From Bannerman to Lara..

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At 1221 hrs local time (0050 GMT) on November 26, 2005, the second day of the third Test against Australia at Adelaide, Brain Charles Lara, fifteen years after taking guard for the first time against Wasim Akram, daringly swept Glenn McGrath’s delivery to fine-leg for a single that made him the most prolific batsman of all time taking him ahead of Allan Border [11,174 runs] in the hall of fame.

So far, the record of most Test career runs has changed hands 21 times between 16 players from four nations since Australia's Charles Bannerman scored the first run in Test cricket against England on March 15, 1877 at Melbourne. Bannerman extended his innings to 165 before being forced to retire hurt with a hand injury. He dominated Australia's innings in this inaugural Test, scoring 67.3% of his side's total - still a Test record for a completed innings.

* During the first 95 years of Test cricket it was either an Australian or an Englishman who held the record until a West Indian, Sir Garry Sobers surpassed Colin Cowdrey on March 26, 1972. [For complete details see the accompanying table of progressive record holders].

* Clem Hill, who lost the record twice during 1902 before finally holding it for 22 years until Jack Hobbs broke it in 1924, is the youngest ever player to hold the most Test career runs batting record when he first claimed it from Archie MacLaren in July 1902. He was aged 25 years and 108 days.

* Jack Hobbs was aged 42 years and 6 days when he broke Clem Hill’s record of 2412 runs at Sydney in December 1924. He is thus the oldest player to break the record.

* Wally Hammond held the record for the longest span of 33 years and 156 days. Hammond broke Hobbs record of 5410 runs on June 26, 1937 and then extended it to 7249 before his last Test in March 1947. Due to the WWII, between 1939 and 1945, there was no Test cricket for six years and 219 days. More than three decades later, it was England's Colin Cowdrey who battered Hammond’s tally against Australia at Brisbane in November 1970.

* On the other end of the scale, two players, Sydney Gregory and Clem Hill jointly hold the record of being Test cricket's highest run-scorer for the shortest time span of a single day. The first such event was registered during the fifth day of the 1902 Ashes Test at Adelaide when Australia's Sydney Gregory eclipsed Arthur Shrewsbury's record of 1277 runs and extended it to 1282 before getting dismissed for 23. Next day, his captain Joe Darling, unbeaten on 40 overnight, needed just 19 runs to snatch the record form Gregory, which he did and totaled 1293 runs before his innings and the match ended. Five Tests later, in July 1902 at Sheffield, Hill exceeded MacLaren's 1432 run-figure but the later took it back on the very next day. Interestingly, it was quite cat and mouse game in the year 1902, when the Test aggregate run record swapped almost with every innings between Gregory, Darling, MacLaren and Hill, before Clem finally made it his own for 22 years. Curiously enough, the title changed hands nine times between these four players during the calendar year 1902.

* Of the 16 players who have held the record so far since 1877, only 11 were able to hold it to the end of their Test career.

* Joe Darling, Clem Hill, Gary Sobers, Allan Border and Brian Lara are the only left-handed record holders in the list.Click to see the table