I was scrolling through the list of Test series results on Statsguru the other day (as one does), and my mind was wandering to the idea of a perpetual title for Test cricket. Similar to the concept of a boxing World Championship where to become the champion you must defeat the champion. Such titles already exist for other sports; usually they remain unofficial like the Unofficial Football World Championships (current holder: Germany) or the Raeburn Shield for rugby (current holder: Wales), but occasionally they are an actual real thing, like the Ranfurly Shield in New Zealand (current holders: Otago).
In the spirit of historically significant naming customs, I have called the perennial Test competition...
The Bannerman Shield
After Charles Bannerman, hero of the inaugural Test match.
Rules of the Bannerman Shield
- All Bannerman Shield series take on the format of Champion versus Challenger.
- In all series, the Champion shall be the home team and the Challenger the away team.
- In order to retain the Shield, the Champion need only draw the Test series.
- In order to take the Shield, the Challenger must win the Test series.
Without further ado, let us follow the history of the Shield from the very first Test to the present day.
Champion Team: Vacant (1877 - 1879)
Australia claimed the Bannerman Shield on 4th January 1879
Champion Team: Australia (1879 - 1883)
England claimed the Bannerman Shield on 30th January 1883
This ended a 1,488 day reign with one successful defence
Champion Team: England (1883 - 1899)
Australia claimed the Bannerman Shield on 16th August 1899
This ended a 6,043 day reign with four successful defences
Champion Team: Australia (1899 - 1904)
England claimed the Bannerman Shield on 3rd March 1904
This ended a 1,661 day reign with two successful defences
Champion Team: England (1904 - 1909)
Australia claimed the Bannerman Shield on 11th August 1909
This ended a 1,988 day reign with two successful defences
Champion Team: Australia (1909 - 1912)
England claimed the Bannerman Shield on 13th February 1912
This ended a 917 day reign with one successful defence
Champion Team: England (1912 - 1921)
England 3 - 0 South Africa (in the Triangular Tournament)
England 1 - 0 Australia (in the Triangular Tournament)
- - World War I - -
Australia claimed the Bannerman Shield on 5th July 1921
This ended a 3,431 day reign with two successful defences that included World War One
Champion Team: Australia (1921 - 1929)
England claimed the Bannerman Shield on 5th January 1929
This ended a 2,742 day reign with one successful defence
Champion Team: England (1929 - 1930)
Australia claimed the Bannerman Shield on 22nd August 1930
This ended a 595 day reign with one successful defence
Champion Team: Australia (1930 - 1933)
England claimed the Bannerman Shield on 16th February 1933
This ended a 910 day reign with two successful defences
Champion Team: England (1933 - 1934)
Australia claimed the Bannerman Shield on 22nd August 1934
This ended a 553 day reign with one successful defence
Champion Team: Australia (1934 - 1955)
- - World War II - -
England claimed the Bannerman Shield on 2nd February 1955This ended a 7,470 day reign with six successful defences
Champion Team: England (1955 - 1961)
Australia claimed the Bannerman Shield on 22nd August 1961
This ended a 2,394 day reign with six successful defences
Champion Team: Australia (1961 - 1971)
England claimed the Bannerman Shield on 17th February 1971
This ended a 3,467 day reign with six successful defences
Champion Team: England (1971)
India claimed the Bannerman Shield on 24th August 1971
This ended a 189 day reign with one successful defence
Champion Team: India (1971 - 1975)
West Indies claimed the Bannerman Shield on 29th January 1975
This ended a 1,255 day reign with one successful defence
Champion Team: West Indies (1975 - 1995)
West Indies 1 - 0 South Africa
Australia claimed the Bannerman Shield on 3rd May 1995
This ended a 7,400 day reign with fifteen successful defences
Champion Team: Australia (1995 - 2008)
South Africa claimed the Bannerman Shield on 30th December 2008
This ended a 4,991 day reign with twenty-four successful defences
Champion Team: South Africa (2008 - 2009)
Australia claimed the Bannerman Shield on 10th March 2009
This ended 71 day reign with no successful defences
Champion Team: Australia (2009 - 2011)
England claimed the Bannerman Shield on 7th January 2011
This ended a 669 day reign with two successful defences
Champion Team: England (2011 - 2012)
South Africa claimed the Bannerman Shield on 20th August 2012
This ended a 592 day reign with three successful defences
Champion Team: South Africa (2012 - 2014)
South Africa 2 - 0 New Zealand
Australia claimed the Bannerman Shield on 5th March 2014
This ended a 563 day reign with three successful defences
Champion Team: Australia (2014 - 2016)
South Africa claimed the Bannerman Shield on 15th November 2016
This ended a 987 day reign with three successful defences
Champion Team: South Africa (2016 - 2019)
Sri Lanka claimed the Bannerman Shield on 23rd February 2019
This ended an 831 day reign with six successful defences
Champion Team: Sri Lanka (2019 - present)
No defences yet.
After their defeat of South Africa in the Test series earlier this year, Sri Lanka have taken possession of the Bannerman Shield for the first time in their history. They became the sixth holders of the title after Australia (1879), England (1883), India (1971), West Indies (1975) and South Africa (2008). Despite extensive history in the Shield, New Zealand (since 1958), Pakistan (since 1964), Bangladesh (since 2003) and Zimbabwe (also since 2003) have not yet managed to claim the title. Afghanistan and Ireland have yet to be Challengers..
Current Bannerman Shield holders: Sri Lanka
Next series: Sri Lanka vs New Zealand in about a month
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