Shining on Test debut

Many have done well on their Test debut. Here is a brief summary of the numbers:

Century on debut : 110 players have scored 112 centuries on their Test debut. This includes LG Rowe and Yasir Hameed who each scored two centuries on debut.

Double centuries on debut: Out of the 112 centuries mentioned above, only 7 were double centuries, headed by RE Foster’s 287 of long ago and with today’s D Conway at the bottom with exactly 200.

5 wickets in an innings: 101 players have taken 5wi on debut 112 times. 11 had taken two fivers on debut. The best innings figure is 8-43 by AE Trott

10 wickets in a match: 10wm on debut has been achieved by 17 players. This includes the 11 mentioned in the entry before this, besides others with combinations like 6+4 or 7+3. The two best performances are 16-136 by ND Hirwani, followed by 16-135 by RAL Massie.

So a double century on debut is the most difficult to achieve. However, as many as 13 players have made 200 runs in their debut match, headed by LG Rowe with 314 (214 + 100*). Next is RE Foster with 306 (287 + 19).

We will look deeper into 10wm on debut shortly. This category has found it most difficult to replicate their debut feat.

Centuries in both innings of a Test-Part 2

Hope you have seen Part 1: https://abn397.wordpress.com/2022/11/21/centuries-in-both-innings-of-a-test-part-1/

Going into more depth, we find there are 5 instances of players making their only two Test centuries in the same match :

1. J Moroney (Aus), 118 and 101* v SA, Johannesburg, 1950
2. Wajahatullah Wasti (Pak), 133 and 121* v SL, Lahore, 1999
3. Yasir Hameed (Pak), 170 and 105 v BD. Karachi, 2003 (on debut)
4. PG Fulton (NZ), 136 and 110 v Eng, Auckland, 2013
5. SD Hope (WI), 147 and 118* v Eng, Leeds, 2017

Points to note:

Wasti was playing in his 2nd Test.

Hope was the first to make centuries in both innings of a first-class match at Leeds, the home ground of several prolific batsmen such as Herb Sutcliffe, Len Hutton and Geoff Boycott.

Yasir Hameed made his only two Test centuries on his debut.

Apart from those listed above, here are those who made their first two Test centuries in the same match :

1. W Bardsley (Aus), 136 and 130 v Eng, Oval, 1909
2. VS Hazare (Ind), 116 and 145 v Aus, Adelaide, 1948
3. LG Rowe (WI), 214 and 100* v NZ, Kingston, 1972 (on debut)
4. GP Howarth (NZ), 122 and 102 v Eng, Auckland, 1978
5. LRD Mendis (SL), 105 and 105 v Ind, Chennai, 1982
6. PJ Hughes (Aus), 115 and 160 v SA, Durban, 2009
7. Imam-ul-Haq (Pak), 157 and 111* v Aus, Rawalpindi , 2022

Notes:

LRD Mendis was the first to make identical scores above 100 in both innings.

LG Rowe is the only one to score a century and double century on debut.

Imam-ul-Haq moved from the first list to the second list after he made his 3rd century in Dec 2022-which was also at Rawalpindi

Century on Test debut and never again (Oct 2022)

Many players have score2 centuries on Test debut, starting with Charles Bannerman in the very first Test in 1877. But a significant number have never made a century again. This even includes one who made 2 centuries on debut (Yasser Hameed).

A total of 110 players have made 112 centuries on Test Debut. Lawrence Rowe accompanies Yasser Hameed in making 2 centuries on debut. But 39 of these (over 35% ) never scored another century. Here is the list:

You can also see that some did not even cross fifty after their debut. They will be tabulated next.

Footnote: Fawad Alam was stuck on this list for over 11 years from 2009 to 2020 before he scored his second century and a few more.

Centuries on debut by Indian players (Updated in Nov 2021)

With Shreyas Iyer scoring 105 on his Test debut, here is the list of Indian players who have achieved this:

We see that Iyer is the 16th to achieve this for India.

The others who scored a century on debut (that match being against New Zealand), are AG Kripal Singh (100*) in 1955 and S Amarnath (124) in 1976.

We also look at Indian players who scored a 50+ on debut, that match being against New Zealand:

The number is less than one would think. And Iyer has the second highest score here, after Amarnath’s 124. And that is the only one IN New Zealand.

Century on debut and never again (May 2021)

Scoring a century on Test debut is not as difficult as one may think. As many as 108 players have scored 110 centuries on their Test debut, including LG Rowe and Yasir Hameed who scored centuries in both innings.

There are several who failed to score a century after their debut. The full list (up to 15/05/2021) is given below.

Players can drop off this list (as Fawad Alam did after over 11 years). Some current players (from PP Shaw downwards) can be reasonably expected to score another century sooner or later.

The most Tests played here are 25 by Yasir Hameed and 24 by L Amarnath. The latter was an useful bowler and a relatively better captain (by Indian standards of those days).

