The first thousand

No. 1: Australia v England, 1877, Melbourne
This is where it all began. The MCG on March 15, 1877. Yet at the time no one knew the significance it would hold. It was billed as James Lillywhite's XI against a Combined Australia XI, and not advertised as an international, but came to be recognised as the first representative match between two countries. Test cricket was born. Alfred Shaw bowled the first ball to Charles Bannerman, who scored the first run in Tests, and the first century, with his 165. It remained the highest Test score for seven years, until Billy Murdoch hit the first double ton in 1884. However, to this day Bannerman's innings still holds the record of the highest percentage of a team's total in a Test match. Bannerman was forced to retire hurt in the end, but he had helped set up a 45-run victory. Tom Kendall took 7 for 55 in England's second innings as they failed to chase 154. This was a timeless Test but took just four playing days to complete.

No. 100: Australia v England, 1907-08, Sydney
It took Test cricket 30 years to reach its first century, partly because there were still just three countries involved (South Africa played their first match in 1889). The hundredth Test had a similar result to the first. Victor Trumper hit 166 in Australia's second innings, as the home side overturned a deficit of 144 to leave England chasing 279 on a surface damaged by rain. Jack Saunders' five wickets did the major damage, which Wilfred Rhodes' half-century couldn't repair. Australia won by 49 runs and took the series 4-1.

No. 200: South Africa v England, 1930-31, Johannesburg
This was an impressive performance from South Africa, who were bowled out for 126 in their first innings, by Bill Voce and Ian Peebles. However, the captain, Buster Nupen, took 11 for 150 with his quick bowling on a matting pitch - where he was far more effective than on grass wickets. Bruce Mitchell's 72 was the top score of the match, leaving England to chase 240, and despite Wally Hammond and Maurice Turnbull's half-centuries, they fell 28 short.

No. 300: England v Australia, 1948, Lord's
England went down by 409 runs to Don Bradman's Invincibles. The first day was an even contest, where Arthur Morris' 105 was the standout performance, but from there Australia pulled away. Ray Lindwall took five wickets to secure a big lead, after which Sid Barnes built on the advantage with 141. Ernie Toshack claimed 5 for 40 on the final day, but there was no doubt who Australia's key man was with the ball. "Well as Toshack bowled in getting five wickets for eight runs each, Lindwall was the match-winner," said Wisden. "His very fast ball and his bumper presented problems which few of the batsmen could answer, and he was even more devastating than his figures of 8 for 131 indicate."

No. 400: Pakistan v India, 1954-55, Karachi
The Test-match field was growing, with Pakistan joining the fray in 1952. This game itself, a four-day encounter, was largely forgettable, as a five-match series ended 0-0, although there had seemed the chance of a result until rain arrived on the third day. GS Ramchand took 6 for 49 before Khan Mohammad and Fazal Mahmood took five each to earn Pakistan a narrow lead at the end of day two. Alimuddin then hit an unbeaten 103, but time ran out.

No. 500 Australia v West Indies, 1960-61, Melbourne
It took 83 years to reach the 500th Test. Two weeks on from the tied match in Brisbane the teams met again in Melbourne. This time the result never threatened to be such a nail-biter. Australia gained an early ascendency; their first-innings 348 marked an impressive recovery from 251 for 8. Johnny Martin hit 55 at No. 10 on his Test debut. The Test was played in eight-ball overs, but Australia's scoring rate was impressive and would have equated to nearly four an over in six-ball overs. Richie Benaud, Australia's captain, and Don Bradman, their chairman of selectors, had promised attacking cricket. Alan Davidson took six wickets, forcing West Indies to follow on, and although Conrad Hunte hit 110 they could only build a lead of 66. Joe Solomon was out hit-wicket when his cap hit the stumps.

No. 600: Australia v England, 1965-66, Adelaide
A convincing victory for Australia, which levelled the series at 1-1 with one match to play. England were bowled out for 241, Garth McKenzie taking six wickets. In reply, Australia took a lead without losing a wicket - their openers Bob Simpson and Bill Lawry added 244. Simpson went on to hit 225, and although only one further Australia batsman, Grahame Thomas, passed 50, the overall lead was a hefty 275. Ken Barrington fought hard for 102 in the second innings but Neil Hawke's five wickets meant Australia didn't need to bat again.

