New Zealand batsman Brendon McCullum has finally secured membership in one of cricket’s most sought-after clubs after being the first of his countrymen to score 300 runs in a single innings.

When the New Zealand captain stepped to the crease, his side were in danger of losing the final test in their three-match series against India. 557 balls, 32 fours and 4 sixes later, McCullum was basking in a standing ovation from the Wellington crowd, his 300 runs cementing a place in the history books. 

That he only lasted for two more balls is inconsequential. Far more consequential was the support of James Neesham, who became only the seventh player to score a debut test century from number eight. By taking the majority of the strike late in the match’s fourth day and early into the fifth, Neesham gave his captain every chance of achieving the milestone.

With a clip for two between the slips and gully, McCullum had ended New Zealand’s 84-year wait for a triple-centurion. Only 23 other players have ever achieved such a feat – names cemented in cricketing history. Don Bradman, Sir Garry Sobers and Brian Lara to name but three.

Only one player has ever passed that margin in a Nottinghamshire shirt. Walter Keeton holds the honour, a man who in 1939 scored 312 to help Notts on their way to inflicting a heavy defeat on Middlesex at The Oval.

After winning the toss and electing to bat, Keeton took to the crease and batted through the entire innings. It took him 435 minutes to achieve the feat, alongside Joseph Hardstaff Jr, Bill Voce and George Gunn Jr in a Notts side blessed with famous surnames.

While Keeton is the only man to have reached 300 for Notts, two men came extraordinarily close in the 1903 season. Arthur Jones amassed a colossal 296 against Gloucestershire at Trent Bridge in July, but not before John Gunn raced to a 265-minute 294 against Leicestershire two months earlier.

Historical representatives top the list of highest scores in a single innings for the county, but one contemporary player lies in fourth. David Hussey, whose uncanny ability was one of the driving forces in Nottinghamshire’s 21st century successes. 

While fighting their way back up from Division Two of the LV= County Championship, Notts hosted Essex, who would never have anticipated the impact of Hussey. Arriving at number five, Hussey hit 41 boundaries including 14 maximums on his way to a career-best 275.

Who will be the next Notts man to break into such an exclusive group? With the 2014 squad boasting the batting talents of Alex Hales, Michael Lumb, James Taylor, Samit Patel and Phil Jacques, there is every chance that history could be made at Trent Bridge.

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