Thirty-six years between Tests

The third Test between India and Sri Lanka in Mumbai was the first played at the Brabourne Stadium since England visited in 1973. This week we've looked at venues that endured years of drought between international matches.

The Brabourne Stadium, built on land reclaimed from the sea and gifted to the Cricket Club of India by Lord Brabourne, was Mumbai's second Test venue after the Bombay Gymkhana ground. However, disputes between the CCI and the Bombay Cricket Association led to the BCA building the Wankhede Stadium, which then became the city's Test venue from the 1970s. The recent India-Sri Lanka Test was only held at the Brabourne because the Wankhede was being renovated for the 2011 World Cup. The gap of 36 years and 294 days between matches at the Brabourne is the largest for any Test venue, including the South African ones that were deprived of Test cricket during the country's isolation because of the apartheid regime.

The longest a South African venue went without a Test, however, was not during their international ban. St George's Park in Port Elizabeth hosted the first Test to be played outside England and Australia in 1889 and it staged two more matches before Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town took precedence over it. St George's Park went 35 years without a Test between 1914 and 1949, after which it held matches on a regular basis. It was also the venue of the last Test South Africa played before their isolation in 1970.

The Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka is the only venue to have hosted a first home fixture for two Test nations. Pakistan hosted India in 1954-55 in what was East Pakistan at the time, and Bangladesh played India there 46 years later, when they became the 10th nation admitted into the Test fold. Before Bangladesh's maiden Test, though, the Bangabandhu held the first neutral Test since 1912 - the final of the Asian Test Championship, between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, in 1999. It was the first Test there for 29 years, since Bangladesh seceded from Pakistan.

What's the largest gap for a team - visiting ones included - between Tests at a particular venue? South Africa's first ever Test in New Zealand was in Christchurch, whose Test ground was called Lancaster Park at the time. Their next, and last to date, visit there was 67 years later, shortly after Lancaster Park was renamed the Jade Stadium. The South Africans are yet to visit the venue since it was christened the AMI Stadium.

You might think the longest gap between Tests at a particular venue for a player would be a period in the early 1900s - tours were relatively few and far between and cricket was put on hold while the world went to war, twice. But it isn't. India have played only two Tests at Napier's McLean Park, and Sachin Tendulkar was involved in both those matches, which were 19 years apart. He made 88 there during a draw in 1990, and 49 and 64 in another draw in 2009.

Here's another tough, but workable, one. Who is the only male cricketer to have played more than one international at the County Ground in Taunton (which since 2006 has been the home of English women's cricket)? If your answer is an England player, you'd be wrong, because Sri Lanka are the only team to have played two ODIs in Taunton. They played England there in the 1983 World Cup and, nearly 16 years later, took on India during the 1999 tournament. And Arjuna Ranatunga was in both those Sri Lankan XIs.

The longest gap between a team playing ODIs at a particular venue also belongs to Sri Lanka. They first played at Old Trafford during the 1975 World Cup and then during the 1979 tournament. Their next appearance in Manchester for an ODI was 23 years later, during the Natwest series in 2002.

If there's a particular List you would like to see, email us with your comments and suggestions.