Well, it happened again that week - Brian Lara made 202 for West
Indies against South Africa
at Johannesburg, but also finished up on
the losing side. Actually Lara has done this twice: he also scored 221
against Sri Lanka at the Sinhalese Sports Club
in Colombo in 2001-02,
and West Indies lost that one by 10 wickets. There have been nine
other instances of a player scoring a double-century in a Test but
losing. The first was in 1894-95, in the famous match mentioned in the
first question, when Syd Gregory made 201 for Australia v England
at Sydney. The others are: Aubrey Faulkner, 204 for
South Africa v Australia,
Melbourne, 1910-11; Victor Trumper, 214* for
Australia in the very next Test,
at Adelaide, 1910-11; Len Hutton, 202* for England
at The Oval, 1950, in a match West Indies won by an innings;
Neil Harvey, 205 for Australia v South Africa
at Melbourne, 1952-53; Graeme Pollock, 209 for South
Africa v Australia
at Cape Town, 1966-67; Dennis Amiss, 203
for England v West Indies
at The Oval, 1976; Matthew Hayden, 203 for Australia v India
at Chennai, 2000-01; and
Nathan Astle, 222 for New Zealand v England
at Christchurch, 2001-02. There
was a record for Ponting, though: his 242 is the highest score by
anyone who has finished on the losing side in a Test, beating Astle's
222.