300 and all that: What triple centurions said about their feat

Don Bradman Australia 334 vs England at Leeds in 1930We were on top in the Third Test at Leeds the second Test at Lordrsquos was won by Australia although it ended in a draw The match was memorable because of my own score of 334 at that time a world record in Test Cricket a feat later to be excelled by Leonard HuttonDon Bradman salutes the crowd after passing 300 on his way to a then record score of 334 at Headingley against England in 1930Whilst admitting that my form was excellent I have always maintained it was not such a good innings as the previous one at Lordrsquos It was made at perhaps a faster rate and included a century before lunch on the first day after Archie Jackson had been dismissed for 1 but there was blemishes in stroke play of which I was well awareAn Australian philanthropist Mr A E Whitelaw sent me a cheque for 1000 pounds ldquoas token of his admirationrdquo I was not the only Australian to be so rewarded by this unostentatious lover of sport It was indeed a generous tokenCourtesy Farewell to Cricket by Don Bradman Published by Hodder amp Stoughton in 1950Hanif Mohammad 337 vs West Indies in Barbados in 1958Pakistan were bundled out for 106 On the third afternoon we were asked to follow on on January 20 1958 I walked in again with Imtiaz Ahmed With Pakistan facing a deficit of 473 runs defeat was all one could think of I was concentrating hard The heat was exhaustingHanif MohammadI was taking as much as strike as possible and was successful in swaying away from the fearsome Gilchrist Roy bouncer I was not in the habit of ducking away from a rising ball Being short the delivery usually passed over my head without causing much harmOnce I tried to hook him and between overs Walcott Clyde advised me not to try that again for he was too fast for me I paid heed to that advice which helped me Before the start of the final dayrsquos play I was in the nets getting ready for my last fight back of the day To my surprise Eric Atkinson came to bowl to me in the nets He was playing in the match and he was the only bowler to get some movement on that wicketI was unbeaten on 270 I started in the same vein not prepared to take chances against Gilchrist Atkinson brothers Sobers or Valentine I mostly played off the back foot on a wicket which started to deteriorate Eric Atkinson had this unusual habit of whistling tunes during his runup so I complained to the umpire But when he stopped whistling there was something missing So I requested him to continue his whistling and then after lunch I reached my 300Courtesy Playing for Pakistan by Hanif Mohammad Published by Hamdard PressLen Hutton England364 vs Australia at The Oval in 1938I sometimes wonder if it wasnrsquot the second worst happening of my career to become a recordbreaking national celebrity at an age when I had just qualified to vote It wasnrsquot that I lost my head in the clouds quite the reverseHutton deals with a ball from Athil Rowan in emphatic fashion during Englandrsquos innings in the final Test against South Africa at the Oval London in 1947 PicsGetty ImagesProud as I was to have scored 364 against Australia and to have overtaken Don Bradmanrsquos record which I had watched spellbound as a schoolboy at Headingley eight years before I was still capable of being overwhelmed by the suddenness of fame and worried by its penaltiesNo doubt some might deem it highly implausible that a young batsman able to stay for almost 14 hours in a Test match could be vulnerable to pressures and private misgivings The public might have seen me as a dedicated singleminded perhaps even ruthless scoring machine but the truth was that I was shy and retiring by naturerdquoCourtesy Fifty Years in Cricket by Len Hutton Published by W H Allen in 1984Gary Sobers West Indies365 vs Pakistan at Kingston in 1958When played ended on the third day I was 228 not out and Conrad Hunte was 242 As it was a sixday Test there was time for one of us or maybe both to set a new individual Test record Normally I sleep well when I eventually go to bed admittedly later than most people but on this occasion I had a restless nightGary SobersNext day The gates were shut and the crowd was talking excitedly of the next record once I passed George Headleyrsquos 270 the previous highest by a West Indian The taking of the new ball accelerated the scoring as usually happens when two batsmen are set A single off Fazal Mahmood took me to 300 I was the first West Indian to reach that figure in Tests I tried not to think of the figure 365 but it was now impossible not to do so Len Huttonrsquos score was 364When on 363 When I faced Hanif Mohd again he asked the umpire if he could bowl lefthanded lsquoYou can bowl with both hands if you likersquo I said I pushed his first ball into the covers Clyde Walcott called and off I went Sabina Park was in a state of bedlam There were no high fences then and hundreds of spectators ran on to engulf me I was overjoyed It was something uniquerdquoCourtesy Sobers mdash Twenty Years at the Top Sir Garfield Sobers with Brian Scovell Published by MacMillan in 1988John Edrich England 310 vs New Zealand at Leeds in 1965The lsquoTriple Ton Clubrsquo has few members Gary Sobers Hanif Mohammad Bobby Simpson and Bob Cowper besides myself have joined a list that was very limited until 1957England batsman John Edrich in action against Worcestershire during Surreyrsquos second innings at The Oval in the 1960sIt had been a spasmodic innings I had quiet periods then occasionally there seemed more chances and I would cut loose giving my shots all the power I could muster Against Brian Yuilersquos leftarm slows and Vic Pollardrsquos offbreaks I really let my frontfoot drives goI was dogtired that night but next day the innings was resumed and I canrsquot recall having any special ambitions regarding the ultimate end We wanted more runs so I continued as well as I could always looking for the ball to hammerWith only 16 added to the total Kenny Barrington was caught at the wicket for 163 when we had made 369 in partnership breaking a number of records on the way I passed 200 Never in my life had I been timing the ball so well This was the innings of my career mdash not because it became the highest but because I was using every shot I knew and nearly all the shots were coming offI clubbed my way through the third century and by mid afternoon I was a