Once Every Four Years: Test Matches Played on Leap Year's Extra Day

(Australia and New Zealand playing a test match on leap year day)

Cricket has been a part of our sporting heritage since 1877, and during this extensive journey, a remarkable 2533 Test matches have been played. For more than a century, these matches have woven a colourful tapestry of cricketing history, filled with countless memorable moments and milestones. Since 1877, the world has seen 36 instances of a leap year, but do you know that out of these years, there have been only 6 test matches that have been played on the leap year day. This interesting nugget of information brings a touch of uniqueness to the cricket calendar, underscoring just how rare it is to witness Test matches played on leap year days.

1. New Zealand vs India in 1968

The debut of Test cricket on a leap year day unfolded in Wellington, where New Zealand and India clashed in an intriguing match. This encounter marked a pivotal moment in the 4-match series, as the teams were deadlocked at 1-1, intensifying the stakes as they approached the crucial 3rd match. With India on tour in New Zealand, the leap year day Test became a pivotal chapter in their cricketing journey, adding an extra layer of significance to an already closely contested series. New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat first and it was Mark Burgess who managed 66 runs to take New Zealand to a score of 186 runs. Among the Indian bowlers, Rusi Surti had figures of 3/44 in 22 overs.

Coming to India’s batting, it was Ajit Wadekar who stole the show with his sublime century and scored 143 runs in his innings. From the New Zealand bowlers, Bruce Taylor was the star as he finished the innings with the figures of 3/59 in the 27.1 overs played. With a trail of 141 runs, New Zealand had a big task in front of them and again Mark Burgess was the one who scored 60 runs in the innings and New Zealand posted just a total of 199 runs in the 2nd innings hence giving India a target of 58 runs to chase.

New Zealand vs India, 3rd Test at Wellington
New Zealand	India
86 (89.2 overs)	327 (108.1 overs)
Mark Burgess 66	Ajit Wadekar 143
EAS Prasanna 5/32 (18.2 overs)	Richard Collinge 3/65 (18 overs)
199 (81.2 overs)	59/2 (13.3 overs)
Mark Burgess 60	Syed Abid Ali 36
Bapu Nadkarni 6/43 (30 overs)	Bruce Murray 1/0 (1 over)
India won by 8 wickets

With just a target of 58 runs, India was confident of going 2-1 up in the series and Syed Abid Ali took the matter in his hands by scoring 36 runs to provide the team a brilliant start so that they do not miss this easy run chase. However, Bruce Murray was successful in picking up 1 wicket of the Indian team. With this win, the first leap year match day ended well.

2. West Indies vs England in 1968

In 1968, New Zealand vs India wasn’t the only test match that was played on the leap year day as England was touring West Indies for a 5 test match series and it was the 3rd test match that started on 29th February 1968. After winning the toss, West Indies elected to bat first and it was Basil Butcher who scored 86 runs and took the team to a total of 349 runs. Amongst the England bowlers, John Snow bagged a 5 wicket haul. From the England camp in their 1st innings, John Edrich registered a brilliant century and ended up with 146 runs to his name.

(West Indies players celebrating after dismissing an England batter)

In the bowling department of the West Indies team, Charlie Griffith proved to be the standout bowler of the team as he finished the innings with the figures of 3/71 in the 24 overs played. With the score of 449 runs, England had a lead of 100 runs and it was going to be an uphill task for the West Indies batters to come out and play well. In the second innings, only Clive Lloyd went on to score a century and took the team to a total of 284/6 runs.

West Indies vs England, 3rd Test at Bridgetown
West Indies	England
349 (143.1 overs)	449 (180.5 overs)
BF Butcher 86	JH Edrich 146
JA Snow 5/86 (35 overs)	CC Griffith 3/71 (24 overs)
284/6 (53 overs)
CH Lloyd 113*
JA Snow 3/39 (10 overs)
Match Drawn

West Indies somehow managed to save the test match by batting out on the last day of the test match and the credit goes to Clive Lloyd. The 5-match test series scoreline was still 0-0 and with the end of the 3rd test, both the teams were still in contention to get a series win from the upcoming 2 matches left in the series.

