Test cricket Test cricket is a Forms of cricket, format of the sport of cricket, considered the game’s most prestigious and traditional form. Often referred to as the "ultimate test" of a cricketer's skill, endurance, and temperament, it is a format of i ...

is the longest version of the sport of

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

. Test matches are played between international teams of eleven players each over four

innings An innings is one of the divisions of a cricket match during which one team takes its turn to bat. Innings also means the period in which an individual player bats (acts as either striker or nonstriker). In cricket and rounders, "innings" is ...

; each team

bats Bats are flying mammals of the order Chiroptera (). With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most birds, flying with their very long spread-out ...

twice. In the women's variant, the game is scheduled to last four days of play. The

Women's Cricket Association The Women's Cricket Association (WCA) was responsible for the running of women's cricket in England between 1926 and 1998. It was founded by a group of enthusiasts following a cricket holiday in Malvern. Forty-nine games were arranged in that fir ...

was formed in England in 1926, and the first women's Test was played between

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

in 1934. The English team were on a tour of Australia and New Zealand, arranged by the WCA. The

International Women's Cricket Council The International Women's Cricket Council IWCC was the global governing body of Women's cricket. formed in February 1958 by the women's cricket associations of Australia, England, the Netherlands, New Zealand and South Africa. In 2005 it was merg ...

was formed in 1958 as the governing body for women's cricket. In 2005, women's cricket was brought under the

International Cricket Council The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the global Sports governing body, governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from Australia, England, and South Africa. In 1965, the body wa ...

along with men's cricket; at that time 89 of the council's 104 members had started developing women's cricket. As of February 2025, a total of ten teams have played a total of 151 women's Test matches and 2 matches were abandoned. England have played the most matches (102) while

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

and the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

have played only one Test each. A

century A century is a period of 100 years or 10 decades. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. ...

is a score of a hundred or more runs in an innings. The first century in women's Test cricket was scored in 1935 by

Myrtle Maclagan Myrtle Ethel Maclagan (2 April 1911 – 11 March 1993) was an English cricketer who played as a right-handed Batting (cricket), batter and right-arm Off spin, off break Bowling (cricket), bowler. She appeared in 14 Women's Test cricket, Test m ...

, who made 119 runs for England against Australia. Since then, a total of 119 centuries, including nine double centuries, have been scored. Betty Snowball of England (189 runs) held the record for the highest individual score for over 51 years. She was the second cricketer to hold the record after Maclagan, a record which stood until

Sandhya Agarwal Sandhya Agarwal (born 9 May 1963) is an Indian former cricketer and former captain of the India women's cricket team. She hails from Indore in Madhya Pradesh. Career She played in 13 Test matches from 1984 to 1995, scoring 1,110 runs at a ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

surpassed it by a single run in 1986. Following Agarwal the record was held by

Denise Annetts Denise Audrey Annetts (married name Denise Anderson; born 30 January 1964) is an Australian former cricketer who played as a right-handed batter. She appeared in 10 Test matches and 43 One Day Internationals for Australia between 1985 and 19 ...

(Australia, 1987), Kirsty Flavell (

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, 1996),

Karen Rolton Karen Louise Rolton (born 21 November 1974) is an Australian former cricketer and captain of the national women's team. A left-handed batter, she has scored the most runs for her country in women's Test cricket. International cricket After ma ...

(Australia, 2001),

Mithali Raj Mithali Raj (born 3 December 1982) is an Indian former cricketer who captained the national team from 2004 to 2022. She is the highest run-scorer in women's international cricket, and ESPN ranked her as one of the greatest female cricketers of ...

(India, 2002), and the current record holder Kiran Baluch of

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

who, in 2004, scored 242 runs against the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

. Janette Brittin of England has scored five centuries in a Test career spanning 27 matches and 44 innings, the most hundreds in women's Test match history. Flavell scored the first double century in women's Test cricket in 1996; later eight more double centuries were scored, by

Joanne Broadbent Joanne Broadbent (born 29 November 1965) is an Australian former cricketer who played as an all-rounder, batting left-handed and bowling left-arm medium. She appeared in 10 Test matches and 60 One Day Internationals for Australia between 19 ...

(Australia, 1998),

Michelle Goszko Michelle Ann Jane Goszko (born 7 October 1977) is a former Australian cricketer. A right-handed batter and occasional right-arm Medium pace bowling, medium pace bowler, she played 4 Test cricket, Test matches for Australia national women's cric ...

(Australia, 2001),

(Australia, 2001), Mithali Raj (India, 2002), and Kiran Baluch (Pakistan, 2004),

Ellyse Perry Ellyse Perry (born 3 November 1990) is an Australian cricketer and former soccer, soccer player. Having debuted for both the Australia women's national cricket team, national cricket and Australia women's national soccer team, national soccer t ...

(Australia, 2017) and Shafali Verma (India, 2024). , Australia and England have the most centurions (25 players each) while English players have scored the most centuries (47 times). The first part of this list includes all players who have scored a Test century. The list is organised in chronological order; in cases where more than one player has scored a century in the same match or innings, the player who started batting earlier is listed first. The second part of the list provides an overview of century scores by Test playing teams. Teams are listed in the order of debut; in cases where two teams played their first match together, the host team is listed first.

Key

Century scores

Team overview

References

Bibliography