Top 3 slowest centuries in Test cricket

Many feel the advent of T20 cricket has had a detrimental impact on Test cricket. But a counterargument suggests that Test cricket has benefited from the inception of the shortest format of the game.

T20 cricket has made Tests more result-oriented than they ever were. Scoring rates have spiked, batters are willing to be more aggressive, more and more Tests are yielding results, and fans continue to turn up in large numbers to tune into the action.

However, back in the day, when there was no trace of T20 cricket, Test matches would progress at a snail's pace and used to end in monotonous draws more often than not. Therefore, it is no surprise that the three slowest individual hundreds in red-ball cricket have all come in the 1950s.

3 Slowest individual centuries in Test history

#3 Jackie McGlew (485 balls)

South Africa opener Jackie McGlew scored a 485-ball century against Australia during the third Test of the five-match series in Durban in January 1958. McGlew's hundred came in the first innings and gave South Africa a first innings lead of 221. Australia responded with 292/7 in the second innings, reducing the deficit as the game ended in a drab draw.

#2 Nazar Mohammad (520 balls)

Pakistan's Nazar Mohammad ranks second on this list. His 520-ball century in the second match of the five-Test series against India in Lucknow in October 1952 contributed to Pakistan's victory by an innings and 43 runs. Pakistan bowled India out cheaply for just 106 runs before piling on 331 with the help of Nazar's unbeaten 124. The hosts in reply could only manage 182. India won the series 2-1.

#1 Colin Cowdrey (535 balls)

Former England middle-order batter, Colin Cowdrey holds the record for scoring the slowest hundred in Test cricket. Cowdrey took as many as 535 balls to reach the three-figure mark in the first Test of West Indies' tour of England in 1957.

Playing in Birmingham, England got bowled out for merely 186 in the first innings. Windies responded with 474 and the hosts needed to bat out of their skins. Cowdrey (154) and skipper Peter May (285) led the charge, propelling England to 583 before declaring the innings. They had Windies on the mat at 72/7 in the second innings but couldn't close it out.