To score a double century is no easy achievement, to score double ton in both innings of a game is even greater feat. Did you know the first batter who achieved the rare double? Arthur Edward Fagg was the first cricketer to score two double centuries in a single game.
Arthur was an English cricketer who played for Kent County Cricket Club and the English cricket team. A right-handed opening batsman who first played for Kent at the age of 17, in a County Test match against Essex, Fagg created history by becoming the first man to score double hundreds in both innings. On July 15, 1938, Arthur Fagg followed his 244 in the first innings with 202 not out against Essex at Colchester.
The Englishmen scored the first double hundred 244 in a span of five hours on the Day 1 including a century before lunch. The second double hundred (202) came in just two hours and fifty minutes.
Arthur’s numbers
Arthur's style of play was more like a T20 batsman, nearly a century ahead of his time. Fagg thrived over fast bowlers and his favourite shot was the hook shot.
The right-handed batsman went on to score more than 25,000 runs with 58 hundreds.
Born on June 18th, 1915, Fagg was not only good at batting. He was a safe-keeping option as well in the absence of first-choice keepers like Les Ames or Hopper Levett. Arthur finished with 432 dismissals (425 catches and seven stumpings).
Tragic end
As the sea tides turn quickly, the fate of Arthur Fagg also took a hit. When everything was going his way, he caught a serious rheumatic fever that made it difficult for him to continue during the 1936-37 Ashes. Later, he never completely recovered and ultimately finished with only five Tests under his name. Thus, his international career was short-lived.
Arthur, the umpire
As time flew by, Arthur tried a hand at managing the game. Fagg went on to umpire in 18 Tests and 7 ODIs. In an incident at Edgbaston in 1973, he refused to take the field after the West Indies team disputed one of his decisions.
When it happened again
Nearly no one came close to Fagg in clinching the tag of double hundred in both innings. It took several decades for the cricketing world to produce such a rare performance. The time finally came in February 2019, Sri Lanka's Nondescripts Cricket Club captain Angelo Perera became the second, making 201 and 231 in the same game against the Sinhalese Sports Club.
