20 years on, Nathan Astle’s record for fastest double hundred in Test cricket remains unbroken

On February 23, 2002, Australia’s Adam Gilchr pulverised the South African bowlers at the Wanderers to break the record for the fastest Test double century that had stood for almost 20 years. Gilchr reached 200 in 212 balls, surpassing Ian Botham’s 220-ball effort against India in 1982.
Little would Gilchr have known then that his record would be surpassed within just three weeks. On March 16, 2002, New Zealand’s Nathan Astle scored a double century in 153 balls — almost 60 balls less than what Gilchr had required — against England in Chrchurch to set a new record that has not been seriously challenged, let alone broken, in the last 20 years.
Astle’s whirlwind knock — 222 off 168 balls — was the 214th 200-plus score in Test hory and since then batters have crossed the mark 179 times in just 20 years. Even accounting for the resurgence of bowlers of late, clearly, more batters get to 200 these days, but no one does it quicker than Astle.
Astle’s record has survived at least two generations of free-flowing batters who transcended formats, like Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers, Brendon McCullum, David Warner. Even Virender Sehwag, who notched up rapid double centuries for fun in the noughties, could not touch him. Only England’s Ben Stokes, who scored a 163-ball 200 against South Africa in Cape Town in 2016, came even remotely close to his feat.

The man himself is quite surprised to see the record stand in this age of fast-paced Test cricket. “The way the game is played today, (surprising that) it has not been knocked over. It is a lot more attacking these days and the pace of the game has changed. That is why I’m quite fond of the fact that it (the record) has lasted as long as it has,” Astle told the Weekend Sport podcast on Newstalk ZB, a radio network in New Zealand this week.
Astle was fighting what seemed like a lost cause that day at his home ground, the Jade Stadium. England, on the back of a double century Graham Thorpe, had set New Zealand a target of 550 runs and reduced the hosts to 119/3 when he came into bat on the fourth day.
Astle, in his characteric neatly tucked-in full-sleeves and kookaburra blade, unleashed an array of breathtaking strokes that had already made him one of the top ODI openers of the time – he has 16 ODI centuries to his name. A hit-through-the-line marauder, he cashed in on anything full when Matthew Hoggard and Andrew Caddick looked for swing and despatched them through the off-side. They tried to test him with short balls but the drop-in pitch was too sedate and the boundaries too short for him to be troubled in any way.
Astle brought up his century in 114 balls but saw the Kiwis plummeting to 333/9, still 217 away from a win. (Twitter/ICC)
“It was the best I’d hit it. I never repeated it. I seemed to be in the right position at the right time and things happened in slow motion,” Astle told ESPNCricinfo about his innings in 2018.
Astle brought up his century in 114 balls but saw the Kiwis plummeting to 333/9, still 217 away from a win. Allrounder Chris Cairns, who was nursing an injury, joined him as the No. 11 with a runner. Astle knew he had to up the ante and he did. It took him just 22 and 17 balls respectively for his next two fifties on the way to his 200. In all, he hit 28 fours and 11 sixes.
Astle fell to Hoggard’s slow ball and was out caught behind, bringing down curtains on a day of non-stop hitting. (Twitter/ICC)
“Anyone who has played cricket… (would know) that you go through patches where you hit well, you lose your timing for a bit and it comes back. But for that innings there, it was continuing. To go on for that period of time and hit the ball as cleanly as I did, it will certainly be the main thing that stands out for me… When you are in that zone, everything kind of slows down. That was the case that day. You just seem to have that much more time,” Astle told the Weekend Sport.
Though England took the new ball, it was travelling faster off the bat and Astle saw a “look of disbelief” on their captain Nasser Hussain’s face as the carnage continued. He brought down the runs required to under 100 and even entertained the thoughts of pulling off a miracle win.

“The wicket was a road and the way I was playing, it was something we thought was achievable, even to the point (that) we discussed whether we pull it back, nurdle it around, then go again, but at the end of the day, we thought: this is working, why change anything?” he told ESPN Cricinfo about his approach as the target seemed gettable.
However, with 99 needing to win, Astle fell to Hoggard’s slow ball and was out caught behind, bringing down curtains on a day of non-stop hitting. England went up 1-0 in the series but the match belonged to Astle, who rates this knock along with his century in the 1996 World Cup opening game, also against England, just after his grandfather had passed away as the two most cherished moments of his career.