here is an EXTRACT from an article on quick scoring test hundreds , i have omitted pre 1900
these were taken from the era of scoring runs quickly but along the ground
D. G. Bradman, 334 for Australia against England at Leeds, 1930. On the opening day Australia scored 458 for three, Bradman's share being 309. He reached 50 in even time, 102 out of 127 in 95 minutes, and at lunch he was 105 out of 134. He added 115 between lunch and tea, and another 89 after tea. This was the fastest double-century and triple-century in Anglo-Australian Tests and for sustained fast scoring has few equals.

S. J. McCabe, 189 not out for Australia against South Africa at Johannesburg, 1935-36. In a remarkable match Australia needed 399 runs to win after South Africa had fought back with a score of 491 (Nourse 231). They reached 85 for one before bad light ended the third day's play. Of these McCabe had scored 59, reaching 50 in 40 minutes with ten 4s. Next morning, on a turning, dusty pitch, he continued to hit while Fingleton kept his end up. When Fingleton was out for 40, the two had put on 177 runs of which McCabe had made 148. He reached 100 in 91 minutes, 150 in 145 minutes, and at lunch he was 159. By mid-afternoon, with Australia 274 for two and victory in sight, lightning and thunder clouds encircled the ground. It was so dark that the South African captain appealed against the light on the grounds that the fielders could no longer see the ball leave McCabe's bat. This unique appeal was upheld, and within minutes the field was under water. McCabe's innings (29 4s) seemed to Fingleton like a crazy dream.

R. Benaud, 121 for Australia against West Indies at Kingston, Jamaica, 1954-55. After West Indies had scored 357, Australia replied with 758 for eight declared. Five batsmen made centuries, the most dramatic of them being Benaud's. Coming in eighth, with the score 597 for six, he reached 50 in 38 minutes and 100 in 78 minutes, and when finally caught he had made 121 out of 161 in 96 minutes. He hit two 6s and eighteen 4s, five of them off consecutive balls from Dewdney. His hitting, for all its power, was admirably controlled.

B. R. Taylor, 124 for New Zealand against West Indies at Auckland, 1968-69. In what was the first century made by a New Zealander against West Indies, Taylor, primarily an opening bowler but also a powerful left-handed hitter, went in No. 8 at 152 for six. He reached 50 in 30 minutes and 100 in 86 minutes. When out he had made 124 in 110 minutes, including five 6s and fourteen 4s. A notable match ensued. This was Taylor's second century in first-class cricket, both of them in Test matches.

Another, remarkable Test innings, worthy of mention, was R. C. Fredericks's 169 for West Indies against Australia at Perth in 1975-76. In reply to Australia's 329 on a fast pitch, opener Fredericks hooked his second ball from Lillee for 6, almost on to the sightscreen. Within 45 minutes, he reached 50 off 33 balls. His opening partner, Julien, was out for 25 in the tenth over with the score at 91. At lunch, when only fourteen overs had been bowled in the 90-minute session, the score was 130 for one. Fredericks's hundred came up in 116 minutes off only 71 balls, and he continued to savage the bowling until he was third out at 258 for a score of 169. West Indies went on to score 585, made at a rate of six runs an over off Lillee, Thomson, Gilmour, Walker and Mallett. This is the second-fastest Test hundred based on balls received. The comparatively slow time shows how much a leisurely over-rate can distort the balance between balls received and time taken.

Two other memorable spell of fast scoring were by McCabe, in his 232 against England at Trent Bridge in 1938, when he scored his last 72 runs out of 77 in 28 minutes, and by Botham in his 118 against Australia at Old Trafford in 1981 when he scored his last 90 runs off 49 balls in 53 minutes.
© John Wisden & Co