[grahar64]

The longest test cricket match lasted 11days and was called off because one team had to catch a boat home

[kryptiskt]

Isner-Mahut in 2010 Wimbledon took 11 hours over 3 days and ended 6-4, 3-6, 6-7, 7-6, 70-68. It can't be repeated since they introduced tie breaks in the fifth set as a direct result of the travesty.

[dfxm12]

7 Days in Hell is another direct result of this match. :)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7_Days_in_Hell

[apparent]

I mean, it could be repeated, but it would require an incredibly stable fifth-set tiebreak.

[stevage]

What was the story? They're obviously limited to 5 days these days...

[Ashendar]

Basically up to World War II all cricket tests were timeless. So basically the game would go until one team dismissed the other twice while scoring more runs.

The match mentioned here refers to the Timeless Test played between England and South Africa in the latter in 1939. It seems a combination rainfall and rolling the pitch (i.e. playing surface) rejuvenated the pitch, making it relatively easy to bat on. Combined with some patient batting, this enabled the teams to run up some large scores. Typically the pitch starts to deteriorate after several days play, making it more difficult to bat on.