No. 700: England v Australia, 1972, Trent Bridge
The series was all square at 1-1 when the teams met in Nottingham, and Ray Illingworth's decision to field first didn't go down well. "A sensation," Wisden called it and later suggested: "Some people reckoned also that Illingworth did not trust the England batsmen against Lillee and Massie when the pitch would be at its fastest on the first morning." Keith Stackpole's 114 set up Australia, then Dennis Lillee and Bob Massie - supporting the theory of the impact they could have - troubled England's batting with four apiece to earn a 126-run lead. An unbeaten 170 from Ross Edwards, an innings that would remain his best in Tests, left England needing 451 in about a day-and-a-half. This time, though, there was much more resilience from the home side, firstly from Brian Luckhurst, who batted nearly six hours for 96, then from Basil D'Oliveira and Tony Greig, who survived the final three and a half hours to secure a draw.

No. 800: Australia v England, 1976-77, Melbourne
The Centenary Test. This was a one-off match to mark 100 years of Test cricket. It was a remarkable game on many levels, played in fine spirit and, extraordinarily, with the same result margin as the first Test. "An occasion of warmest reunion and nostalgia, the cricket continuously compelling, a result straining credulity," Wisden said. The first innings were low-scoring: Australia's 138 was followed by England's 95, where Dennis Lillee took 6 for 26. Slowly the conditions improved for batting and the home side built a commanding position. Rod Marsh scored an unbeaten century, but it was another innings that caught the imagination. David Hookes, making his debut at 21, took on England's bowlers, especially Tony Greig, in a thrilling display. "If not for those five gun-barrel blows off Tony Greig's five speculative offbreaks, David Hookes might never have become World Series Cricket's mop-haired centrefold," Chris Ryan, the Australian journalist, later wrote. Yet that wasn't the end of the drama. Derek Randall then produced his finest innings, of 174 - famously doffing his cap at Lillee after another bouncer whistled past his head - to give England a chance. "Then, felled by another bouncer, he gaily performed a reverse roll," recalled Wisden. Ultimately, though, Lillee had the final say when he trapped Alan Knott lbw to end the game with 11 wickets.

No. 900: West Indies v England, 1980-81, Barbados
Between England and West Indies in the 1980s it was all one-way traffic. This match was a prime example. Even bowling out West Indies for 265 didn't really give the visitors a chance. England were blown away by the "dream team" - Michael Holding, Andy Roberts, Joel Garner and Colin Croft. Holding bowled one of Test cricket's most famous overs, to Geoff Boycott: five unplayable deliveries were followed by one that extracted Boycott's off stump and sent it cartwheeling to the boundary amid the cacophonous cheers of the crowd. "The hateful half-dozen had been orchestrated into one gigantic crescendo," wrote Frank Keating. However, the Test would be hit by tragedy when Ken Barrington, the England assistant manager and coach, died of a heart attack during the night. The players carried on but defeat was inevitable, as Viv Richards hit an unbeaten 182. And despite a fighting hundred from Graham Gooch, England were bowled out for 224.

No. 1000: Pakistan v New Zealand, 1984-85, Hyderabad
A victory for Pakistan in the game's landmark Test - 107 years after the first - but New Zealand put up a fight, until hundreds from Mudassar Nazar and Javed Miandad (his second of the match) made light work for the chase. John Reid's 106 led the visitors to a fighting first-innings total of 267, after which Stephen Boock, the left-arm spinner, took a career-best 7 for 87, earning his side a narrow lead after Pakistan collapsed from 153 for 2. However, Pakistan's spinners proved a handful throughout the series, and they worked their way through New Zealand's line-up again. Iqbal Qasim took 5 for 78, and despite two early wickets for Martin Crowe - thrust into the role of new-ball bowler - Miandad and Mudassar secured victory with a day to spare.