The most 50s scored after debut are 8 by Yasir Hameed and 7 by SK Raina. The latter was more successful in limited-overs matches, and was one of the first to score a century in a T20I.

Now we look at those who never crossed 50 after their debut.

Ganteaume played in only one innings. RE Redmond is not here as he scored a century and a fifty in his only Test.

The most Tests played among these players are 12 by van Zyl and 10 by DR Smith.

Fawad Alam (again!) got off this list after over 11 years.

There do not seem to be any current players here.

Rohit Sharma’s twin centuries

Rohit Sharma’s 176 and 127 marks the 86th occasion of two centuries in an innings in all Tests. He is the 70th batsman to achieve this, as several have done so on 2 or 3 occasions.

Among Indian players we have him as the 6th player on the 9th occasion:

Among those who opened in both innings, he is the 24th to do so on the 30th occasion.

He became the first to  score a century in both innings while opening for the first time.

We know that the only two to score centuries in both innings on debut are Lawrence Rowe and Yasir Hameed. They both batted at No 3.

CG Greenidge had a near miss with 93 and 107 on debut vs Ind at Bengaluru on 22/11/1974 where he opened. Similarly for AJ Strauss with 112 and 83 on debut vs NZ at Lord’s on 20/05/2004. Then there was Wajahatullah Wasti who scored 133 and 121* while opening in his second Test, though he had opened in the second innings of his debut Test.

Rohit Sharma had scored 177 on debut vs WI at Kolkata on 06/11/2013 and 111* in his next innings in his 2nd Test. He batted at No 6 in those innings.

He scored 13 sixes in this match (6 +7). This is a record in all Tests, surpassing the record set by Wasim Akram.

The previous record for India was 8 by NS Sidhu in his 124 vs SL at Lucknow on 18/01/1994.

Finally, this was the 58th instance of  scoring over 300 in a Test match. The 8 Indians who have achieved this on 9 occasions are:

 

Duck and fifty-plus on Test debut

February 12, 2019 is Gundappa Viswanath’s 70th birthday. And the 50th anniversary of his Test debut comes up later in 2019. So it is a good time to review the history of those who scored a century and duck on debut.

This club has only 4 members:

Note that Viswanath was the first member of this club, with a duck followed by a century on his debut. The only other member of this sub–group is Mohammad Wasim.

Then there is AC Hudson and current player KK Jennings who scored a century followed by a duck on debut.

There have been a total of 166 instances of a century and duck in the same Test, starting with WL Murdoch (0 and 153* in 1880) and ending with UT Khwaja (0 and 101* at Canberra in 2019).

We also look at those who scored a duck and 50+ on debut:

From India, there are only Viswanath, DJ Gandhi and GH Vihari.

Against India, there are captain Tony Lewis (1972), the little-known Australian GR Robertson in 1998, Jennings and Dawson in the same series in 2016 and Roshan Silva in 2017.

Those who narrowly missed a century would be Colin Milburn (94 in 1966) and Zulqarnain Haider (88 in his only Test in 2010).

 

 

Alastair Cook’s career-1

In the next few days, much will be written about Alastair Cook’s career and records. Here, we look back at his Test debut which was against India in 2006:

http://www.espncricinfo.com/series/14681/scorecard/239025/india-vs-england-1st-test-england-tour-of-india-2005-06

Other debutants included Monty Panesar and S. Sreesanth, who remained in the headlines one way or another for a period almost as long as Cook’s career.

Cook is one of a handful of players to have scored two fifties on Test debut. This is somewhat rarer than scoring a century on debut.

While some on this list are counted among the all-time greats, others did not have much of a career and are completely forgotten.

Centuries on debut for and against India

Today we look at

1. Test players from India who scored a century on debut.
2. Test players who scored a century on debut, that Test being against India
3. Also those who scored a century AND duck on Test debut.

These figures are as on Jan 17, 2018

Indian players who scored a century on Test debut:

No Indian has achieved this against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. All other Test teams are represented here.

RG Sharma is one of the few to score centuries in his first two Test innings. Azharuddin is not in this category as he scored two centuries in his first three innings.

Those who scored a century on Test debut, that Test being against India:

Interesting that there are 14 members on each of these lists.

No Pakistani player has achieved this against India. All other Test teams are represented.

Finally, KK Jennings became the 4th player to score a century and duck on Test debut in late 2016. The full list is:

Note that Viswanath was the first to score a duck and century on debut.

There are also those who scored a century and an unbeaten zero on debut. An unbeaten zero is not considered as a duck. The only instance in all Tests is that of BR Taylor (105 and 0*) against India in 1965 noted above. That came about in a declaration with 9 wickets down: http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/62966.html

And Taylor remains the only one to score a century and take a five-for on Test debut.

Next time we will look at fivers and tenners on Test debut.