boundary away from 300 There was no time to mediate Dick Motz ran in and bowled I let fly and the ball was through the offside for four A few minutes later Mike Smith declared the innings closed and we set about dismissing the Kiwis Not that everyone was satisfied lsquoWhy wasnrsquot Edrich allowed to break Sobersrsquo world Test recordrsquoSome people argued that a further half hour might have been enough for me to slip past Garyrsquos 365 But cricket matches are primarily for the winning and the record shows that we won this one with only minutes to spare before the rain came downCourtesy Runs in the Family by John Edrich Published by Jaico Books in 1970Matthew Hayden Australia 380 vs Zimbabwe at Perth in 2003Obviously the Zimbabwe side we confronted in Perth was one of the weaker Test outfits I faced but I donrsquot think I ever hit the ball better in Test cricket than I did in that innings The force was with me When I raised my first century of the innings I decided to wear my old baggy green cap the same one Irsquod received for my first Ashes tour in 1993Australian Matthew Hayden relaxes in the Perth dressing room after breaking Brian Lararsquos world record of 375 in 2003After stumps on day one when I was 183 not out I told Kell Haydenrsquos wife over the phone how enjoyable it was batting with Stephen Waugh in my baggy green the cap he did so much to popularise as an exalted part of Australiarsquos cricketing heritageNormally after a day at the crease you wake up feeling a little drained but my extra training at Stadbroke meant I felt as fresh on the second day of the innings as I had at the start of the first My concentration was still good and I was seeing and hitting the ball just as clearlySometimes those things can change overnight too which is why players with big scores often get out early in the next days play So I stuck at it and kept scoring I faced 438 balls in ten hours and the only shot that didnrsquot go where I wanted to was the one I got out onFor the rest of the time I felt in total control Irsquove never been a stats junkie so I genuinely didnrsquot know until that day that 334 was a magical number in Australian cricket the highest Australian Test score ever held jointly by Mark Taylor and Don Bradman Thatrsquos one of the reasons I was pretty restrained when I passed it ndash it had never been my EverestCourtesy Standing My Ground by Matthew Hayden Published by Harper Collins in 2011Brian Lara West Indies375 vs England at Antigua in 1994On 286 between two interruptions for rain I played my first false stroke A delivery from Andy Caddick bounced more than I expected and trying to steer it to third man I edged the ball close to Jack Russellrsquos left glove It was not a chance Russell did not touch it but Caddick let out a roar of frustration for which he could be forgivenWest Indiesrsquo Brian Lara during his record innings of 375 during the fifth Test against England at the Recreation Ground in St Johnrsquos Antigua Lara broke Sir Gary Sobersrsquo 365run mark which stood as a record since 1958 In 2004 Lara scored 400 against EnglandChanderpaul was constantly speaking to me urging me to keep my concentration and not give it away For a 19yearold he showed amazing maturity and I shall always be grateful to him for the part he played in my successI ended the day on 320 and the minute the umpire removed the bails at the end of play one thing was flashing in my mind the figure 365 I spent an hour after the dayrsquos play in the dressing room trying to come to terms with the events that had taken place and those that were hopefully still to comeCricket watchers in Antigua do not necessarily need events such as this to maintain their carnival spirit But somehow this time it seemed like the party would go on all night through to morning and until the record was brokenCourtesyBeating the Field Brian Lara with Brian Scovell Published by Partridge Press in 1995Virender Sehwag India309 vs Pakistan at Multan in 2004There was no pressure at all this time I had done well in the oneday series and I knew that the first hour of the Test match was crucialVirender Sehwag hits a boundary during Day One of the opening Test against Pakistan at Multan on March 28 2004 In 2008 Sehwag scored 319 against SA in ChennaiThe evening before the triple ton He had long conversations with his family members and A N Sharma his coach ldquoThey all wanted me to go for the triple century but not one of them created any pressure on meldquoIt was the confidence of Yuvraj and Laxman that carried me through the dayrdquoWhen he reached 300 ldquoHe Sachin Tendulkar congratulated me hugged me and said lsquowell done carry on Many more will comersquo I will never forget that moment They were together from 173 to 509 It was my best innings because I had never been at the crease for so longI donrsquot think there was much change in my attitude to life and cricket just because I scored a triple century The knock certainly boosted my confidence in a big way What was most crucial The six that carried me to the mark over midwicketrdquoCourtesy The Virender Sehwag Story by Vijay Lokapally Published by UBSPD in 2004Mark Taylor Aus334 vs Pak Peshawar 1998At lunch I sat next to Michael Slater As old Wagga boys and opening partners wersquore pretty good mates and he was really pumped up for me Before that day we had shared equal top scores in firstclass cricket 219Australia captain Mark Taylor poses for cameramen after his recordequalling score of 334 against Pakistan in Peshawar in 1998 Taylor stayed unbeaten and declared the innings closed at 599 for fourIn the short session between lunch and tea I pushed on to about 260 I had by now reached a point where I honestly didnrsquot believe I could get out It was bloody amazing I had spent a whole six months of my career in 1997 trying to work out how I was going to get a runIt was only when I got to the 290s that I started to get a little nervous More mentally tired than anything else I suppose And the thought of a Test 300 is a somewhat sobering one for any batsman Three hundred is the equivalent of a bowler getting 10for in a gameAt 298 I got a short one from Mushtaq Ahmed The moment was a perfect example of how well I was hitting them I hit it exactly where I wanted to hit it centimetres past the diving cover fieldsman and down to the fence for fourCourtesy Time to Declare by Mark Taylor Published by Pan McMillan Australia in 1999