Joe Darling's 91-Minute Hundred — Fastest Test Century, Sydney 1898

Darling had played his first Test in 1894-95 against Stoddart's England. He was a left-handed opener with a strong off-side game, born in Adelaide and educated at Prince Alfred College. The 1897-98 series was his breakthrough.

Series stood 3-1 to Australia. Sydney pitch was true; weather warm. Australia won the toss and batted.

The 1897-98 Ashes were already decided 3-1 to Australia by the Fifth Test at Sydney in March 1898. Darling, the 27-year-old South Australian opener, had already made 178 at Adelaide in the Third Test (reaching 100 by hitting Briggs over the eastern gate). He needed 50 in the Sydney Test to pass 500 series runs; he made 160.

The innings opened on a true SCG pitch. Darling drove from the start, particularly off Tom Hayward, and reached 50 in 47 minutes. He hit 100 in 91 minutes — at the time the fastest Test century, beating George Bonnor's 99 minutes from 1882. He went on to 160 in 165 minutes, 30 boundaries. Australia 335 in the first innings.

Darling's 91-minute hundred stood as the fastest Test century until Jack Gregory's 70-minute hundred at Johannesburg in 1921-22. His series totals — 537 runs, three hundreds — set the template for the 'attacking opener' that Trumper, Hayden, Warner and Hick would later inhabit. He became Australia's captain in early 1899 on the strength of this series.

“Mr Darling drove and pulled with the freedom of a man who had nothing left to prove.”

Darling captained Australia from 1899 to 1905, including the 1899, 1902 and 1905 tours of England. He won the 1899 series 1-0 (his first as captain) and the 1902 series 2-1. He retired in 1907 and farmed in Tasmania, eventually becoming a Tasmanian state senator. He died in 1946.