A bowler tends to bowl many overs in a test innings if the pitch is being flat. Such feats are usually performed by the strike bowler of the team. Such bowling requires a lot of endurance and patience. We will now look at the list of most overs bowled by a bowler in test innings.
10. George Geary
George Geary was a right-arm medium pacer from England. Though he was good enough in terms of wicket-taking, he was known more for the exceptional control he provided. When England toured Australia in 1929, England batted first in the fifth test. They scored 519. When England set out to bowl, Geary had to bear the bowling load. England bowled over 270 overs, of which Geary alone went over 80. England managed to achieve a slender lead of 28 runs. George Geary bowled 81 overs in this innings.
9. Sonny Ramadhin
Sonny Ramadhin and Alf Valentine were two spinners who bowled many overs in this particular innings, going over 80 overs each. The innings in question was the third one of the 1950 Nottingham test. Ramadhin eventually attained a fifer, getting 5-135. Sonny Ramadhin bowled 81.2 overs in this innings.
8. Vinoo Mankad
Vinoo Mankad was an all-rounder from India who bowled left-arm spin. During the India tour of the West Indies in 1953, India played the fifth test in Kingston. India batted first and scored 312. In response, West Indies batted more than 200 overs, and Mankad had to bear a load of bowling over 80 overs. India ended up conceding a lead of 264 runs. Vinoo Mankad bowled 82 overs in this innings.
7. Haseeb Ahsan
Haseeb Ahsan was an off-spinner from Pakistan. In the 1961 test in Chennai against India, Pakistan batted first and scored 448. When they bowled, Ahsan sent in more than 80 overs. India finished with 539. Ahsan had figures of 6-202. Haseeb Ahsan bowled 84 overs in this
innings.
6. Bill O’Reilly
Bill O’Reilly was a leg-spinner from Australia. In the 1938 timeless test in the Oval, he and Chuck Fleetwood-Smith bowled more than 170 overs together as England scored more than 900 runs. Bill O’Reilly bowled 85 overs in this innings.
5. Fazal Mahmood
Fazal Mahmood was a medium pacer from Pakistan. In the 1958 Kingston test against West Indies, Pakistan batted first and scored 328. In reply, during the West Indies innings, Mahmood bowled more than 80 overs. West Indies finished with 790. Fazal Mahmood bowled 85.2 overs in this innings.
4. Chuck Fleetwood-Smith
Chuck-Fleetwood Smith was one of the rare test bowlers who bowled left-arm wrist spin. In the 1938 timeless test in the Oval, England batted first. Fleetwood-Smith and Bill O’Reilly made up for the bulk of overs in the innings. It was a very long innings in which England made 903. Chuck Fleetwood-Smith bowled 87 overs in this innings.
3. Alf Valentine
Alf Valentine was a slow left-arm orthodox bowler from West Indies. For a significant portion of his career, he and Sonny Ramadhin carried the bowling lineup of West Indies on their backs, bowling way more than the regular number of overs. One such instance was in the Nottingham test in 1950, when both bowled more than 80 overs each in the third innings. Valentine managed bowling figures of 3-140. Alf Valentine bowled 92 overs in this innings.
2. Tom Veivers
Tom Veivers was an Australian off-spinner. The fourth test in the 1964 test series between Australia and England was horrible for bowlers. Australia batted first and made 658. England then batted and scored 611. The game got drawn as only two more overs were possible. During Australian bowling, Veivers bowled over 95 overs to manage three wickets. Tom Veivers bowled 95.1 overs in this innings.
1. Sonny Ramadhin
Sonny Ramadhin was an off-spinner from West Indies. He had an uncanny ability to bowl many overs in an innings. He is the only test bowler to bowl more than 80 overs in an innings twice. He also holds the record for the most overs bowled in an innings by a bowler in tests. In the first test of the West Indies tour of England, West Indies attained a 288-run first-innings lead. However, when they set out to bowl again, they were in for a rude awakening, as England batted for 258 overs and made 583. The game got drawn. Sonny Ramadhin bowled 98 overs in this innings.
