Top 5 fastest fifties for England in Tests ft. Ben Stokes
England seem to be on the verge of breaking new records almost every other day under the leadership of head coach Brendon McCullum. The most recent record they have broken is the fastest team fifty in Test cricket.
This took place on Thursday, July 18, in the second Test against the West Indies at Trent Bridge, Nottingham in which they were put in to bat by the former. Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope batted with elan to take their team to 50 in just 4.2 overs.
At the time of writing, the Three Lions are well-placed at 119-2, with Pope and senior batter Joe Root taking responsibility for moving the score forward. Duckett, earlier, went to his half-century off just 32 balls, joining an elite list of batters.
Ben Stokes, however, crushed the record put up by Duckett earlier this month by cruising to a 24-ball fifty in the second innings of England's innings in the third Test at Edgbaston in Birmingham.
In this listicle, we take a look at the top five fastest fifties for England in Tests:
# 1 Ben Stokes - 24 balls vs West Indies, 2024
England skipper Ben Stokes broke the record for the fastest fifty scored by an Englishman when he got to the milestone off just 24 balls in the second innings of the third Test against the West Indies on Sunday, July 29.
Stokes hammered the Windies bowlers all across the park at Edgbaston and made them pay for the mistakes that they continually made. England needed just 87 runs in this innings to complete a 3-0 rout over the Windies, and their skipper helped them get there along with opener Ben Duckett, who scored an unbeaten 25.
Stokes opened the innings for England in this innings as regular opener Zak Crawley was undergoing scans on his finger for a potential injury check.
#2 Sir Ian Botham - 28 balls vs India, 1981
Legendary England all-rounder Sir Ian Botham holds the record for scoring the fastest fifty for his country - in a mere 28 balls - against India at the Feroz Shah Kotla in New Delhi in December 1981.
The Kotla was renowned for being a good surface for batters to ply their trade despite it skidding on the odd occasion, and Sir Ian made really good use of it.
England batted first and put up a mammoth 476-9 declared in which Geoff Boycott (105) and Chris Tavare (149) contributed with stellar centuries and Sir Ian with a 66 off just 42 balls, broke this record.
#3 Jonny Bairstow - 30 balls vs New Zealand, 2022
England wicketkeeper-batter Jonny Bairstow, who is known to be an extremely aggressive player, comes second on this list thanks to the fifty he scored off just 30 balls against New Zealand at Headingley, Leeds in the summer of 2022.
Having scored a fine century (162) in the first innings to help his team respond to New Zealand's 329, he returned to score a 44-ball 71 in the second innings to seal the deal.
England won this Test at Bairstow's home ground by seven wickets as they chased down 296 runs in 54.2 overs in the fourth innings. Ollie Pope (82) and Joe Root (86) helped Bairstow immensely while contributing towards the team's win.
#4 Sir Ian Botham - 32 balls vs New Zealand, 1986
The godlike Sir Ian Botham finds himself on this list yet again for a half-century that he scored off just 32 balls against New Zealand at the Oval in London in the summer of 1986.
New Zealand put up 287 in their first essay thanks to former India coach John Wright scoring a laborious 119.
England responded with 388-5 before declaring in the second innings. Mike Gatting (121) and David Gower (131) helped themselves to tons while Sir Ian scored a swashbuckling half-century (59 not out off 36 balls) to help his team take the first-innings lead.
Rain played spoilsport for the rest of the game as only one over could be bowled in the second New Zealand innings.
#5 Ben Duckett - 32 balls vs West Indies, 2024
England opener Ben Duckett helped himself to a fine half-century off just 32 balls against the Windies on Thursday, July 18, to earn his place on this list.
Put in to bat by the West Indies at a sporting Trent Bridge wicket in Nottingham, England were off to a flyer even after losing opener Zak Crawley off just the third ball of their innings; Ben Duckett was on fire and he scored his half-century off just 32 balls.
He eventually got out on 71 off 58 being caught by Jason Holder off Shamar Joseph.