Carrying the bat in Test cricket: What does it mean to carry your bat in cricket?

Carrying the bat in Test cricket: The debutant Kiwi opening batsman failed by a small margin to carry his bat in his maiden innings.

During the second day of the first Test of the ongoing New Zealand’s tour of England at Lord’s, New Zealand opening batsman Devon Conway become only the second batsman from their country (after Matthew Sinclair) to score a double century on Test debut.

Resuming from his overnight score of 136*, Conway successfully converted his century into a double century as his assured knock held the innings together on a day when his team lost wickets in a hurry.

It was on the last delivery of the 122nd over when Conway’s attempt of pulling a Mark Wood delivery saw him top-edging the ball for a six to reach to the 200-run mark.

However, it was in the next over when Conway and Neil Wagner’s decision to run a forceful second run resulted in the former’s dismissal. Short of his crease at the bowling end by a few millimetre, Conway had to walk back to the pavilion after scoring 200 (347) with the help of 22 fours and a six as the visitors were dismissed for 378 in 122.4 overs.

Carrying the bat in Test cricket

In addition to being short of his crease, 29-year old Conway was also short of a achieving a world record. Had Conway managed to return back to the dressing room unbeaten, he would’ve become the first batsman to carry his bat in his first Test innings.

In cricket, the term “carry your bat” refers to a situation when an opening batsman returns unbeaten to the pavilion after the dismissal of his whole team. In simple words, a batsman “carries his bat” when he returns to the pavilion “not out” with team getting all out in an innings.

While the first such instance was recorded by South Africa’s Augustus Bernand Tancred in 1889, current New Zealand opening batsman Tom Latham was the last batsman to do so in 2018.

The record for carrying a bat on most occasions in Test cricket lies with South Africa Test captain Dean Elgar (3).

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