The 588-run feast at Old Trafford

Would you rather have been in Colombo, watching Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene bat for a whole day against South Africa, or at Mumbai when 20 Indian and Australian wickets tumbled on an unplayable dustbowl? If you prefer a balance between bat and ball the first day of the Edgbaston Ashes Test in 2005, where England were dismissed after scoring a whopping 407, is a must watch. This week we look at days in a Test match packed with runs and wickets.

The record for most runs in a day belongs not to the modern age when batsmen plunder at will but to the pre-World War II era when England played India at Old Trafford in 1936. On the second day, England resumed on 173 for 2 with Wally Hammond and Stan Worthington at the crease. Hammond went on to score 167 and England added 398 runs for the loss of six wickets. Vijay Merchant and Mushtaq Ali began India's strong riposte by ending the second day on 190 for no loss. On the third morning, they were separated at 203; it remained India's best opening stand in England until 1979.

In fact, among the top 20 highest-scoring days, there are only four entries from post-1970, of which two involve Bangladesh.

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Twenty seven wickets fell on the second day of the first Ashes Test at Lord's in 1888, the most in a day's play. The weather had been bad for weeks and the conditions were hostile when England began on 18 for 3, trailing Australia by 98 in the first innings. Charlie Turner took 5 for 27 to skittle England out for 53, after which George Lohmann and Bobby Peel dismissed Australia for 60. Chasing 124, England were once again unraveled by Turner, and JJ Ferris, who took five each to give Australia victory by 61 runs on the second day.

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During the course of their 624-run partnership against South Africa at Colombo in 2006, Jayawardene and Sangakkara batted for the whole of the second day and added 357 runs, equaling the record for most runs in a day without losing a wicket. The pair that they drew level with was Gary Sobers and Conrad Hunte, who batted the entire third day during their 446-run stand against Pakistan at Kingston in 1958. Sobers went on to score 365 not out and passed Len Hutton's 364 as the highest individual score in Tests.

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One way of measuring a collapse is to look at runs per wicket and, by this parameter, Mohammad Sami's Test debut against New Zealand at Auckland in 2001 is ranked third. New Zealand began the final day on 105 for 1, needing another 326 to win. Although victory was unlikely, New Zealand had every chance of drawing the match as the pitch - the first of the drop-in variety used in New Zealand - had received criticism from Wisden for 'having no life'. Saqlain Mustaq had Mark Richardson caught in the first over after which Sami tore through the middle and lower order during a spell of 5 for 6 off seven overs. The last eight wickets fell for ten runs and the last five batsmen were all dismissed for ducks as Pakistan won by 299 runs.

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Four of the five lowest totals in a full day's play involve Australia, Pakistan and Karachi. And two of those four days were in the same Test in 1956. The first day produced only 95 runs with Australia being dismissed for 80 in the 54th over on a matting wicket. The fourth was another drag with Australia scoring 187 at 1.7 per over in the second innings. Pakistan were left with only 69 to chase but they batted for 160 minutes on the fourth day and were still six short at stumps. There was no play the next day because it was the death anniversary of Liaquat Ali Khan, the first Prime Minister of Pakistan, so they had to wait until the day after that to knock off the remaining runs.

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