The ‘Bazball’ era has sparked a wave of England Test players trying to blast their way to the top of the quickest century leaderboard.
Batters will always boringly claim that their thoughts are purely on team success, but secretly we all know they want to be top of that particular tree.
Unsurprisingly, given Bazball’s stand and deliver approach, three of the four fastest England Test hundreds have all come in the last few years.
However, the fastest England Test century is over a 120 years old when ball counting was probably done by a man sitting on the boundary halfway through a bottle of sherry.
It’s probably the same person who also totted up all of Pele’s ‘record-breaking’ goals tally and included the ones he scored in his garden against his children.
Simply put, the fastest ever England Test ton is still disputed. But we respect the past on Cricket365, so are prepared to trust the stats on this one.
Before we launch into this list of England’s fastest Test centuries, it’s worth noting that the quickest Test century in the world is McCullum’s 54-ball ton against Australia in 2016.
England have some way to go to hit that peak. Ashes later in the year perhaps…
1. Gilbert Jessop (76 balls v Australia at the Oval, 1902)
- England Test career span: 1899-1912
- Highest Test score for England: 104 v Australia at the Oval in 1902
- Test batting average for England: 21.88
Jessop was a 5ft 7in all-rounder who was nicknamed ‘The Croucher’ for his odd batting stance. Probably not a nickname that would stand the test of time today, without thinking about visiting the bathroom.
Jessop could have been selected for England on his fast bowling and fielding skills alone, but his aggressive batting style sees him top this list.
The 1898 Wisden Cricketer of the year, like England’s current bowling attack, struggled with back injuries throughout his career and played just 18 Tests.
It was at the Oval in 1902 where he inked himself into folklore, thrashing his hundred off just 76 balls in 77 minutes. He came to the crease with England on 48-5, so was probably expected to dig in, but it turned into his only century for England in 26 innings.
Now this is where the stats get a bit wobbly. As you’d expect, ‘balls faced’ counting was not a big thing at the turn of the century, estimates for Jessop’s ton range from 72 to 77 balls. Before a newspaper claimed it was 76 just to shut everyone up.
But that’s not all. In 1902, you were only awarded a six if the ball left the stadium. Jessop hit 17 fours in his innings and many deliveries reportedly cleared the boundary rope, two went on the roof and one was even caught on the players’ balcony.
With modern six scoring rules, Jessop would have reached his century in far fewer balls and wouldn’t have today’s cricketers eyeing his record for top spot.
2. Jonny Bairstow (77 balls v New Zealand at Trent Bridge, 2022)
- England Test career span: 2012-2024
- Highest Test score for England: 167* v Sri Lanka at Lord’s in June 2016
- Test batting average for England: 36.39
Breathing down Jessop’s neck is one of Yorkshire’s favourite sons, Jonny Bairstow, who fell just one run short of levelling the long-established record.
England were set a target of 299 by New Zealand to win the second Test at Trent Bridge and Bairstow arrived at the crease in the 15th over with England in deep trouble on 56/3 after Root had chipped back to bowler Trent Boult for an easy dismissal.
After creeping his way to an unbeaten 43 off 48 balls before the tea break, Bairstow really went to town in the evening session.
With his foot pressed firmly on the accelerator, his fifty arrived in the first over after tea and he then raced along to his ninth Test century in just 77 balls.
He eventually perished on 136 off 92 balls, which included 14 fours and seven sixes; leaving Ben Stokes and Ben Foakes to comfortably steer England home inside 50 overs.
Two weeks later at Headingley, Bairstow smashed another amazing 162 runs off 157 balls against New Zealand, in the first innings of the third Test. His 100 came off a much more sedate 95 balls.
3. Harry Brook (80 balls v Pakistan at Rawalpindi, 2022)
- England Test career span: 2022 – present
- Highest Test score for England: 317 v Pakistan in Multan, Oct 2024
- Test batting average for England: 59.52
Harry Brook has one of the highest Test averages since 2020.
Rawalpindi in December 2022 was a batters’ dream, with England (657) and Pakistan (579) posting huge first innings scores.
Four of England’s opening five batters scored over hundred and a dramatic 74-run victory on the final day somewhat overshadowed Brook’s impressive knock.
In only his second Test, Brook biffed his ton off 80 balls, which included 14 fours and two sixes. He also hit Saud Shakeel for six consecutive fours.
