Ben Stokes bowls millionth ball in Test cricket in England

A day after Stuart Broad’s historic 8 for 15, England became the first nation to witness a million balls being bowled in Test cricket.

August 7, 2015. A day after Stuart Broad’s historic 8 for 15, England became the first nation to witness a million balls being bowled in Test cricket. Abhishek Mukherjee looks back at the day when an ordinary delivery from Ben Stokes got statisticians across the ball excited.

The first two Tests were played on Australian soil, but with their penchant for hosting more Tests than Australia, there was no doubt that England would be the first to the landmark of witnessing a million balls in Test cricket.

The Trent Bridge Test was the 498th on English soil. Barring Australia (398) no other country had hosted 250 Tests till then (though 4 others had crossed the 190-mark), the reason, of course, being the enormous head start the two nations had.

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South Africa, the third team to join the fray, played only Australia, England, and New Zealand, and were banned for over two decades, which pushed them back significantly.

Balls bowled in every nation in Test cricket till August 5, 2016

Balls bowled in every cricket ground in England in Test cricket till August 5, 2016

The Trent Bridge Test needed to last a mere 715 balls (119.1 overs) for the count to reach a million. Stuart Broad threatened to finish things off before that, bowling out Australia in the first session of the Test for 60 and finishing with 8 for 15.

The innings lasted a mere 111 balls. By stumps England had consumed another 330, and Alastair Cook declared on the second morning after England had faced another 122.

The Test had lasted 623 balls. Another 92 were required. Broad and Mark Wood started things, and Steven Finn replaced Wood in the 10th over.

Following his spectacular first-innings spell, it was only fitting that Broad would bowl the millionth ball, but Cook played spoilsport, taking him away after 6 overs, bringing on Ben Stokes.

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Chris Rogers leg-glanced Stokes’ first ball for four. The rest of the over passed without an event.

David Warner got two boundaries at the other end off Finn, a fortunate slash over slips and a gorgeous cover-drive.

That was the 14th over. The count had reached 999,992. Moeen Ali replaced Stokes.

The stage was set for Finn to create history, but Cook thought otherwise, giving Stokes a change of ends, replacing Finn.

The millionth ball

The crowd had no idea that they were about to witness history. Stokes came round the wicket and bowled one down leg; Warner tried to flick and missed. The stifled appeal was turned down.

Then the crowd broke into a loud applause, for the electronic scoreboard at Trent Bridge displayed the words “The next ball will be the MILLIONTH DELIVERY to be bowled in Test cricket in England”.

The clapping started, but it turned out to be an anticlimax. It was an ordinary over-pitched delivery, and Warner responded with a regulation on-driven boundary without any drama or fuss. Just like that.

The crowd cheered without much enthusiasm, but cricket statisticians across the world celebrated the moment with gusto.

What followed?

Stokes, perhaps buoyed by the sense of history, routed Australia for 253 with career-best figures of 6 for 36. England took an unassailable 3-1 lead and regained The Ashes.

Brief scores:

Australia 60 (Stuart Broad 8 for 15) and 253 (Chris Rogers 52, David Warner 64, Adam Voges 51*; Mark Wood 3 for 69, Ben Stokes 6 for 36) lost to England 391 (Alastair Cook 43, Joe Root 130, Jonny Bairstow 74; Mitchell Starc 6 for 111) by an innings and 78 runs.

Man of the Match: Stuart Broad.

(Abhishek Mukherjee is the Chief Editor at CricketCountry and CricLife. He blogs here and can be followed on Twitter here.)