draw because the team could not delay their departure. The game concluded on March 14, leaving England stranded just 42 runs short of their target. According to Guinness World Records, the encounter remains the longest Test match in the history of men's cricket, standing as a unique relic of a time when the game was played until a result was reached, or, in this case, until the calendar intervened.
