Nearly….

[This is one for cricket aficionados. Others will find it as duller than a Reality TV Rejects Competition]

I’ve been watching the India-Pakistan Test all morning (after waking up at 3.45am for the second weekend  day in succession). Today Sourav Ganguly nearly did it.

Nearly did what? Well, if he’d been out one run earlier, he’d have taken 238 off the list.

What list? The all-time list of scores achieved by batsmen in Test cricket. There have been over 1850 Tests; in those Tests, batsmen have achieved every score between 0 and 228. No batsman has ever been out (or innings-closed-not-out) on 229. The next unachieved number after 229 is 238.

Today, Ganguly sailed through the 220s without stopping at 229, so that wasn’t on. But he was on 238 for a short while.

And got out one run later.

Nearly….