Pietersen,Gayle and century of test matches...

Hope all of you liked my first article on Sachin Tendulkar’s career in numbers. The second article on my blog is all about the players who reached the magical milestone of 100 test matches. In the next few weeks, we are going to see a few more players who joining that elite club. The first one will be Kevin Pietersen who reached there in the first Ashes test match at Woolloongabba which started yesterday. Others who are on the verge of this milestone are Chris Gayle (99), Michael Clarke (98) and Alistair Cook (98). In this blog you will get to know who was the oldest, youngest, fastest, slowest, who reached there with most runs and most wickets and many more.

Overall 56 players have reached the landmark of 100 test matches. Australia leads the pack with 11 players followed by 10 each from India and England. The strength of other teams in this club are - WI (8 players), SA (6), SL (5), Pakistan (4) and NZ (2). The most number of matches for Zimbabwe is by Grant Flower (67 tests) and for Bangladesh is Mohammed Ashraful (61 tests).

The first player to play 100 test matches was Colin Cowdrey of England. He achieved this landmark in the third Ashes test of 1968 at Edgbaston. He was leading English side in the series and he celebrated the occasion with a century, his 21^st. It took another 13 years for someone else to emulate Cowdrey's feat.

First 5 players to play 100 test matches

Player	Team	Debut	100th test	Time	Venue	Match Tally
Colin Cowdrey	Eng	24-Dec-32	11-Jul-68	13y, 227d	Edgbaston	104
Geoffrey Boycott	Eng	21-Oct-40	2-Jul-81	17y, 28d	Lord’s	17 & 60
Clive Lloyd	WI	31-Aug-44	28-Apr-84	17y, 136d	Kingston	20
Sunil Gavaskar	Ind	10-Jul-49	17-Oct-84	13y, 225d	Lahore	48 & 37
David Gower	Eng	1-Jun-78	21-Jul-88	10y, 50d	Leeds	13 & 2

Oldest to play 100 tests:

Player	Team	DOB	100th test	Age
Geoffrey Boycott	Eng	21-Oct-40	2-Jul-81	40y, 254d
Clive Lloyd	WI	31-Aug-44	28-Apr-84	39y, 240d
Graham Gooch	Eng	23-Jul-53	29-Jan-93	39y, 190d
G Greendige	WI	1-May-51	12-Apr-90	38y, 347d
Alec Stewart	Eng	8-Apr-63	3-Aug-00	37y, 117d

Youngest to play 100 tests:

Player	Team	DOB	100th test	Age
Sachin Tendulkar	Ind	24-Apr-73	5-Sep-02	29y, 134d
Mark Boucher	SA	3-Dec-76	11-Jan-07	30y, 39d
Jacques Kallis	SA	16-Oct-75	15-Apr-06	30y, 182d
Kapil Dev	Ind	6-Jan-59	15-Nov-89	30y, 313d
Ricky Ponting	Aus	19-Dec-74	2-Jan-06	31y, 14d

Least time to reach 100 tests:

Player	Team	Debut	100th test	Age
Andrew Strauss	Eng	20-May-04	16-Aug-12	8y, 88d
Kevin Pietersen	Eng	21-Jul-05	21-Nov-13	8y, 123d
Mark Waugh	Aus	25-Jan-91	2-Jan-00	8y, 342d
Mark Boucher	SA	17-Oct-97	11-Jan-07	9y, 86d
Ian Healy	Aus	15-Sep-88	30-Jan-98	9y, 137d

 Most time to reach 100 tests:

Player	Team	Debut	100th test	Age
Graham Gooch	Eng	10-Jul-75	29-Jan-93	17y, 203d
Clive Lloyd	WI	13-Dec-66	28-Apr-84	17y, 136d
Geoffrey Boycott	Eng	4-Jun-64	2-Jul-81	17y, 28d
Saleem Malik	Pak	5-Mar-82	10-Dec-98	16y, 280d
Wasim Akram	Pak	25-Jan-85	29-Nov-00	15y, 308d

Most runs after 100 tests:

Player	Team	Runs	Avg	100s
Brian Lara	WI	8916	52.14	23
Kumar Sanggakkara	SL	8651	55.81	25
Rahul Dravid	Ind	8553	57.79	22
Matthew Hayden	Aus	8508	51.87	30
Virender Sehwag	Ind	8487	50.51	23