3. New Zealand vs West Indies in 1980

After having 2 test matches on the leap year day in 1968, the 3rd test was played in 1980 when West Indies toured New Zealand for a 3 match test series. New Zealand was 1-0 up and in the last test match, they elected to field first. From the West Indies team, Lawrence Rowe proved to be their best batter who notched up a 50 and took the team to 220 runs. Gary Troup from the West Indies team was hailed for his bowling as he picked up 4/71 in his 31 overs. Coming to the New Zealand team, their batting lineup was carried by Bruce Edgar who ended up scoring 127 runs and got 305 runs.

The 85 runs lead from the New Zealand team looked good and the pressure was on the West Indies team to handle it well. Coming to this, Gordon Greenidge produced a 74 runs knock and introduced a fightback from the West Indies team that took them to 264/9, and the West Indies captain declared by setting a target of 180 runs for the New Zealand team. Gary Troup was once again the star bowler for the team as he picked up 6 wickets by giving away just 95 runs.

West Indies vs New Zealand, 3rd Test at Bridgetown
West Indies	New Zealand
220 (84.2 overs)	305 (128.2 overs)
Lawrence Rowe 50 (124)	Bruce Edgar 127 (317)
Gary Troup 4/71 (31.2 overs)	Joel Garner 6/56 (36.2 overs)
264/9d (94.1 overs)	73/4 (36 overs)
Gordon Greenidge 74 (219)	John Wright 23 (83)
Gary Troup 6/95 (29.1 overs)	Alvin Kallicharran 1/0 (4 overs)
Match Drawn

In the final innings, New Zealand found themselves at 73/4 while chasing a target of 180 by the end of the fifth day. Though the match didn't quite reach the intensity of the Second Test, it was not without its share of controversy. Four senior West Indian players created a stir when they initially signalled their intention to catch flights home during lunch on the final day, leading to substitute fielders stepping in for the remaining sessions. Eventually, the players were convinced to abandon this course of action.

4. Bangladesh vs South Africa in 2008

After being 1-0 up in the 2-match series, South Africa played their first leap year match in 2008 and in the match they elected to bat first. And it was all South Africa into the match as they started their innings with a bang by Graeme Smith scoring 232 runs in the first innings and hence taking the total to 583/7d. Among the bowlers, Shahadat Hossain was the pick of the bowlers as he got 3/107 in the 25 overs that he bowled in the game. Coming to the Bangladesh team, they were bundled out for just 259 runs and it was only Shahriar Nafees who scored 69 runs for the team. Makhaya Ntini was the best bowler in the team as he got 4 wickets by giving away just 35 runs.

With a massive lead of 324 runs, South African captain Graeme Smith decided to enforce the Follow-on against the Bangladesh team and hence decided to wrap up the match as early as possible. While batting for the 2nd time in the match, Bangladesh was again bundled out for just 119 runs and hence allowing the South Africa team a big win by an innings and 205 runs. In the 2nd innings, the batting department was handled by Abdur Razzak who got 32 runs for the team while Robin Peterson bagged 5 wickets in just 13 overs.

Bangladesh vs South Africa, 2nd Test at Chattogram
South Africa	Bangladesh
583/7d (161.1 overs)	259 (70.4 overs)
Graeme Smith 232 (277)	Shahriar Nafees 69 (98)
Shahadat Hossain 3/107 (25 overs)	Makhaya Ntini 4/35 (13.4 overs)
	119 (f/o) (39.5 overs)
	Abdur Razzak 32* (40)
	Robin Peterson 5/33 (13 overs)
South Africa won by an innings and 205 runs

With the win in the 2nd test, South Africa grabbed the series by a 2-0 margin and it was Graeme Smith who bagged the Man of the Match award for scoring 232 runs in the match while Dale Steyn bagged the Man of the Series award for his amazing 14 wickets in the series.

