Twice at St John’s: How Brian Lara Set, Lost and Reclaimed Test Cricket’s Highest Score

Brian Lara set the record for the highest individual score in Test cricket twice, ten years apart, at the same ground and against the same opponents. In April 1994 he made 375 against England at the Antigua Recreation Ground in St John's. In April 2004, after Matthew Hayden had taken the record from him, he went back to the same ground and made 400 not out. More than two decades later, no batter has made a higher Test score. This piece looks at both innings, the gap between them, and what the second innings says about the link between records and results.

The mark Lara was chasing

For 36 years the record belonged to Garfield Sobers, who made 365 not out against Pakistan at Sabina Park in Kingston in 1958. It was a West Indian record, set in the Caribbean, and the batter who finally beat it was another West Indian.

The fifth Test of England’s 1993-94 tour was played at St John’s from 16 to 21 April 1994. The Antigua pitch had a reputation as a good surface for batting, and West Indies made full use of it. They declared at 593 for five, and Lara made 375 of those runs.

18 April 1994: the 375

Lara broke Sobers’ record on the third day, 18 April 1994. He went past 365 by pulling a short ball from Chris Lewis to the leg-side boundary. Sobers was at the ground and came onto the field to congratulate him. Lara was 24.

He was out soon after, caught behind off Andrew Caddick for 375. His innings lasted 538 balls, with 45 fours. Those figures show the kind of innings it was. It was not a sprint. Lara batted for about twelve and three-quarter hours, and the record depended on sustained concentration as much as on strokeplay.

A few weeks later Lara made 501 not out for Warwickshire, which remains the highest score in first-class cricket. Within a couple of months in 1994 he held both the Test and the first-class records.

October 2003: Hayden takes it

The 375 stood for nine and a half years. In October 2003, in the first Test against Zimbabwe at the WACA Ground in Perth, Matthew Hayden made 380 and took the record to Australia. Lara was 34 by then and the West Indies captain.

The 2004 series: a whitewash looming

England’s 2003-04 tour went badly for the hosts. England won the first Test at Sabina Park by ten wickets, the second at Port of Spain by seven wickets and the third at Bridgetown by eight wickets. That gave them the series and the Wisden Trophy before the teams reached Antigua. West Indies, led by Lara, were facing a 4-0 defeat.

The fourth Test began at the Antigua Recreation Ground on 10 April 2004. Lara won the toss and chose to bat. Daren Ganga was out with the score on 33, and Lara walked in at number three.

10 to 12 April 2004: the 400

What followed was a long occupation of the crease. Lara added 232 for the third wicket with Ramnaresh Sarwan, who made 90. After Ryan Hinds fell at 469 for five, Lara and the wicketkeeper Ridley Jacobs put on an unbroken 282 for the sixth wicket. Jacobs finished on 107 not out.

Lara went past Hayden’s 380 on 12 April 2004, the third day, about six months after Hayden had set the mark. He then pushed on to 400, and West Indies declared at 751 for five after 202 overs. Lara finished on 400 not out after 778 minutes at the crease, with four sixes. He was the first batter to reach 400 in a Test innings, and the only one to lose the Test record and then win it back.

The England attack conceded heavily. Off-spinner Gareth Batty bowled 52 overs for 185 runs. Simon Jones conceded 146 from 29 overs. Even the part-timers Michael Vaughan and Marcus Trescothick bowled 31 overs between them.

Did the record cost West Indies the match?

The result is the awkward part of the story. England were bowled out for 285 in their first innings, with Andrew Flintoff unbeaten on 102, and were asked to follow on. In the second innings they made 422 for five, with Vaughan scoring 140 and Trescothick 88, and the match was drawn.

The obvious question is whether West Indies batted too long. A total of 751, built over 202 overs, used up a large part of a five-day match, and every over spent batting was an over the bowlers did not have to take 20 wickets. The scorecard gives part of the answer. England batted 236 overs across their two innings and lost only 15 wickets. Our reading is that on that surface the shortage of wicket-taking bowling mattered at least as much as the shortage of time. The case for an earlier declaration cannot be proved either way, because there is no way of knowing how many extra overs the bowlers would have needed. What is certain is that the draw spared West Indies a 4-0 defeat, but the innings did not win them the match.

Why both innings still matter

Taken together, the two innings make Lara one of four players with two Test triple centuries, alongside Donald Bradman, Chris Gayle and Virender Sehwag. What sets his pair apart is the scale and the setting. Both scores were above 370, both were made against England, and both came at one ground in St John's.

The figures also show the scale of both efforts. In 1994 Lara faced 538 balls and hit 45 fours across about twelve and three-quarter hours. In 2004 he batted for 778 minutes, almost 13 hours, and hit four sixes along the way. Our interpretation is that the core skill was the same in both: batting through whole sessions and whole days without giving the bowlers a chance, and starting again the next morning as if the score were nought.

No one has passed 400 in a Test since. Lara’s two innings in St John’s remain the benchmark for how long a single batter can hold a Test match.