He eventually bowed out after being caught on 153 off 116 balls.
In the second innings, Brook also rattled off a quick 87 off 65 balls, and might have broken the record if Stokes hadn’t surprisingly declared.
4. Jamie Smith (80 balls v India at Edgbaston, 2025)
- England Test career span: 2022 – present
- Highest Test score for England: 184* v India at Edgbaston, July 2025
- Test batting average for England: 58.64
The most recent of the quickest test centuries on the list, sadly Smith’s 80-ball ton comes amid a sea of England batting misery.
Smith arrived at the crease with England in a hole on 84-4. But with the help of Harry Brook and Smith’s aggressive 80-ball century, the duo dragged the hosts to a respectable total of 407; granted well short of India’s 587 first innings total.
Smith was left stranded on 187 not out from 207 balls, and was top scorer again in the second innings with 88, but by then England were doomed to defeat.
5. Ben Stokes (85 balls v New Zealand at Lord’s, 2015)
- Test career span: 2013 – present
- Highest Test score for England: 258 v South Africa at Cape Town, Jan 2016
- Test batting average for England: 35.12
Not content with scoring a 92 off 94 balls in the first innings, Stokes crushed 85-ball run 100 in the second, which included 15 fours and three sixes.
England went on to win by 124 runs, and Stokes hundred was the fastest Test ton scored at Lord’s.
6= Zak Crawley (86 balls v Pakistan at Rawalpindi, 2022)
- England Test career span: 2019 – present
- Highest Test score for England: 267 v Pakistan at Southampton, Aug 2020
- Test batting average for England: 31.12
Crawley’s impressive 86-ball hundred is now mostly forgotten as it came in the same match as Brook’s 80-ball hundred in Rawalpindi in 2022.
Don’t worry Zak, we still remember it…
6 = Ian Botham (86 balls v Aus at Headingley and Old Trafford, 1981)
- England Test career span: 1977 – 1992
- Highest Test score for England: 208 v India at The Oval, July 1982
- Test batting average for England: 33.54
Two superb 86-ball tons from Sir Botham in the iconic 1981 Ashes series.
The 18-run victory at Headingley is arguably one of the most famous England Test victories of all time.
Botham walloped a 149 off 148 balls in the second innings, to give England a glimmer of hope. Then he and Bob Willis ripped into the Australians in the second innings and the rest is history.
At Old Trafford a few weeks later, Botham helped seal a series win with a 118 off 102 balls in the second innings, which included setting a record for most sixes in an Ashes innings.
Botham would have been well on track for breaking Jessop’s record when thrashing 66 runs in eight overs before tea, unfortunately it came after taking 53 balls to reach 28.
9= Ben Duckett (88 balls v India in Rajkot, 2024)
- England Test career span: 2016 –
- Highest Test score for England: 182 v Ireland at Lord’s, June 2023
- Test batting average for England: 42.67
Duckett reached his hundred in just 88 balls and went on to score 153, but it was a brief highlight from a miserable test against India in Rajkot.
He was the only England player to score over 50 in the first innings, before Yashasvi Jaiswal milked 214 runs in India’s second innings and put the game to bed.
England lost by a massive 434 runs, and Duckett was the only player worth mentioning in dispatches.
9= KP Pietersen (88 balls v West Indies, Port Of Spain, 2009)
- England Test career span: 2005 – 2014
- Highest Test score for England: 227 v Australia at Adelaide, Dec 2010
- Test batting average for England: 47.28
But where’s KP, I hear nobody cry.
Here he is clinging on to a top-ten spot with his 88-ball 100 in the fifth Test against West Indies.
Given the way the current England side are going about racking up hundreds, this could be the last time we see KP this high on the list.
Honourable mentions for England hundreds under 100 balls
Ollie Pope (90 balls v Pakistan at Rawalpindi, Dec 2022)
Harry Brook (91 balls v New Zealand at Wellington, Dec 2024)
Zak Crawley (93 balls v Australia at Old Trafford, July 2023)
Graham Gooch (95 balls v India at Lord’s, Jul 1990)
Jonny Bairstow (95 balls v New Zealand at Headingley, June 2022)
Ian Botham (99 balls v New Zealand at Trent Bridge, Aug 1983)