50 free Test Cricket trivia questions with answers — trivia quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Test cricket is the only major sport where a match can last five days and still end without a winner. It began in Melbourne in 1877 before anyone called it a Test, was once played without a time limit at all, and has ended level on exactly two occasions in more than 2,000 matches. It rewards patience from players and from quiz-takers. This set covers the format from its first match to the World Test Championship. You'll be asked which nations hold Test status and when they joined, who scored the first triple century, why a 1939 Test in Durban was abandoned after nine days, which two matches were tied, who took all ten in an innings, and which records belong to Bradman, Lara, Tendulkar, Muralitharan and Anderson. There are questions on the pink ball, the third umpire, the eight-ball over and the Packer years. Easy questions ask how many days a Test lasts; hard ones ask who wrote the first list of Test matches in 1894. Fifty questions, every answer sourced. Take guard.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01What is the maximum number of days a Test match can last?
Five
A minimum of ninety overs is scheduled per day; only some multi-stage cycling races take longer to play.
Q 02How many teams held Test status after Ireland and Afghanistan joined in 2018?
Twelve
They are the full members of the ICC; Ireland and Afghanistan were added in 2018.
Q 03How many overs are scheduled as a minimum in a day's play?
90
They are to be bowled in six hours, though slow over rates make that a frequent flashpoint.
Q 04At which ground was the first recognised Test played in March 1877?
The MCG
A Combined Australian XI beat James Lillywhite's touring English professionals by 45 runs.
Q 05By how many runs did Australia win the first-ever Test?
45
England won the second match of the tour; the Ashes legend did not arrive until 1882.
Q 06The term 'test match' was first coined during an English tour in which season?
1861–62
It originally meant the English team was testing itself against each Australian colony in turn.
Q 07Which journalist published the first definitive list of Test matches in 1894?
Clarence P. Moody
His list of 39 matches from South Australia gained acceptance by the end of the century; he later founded the Adelaide Sunday Mail.
Q 08Which two countries played the earliest international cricket match, in 1844?
United States and Canada
Bad weather washed out the middle day, 25 September.
Q 09Which was the third nation to play Test cricket, in 1888-89?
South Africa
Only those three nations played Tests before the First World War.
Q 10The Imperial Cricket Conference was founded in 1909 with how many members?
Three
England, Australia and South Africa; Lord's, home of the MCC, became its headquarters.
Q 11Three new nations joined the ICC as full members on the same day in which year?
1926
West Indies played first, at Lord's in 1928; New Zealand followed in 1930 and India in 1932.
Q 12Who scored the first Test triple century, 325 against the West Indies in 1930?
Andy Sandham
England made 849 and set a target of 836 in a timeless Test, then had to leave for their ship.
Q 13The last timeless Test, in 1939, was played in which city?
Durban
After nine days of play spread over twelve it was abandoned as a draw so England could catch their boat home.
Q 21At which ground was the first tied Test played in December 1960?
The Gabba
Bob Simpson played in it and then coached Australia in the second tie 26 years later.
Q 22Who lifted the inaugural World Test Championship trophy in June 2021?
New Zealand
They beat India in the final; Australia won the second edition in 2023 and South Africa the third at Lord's in 2025.
Q 23Who beat Australia at Lord's to win the 2025 World Test Championship final?
South Africa
It ended a long wait for a global title for the Proteas.
What is the highest individual score in Test history?
Q 14Pakistan played their first Test in which year?
1952
They were admitted to the ICC on 28 July and played in October, against India.
Q 15Which country became the ninth Test nation in 1992?
Zimbabwe
Sri Lanka had joined in 1982; Bangladesh followed in 2000.
Q 16Which two countries were granted Test status together in June 2017?
Ireland and Afghanistan
Ireland played first, in May 2018; Afghanistan a month later.
Q 17Which Australian media tycoon's 'Supertests' of 1977-79 are not counted as official Tests?
Kerry Packer
World Series Cricket's commercial revolution is also credited with killing off the eight-ball over.
Q 18Where was the first day/night Test played, in November 2015?
Adelaide Oval
Australia beat New Zealand under lights with a pink ball, permitted by the ICC since 2012.
Q 19What colour ball is used in day/night Tests?
Pink
The red ball is hard to see under floodlights and the white one does not last long enough.
Q 20How many Test matches have ended in a tie?
Two
Brisbane 1960 (Australia v West Indies) and Madras 1986 (India v Australia) — in more than 2,000 matches.
400*
Brian Lara's innings in Antigua in 2004 retook a record Matthew Hayden had held for six months.
Q 25Lara's 375 in 1994 stood as the record until Matthew Hayden scored 380 against whom?
Zimbabwe
Lara is the only man to have reclaimed the Test record score.
Q 26Before Lara and Hayden, who held the record with 365 not out from 1958?
Garfield Sobers
It was his maiden Test century, against Pakistan; Lara passed it in the same stadium in 1994.
Q 27Who is the leading run-scorer in Test history, with 15,921?
Sachin Tendulkar
He passed Lara's 11,953 in 2008 and is the only batsman with 100 international centuries.
Q 28Who is the only bowler to take 800 Test wickets?
Muttiah Muralitharan
He took his 800th with the final ball of his last Test in July 2010.
Q 29Whose record of 708 wickets did Muralitharan pass in December 2007?
Shane Warne
Within a year the batting record also changed hands, from Lara to Tendulkar.
Q 30Who became the first fast bowler to take 700 Test wickets, in March 2024?
James Anderson
He had also been the first quick to 600 and is England's record wicket-taker.