Northeast joins elite club with Lord's record triple

He's never even played a match for England - but high-class batter Sam Northeast has joined cricket's immortals while compiling the highest-ever first-class score at Lord's, the game's revered home.

Glamorgan captain Northeast powered his way to 335no against Middlesex in the county championship on Saturday, beating Graham Gooch's record of 333, scored for England against India in a 1990 Test, as the biggest individual innings in 210 years at London's cricketing cathedral.

Northeast declared with his side on 3-620 and selflessly deprived himself of the chance of easing past his best score of 410no, scored in another county game at Leicester two years ago.

But by adding his record-breaking treble ton to that quadruple, the unsung 34-year-old has joined an elite group of just five other batters who could boast at least one innings of over 300 and another of over 400.

They include Australian legend Bill Ponsford, who scored two quadruples, and the greatest of them all, Don Bradman, who made five triples to go with his famous, one-time world record of 452no for NSW against Queensland in 1930.

West Indian legend Brian Lara remains out on his own as the only man to have scored a quadruple - the world Test record of 400no made against England in 2004 - and a quintuple, the 501no for Warwickshire against Durham in 1994 that still stands as the game's sole 500-plus score. 

And the other two monster scorers were England's Graeme Hick (one quadruple and three triples) and Pakistan's Hanif Mohammad (one quadruple, one triple).

But of that list, Northeast, for long a prolific scorer on the English circuit, is the only one never to have played Test cricket.

Players with a first-class 400+ score and 300+ score

 

Don Bradman: 1x400, 5x300

 

Bill Ponsford: 2x400, 2x300 

 

Brian Lara: 1x500, 1x400, 1x300

 

Graeme Hick: 1x400, 3x300

 

Hanif Mohammad: 1x400, 1x300

 

Sam Northeast: 1x400, 1x300

Northeast struck 36 fours and six sixes in his majestic knock that occupied 412 balls and eight-and-three-quarter hours as he became only the sixth player ever to score a triple at cricket's home.

He did get dropped once, on 239, and should have been stumped by Jack Davies when he skipped out of his crease on 291, but on a belting track he was commanding while sharing an unbroken fourth-wicket stand of 299 with Colin Ingram, who finished 132no.

Starting the day on 186, Northeast reached his double ton within four overs and after he got to his triple with a swept boundary he accelerated and took a leg-side single off Henry Brookes to go past Gooch's revered score before declaring at the end of that over.

In response, Middlesex moved easily to 1-138, with Australian-born Sam Robson making 43 and former Test opener Mark Stoneman moving to 64no.

Australians in the 2024 County Championship

Durham: Scott Boland, Ashton Turner (T20s only)

Essex: Daniel Sams (T20s only)

Glamorgan: Marnus Labuschagne

Gloucestershire: Cameron Bancroft, Beau Webster

Hampshire: Michael Neser, Ben McDermott (T20s only)

Kent: Xavier Bartlett, Wes Agar

Lancashire: Nathan Lyon

Leicestershire: Peter Handscomb, Marcus Harris

Northamptonshire: Chris Tremain

Somerset: Matthew Renshaw

Surrey: Sean Abbott

Sussex: Nathan McAndrew, Daniel Hughes