Book your place at York event that delves into one of cricket's great mysteries
IT’s a record that not even the Bazballers have been able to break.
Gilbert Jessop’s 76-ball hundred against Australia at The Oval in 1902 remains England’s fastest in Test cricket.
Jonny Bairstow could not have come closer to taking it down, facing 77 balls for his hundred against New Zealand at Trent Bridge in 2022, while Harry Brook and Jamie Smith both reached the milestone from 80 deliveries, against Pakistan at Rawalpindi in 2022, and against India at Edgbaston last year respectively.
But still “The Croucher” - Jessop’s nickname due to his unusual stance at the crease - remains out in front, some 124 years and more than 1,000 Test matches later.
Simon Wilde, cricket correspondent of the Sunday Times, wrote a book about Jessop’s innings that was published last summer.
Chasing Jessop: The Mystery of England’s Oldest Cricket Record celebrates the feat and scrutinises the accepted truth that 76 balls was indeed the amount of time that he took to get to three-figures, turning what looked like a certain defeat into an incredible victory.
Accepted truth because the original scorebooks have gone walkies, and the facts of the innings have never been scrutinised - until now.
Wilde has forensically reconstructed the performance and tried to establish exactly what happened - did “The Croucher” even get to his hundred quicker than thought?
You can find all this out and more when Wilde joins Stewart Regan, the former chief executive of Yorkshire County Cricket Club, for a delve into the mystery at York Festival of Ideas.
They will be in conversation at a free event on Tuesday June 9 from 7.30-8.30pm at the Ron Cooke Hub, Campus East, at the University of York.
Booking is needed and details can be found at: https://yorkfestivalofideas.com/2026/calendar/chasing-jessop/