Chasing Jessop
Cue quickfire centuries from the likes of Jonny Bairstow, Ben Duckett and Harry Brook in this swashbuckling new era and a renewed interest in a style of test cricket many had not seen the likes of before. However, for all of Bazball’s modern appeal and the players’ all-or-nothing batting, the matter of England’s fastest test century remained intact, reminding fans that the history of English test cricket isn’t just the story of the last three years, as Simon Wilde explores in Chasing Jessop: The Mystery of England Cricket’s Oldest Record.
While modern cricket fans extol the batting prowess of the likes of Ben Stokes, Harry Brook and Ollie Pope, long before they were smashing fours and sixes for fun there was Gilbert Jessop. On 13 August 1902, Jessop came out to bat against Australia in what looked like a foregone conclusion, with England 48 for five chasing 263. What followed was the setting of a record that stands to this day – the fastest test century for England. With uncertainty surrounding the exactitude of the record, however, Wilde’s book explores the man, the myth and the legend of what remains a remarkable and unsurpassed feat in English cricket.
Reviewed by Jade Craddock.