5. New Zealand vs India in 2020

Another 2 test match series that saw a test match being played on 29th February was between India and New Zealand at the Hagley Oval, Christchurch. New Zealand was 1-0 up in the series and for the 2nd test, they decided to field first after winning the toss. From the Indian team, Hanuma Vihari scored 55 runs and gave India a fighting total of 242 runs in the first innings. From the bowlers, Kyle Jamieson proved to be the star as he took 5 wickets by giving just 45 runs. The New Zealand team in their first innings scored 235 runs and it was Tom Latham who got 52 runs for the team while from the bowling department, Mohammed Shami picked up 4 wickets for the team.

(Tim Southee celebrating after dismissing Virat in the 2nd test match)

Coming to the 2nd innings of the match, India had a 7 runs lead and had the job of batting well to make sure they give a big target to the New Zealand team when they bat second. But the things messed up and hence India was bundled out for just 124 runs and it was Cheteshwar Pujara who scored 24 runs and was the top run scorer for the team there. In the bowling department, Trent Boult picked up 4 wickets and gave away just 28 runs.

India vs New Zealand, 2nd Test at Hagley Oval, Christchurch
India	New Zealand
242 (63 overs)	235 (73.1 overs)
Hanuma Vihari 55 (70)	Tom Latham 52 (122)
Kyle Jamieson 5/45 (14 overs)	Mohammed Shami 4/81 (23.1 overs)
124 (46 overs)	132/3 (36 overs)
Cheteshwar Pujara 24 (88)	Tom Blundell 55 (113)
Trent Boult 4/28 (14 overs)	Jasprit Bumrah 2/39 (13 overs)
New Zealand won by 7 wickets

Coming to the batters of the New Zealand team, it was Tom Blundell who led from the front and scored 55 runs while chasing a target of 131 runs and gave the team an amazing win by 7 wickets. In that innings, Jasprit Bumrah picked up 2 wickets and gave away 39 runs in the process.

6. New Zealand vs Australia in 2024

The latest entrant in the list of Test matches that have taken place on the leap year day is of Australia vs New Zealand. It was the first test match of the series and was at Hagley Oval, Christchurch. New Zealand elected to field first on the green top and for the Australian team, it was all about Cameron Green who scored 174* and gave Australia an amazing total of 383 runs in the first innings. From the bowlers of the New Zealand team, Matt Henry got 5 wickets by giving just 70 runs.

Coming to bat for the first time in the match, New Zealand failed to bat well and hence they were bundled out for just 179 runs and it was only Glenn Phillips who got runs on the board as he smashed 71 runs for the team. The bowler who did well on the green top was Nathan Lyon as he picked up a 4 wicket haul and gave Australia a lead of 204 runs. After batting in the 2nd innings, Nathan Lyon became the top run-scorer and made 41 runs to take the target for New Zealand to 368 runs.

Australia vs New Zealand, 1st Test at Hagley Oval, Christchurch
Australia	New Zealand
383 (115.1 overs)	179 (43.1 overs)
Cameron Green 174*(275)	Glenn Phillips 71 (70)
Matt Henry 5/70 (30.1 overs)	Nathan Lyon 4/43 (8.1 overs)
164 (51.1 overs)	196 (64.4 overs)
Nathan Lyon 41 (46)	Rachin Ravindra 59 (105)
Glenn Phillips 5/45 (16 overs)	Nathan Lyon 6/65 (27 overs)
Australia won by 172 runs

While chasing a massive target of 368 runs, New Zealand faltered and hence was dismissed for just 196 runs and it gave Australia a win by 172 runs. Rachin Ravindra got 59 runs to his name while Nathan Lyon picked 6 wickets to complete his 10 wicket haul of the game.