Highest batting average after 100 tests:

Player	Team	Runs	Avg	100s
Sachin Tendulkar	Ind	8405	57.96	30
Rahul Dravid	Ind	8553	57.79	22
Ricky Ponting	Aus	8253	57.71	28
Javed Miandad	Pak	7694	57.41	22
Jacques Kallis	SA	7940	56.31	24

 
Most centuries after 100 tests:

Player	Team	Runs	Avg	100s
Sachin Tendulkar	Ind	8405	57.96	30
Sunil Gavaskar	Ind	8479	52.33	30
Matthew Hayden	Aus	8508	51.87	30
Ricky Ponting	Aus	8253	57.71	28
Kumar Sangakkara	SL	8651	55.81	25
Greame Smith	SA	8173	50.14	25

Most wickets after 100 tests:

Player	Team	Wickets	Avg	5-wkts
Muttiah Muralitharan	SL	593	22.37	49
Anil Kumble	Ind	485	27.98	31
Glenn McGrath	Aus	451	21.73	24
Shane Warne	Aus	444	26.56	21
Harbhajan Singh	Ind	411	32.38	25

Best bowling average after 100 tests:

Player	Team	Wickets	Avg	5-wkts
Glenn McGrath	Aus	451	21.73	24
Muttiah Muralitharan	SL	593	22.37	49
Wasim Akram	Pak	409	23.17	25
Shaun Pollock	SA	391	23.25	16
Courtney Walsh	WI	367	25.64	15

 Most 5 wicket hauls after 100 tests:

Player	Team	Wickets	Avg	5-wkts
Muttiah Muralitharan	SL	593	22.37	49
Anil Kumble	Ind	485	27.98	31
Ian Botham	Eng	383	28.24	27
Wasim Akram	Pak	409	23.17	25
Harbhajan Singh	Ind	411	32.38	25

 Highest individual scores in 100th test:

Player	Team	Wickets
Inzamam ul Haq	Pak	184
G Greenidge	WI	149
Javed Miandad	Pak	145
Ricky Ponting	Aus	143*
Graeme Smith	SA	131

 Best bowling figures in an innings in 100th test:

Player	Team	Wickets
Muttiah Muralitharan	SL	6/54
Shane Warne	Aus	6/161
Anil Kumble	Ind	5/89
Daniel Vettori	NZ	4/36
Kapil Dev	Ind	4/69

 Most catches in 100^th test:

Player	Team	Catches
Mark Waugh	Aus	4
Sunil Gavaskar	Ind	3
Mark Boucher	SA	3
Allan Border	Aus	3

·         14 players lead their sides during their 100^th test.

·      The years in which most players completed the 100th test are : 2006(8 players); 1998 (5); 1988 (4); 2000(4); 2005(4)

·         Ian Healy was the first wicket keeper to play 100 tests. Mark Boucher is the only other wicket keeper to do the same. Alec Stewart and Kumar Sangakkara played 82 & 48 tests respectively  as a wicket keeper.

·         Michael Atherton and Alec Stewart played their 100^th test the same match as did Jacques Kallis, Shaun Pollock and Stephen Fleming.

·         Graham Thorpe and Andrew Strauss played exactly 100 tests. Mohammed Azharuddin is the only player to end up on 99 tests.

·         KapilDev was the first bowler to play 100 tests.

·         Allan Border (153), Mark Waugh (107) and Sunil Gavaskar (106) are the only players to play 100 or more tests consecutively. Among the current players Alistair Cook (96), AB de Villiers (87) and Brendon McCullum (79) leads the list.

·       Ricky Ponting is the only player to score 2 centuries on his 100^th test. He achieved this against South Africa at Sydney in 2006.

·         Miandad scored 163 on debut, 280*(his personal best) in 50^th test and 145 in 100^th test.

·         Viv Richards took his 100^th catch in 100^th test.

·         Gordon Greenidge scored 93 & 107 on debut and 149 in his 100^th test.

·         Brian Lara scored a double century in his 99^th test, a fifty in his 100^th test and a century in his 101^st test.

·         Among players with 100 or more tests, Stephen Fleming and Andrew Strauss are the only 2 non-wicket keepers who never bowled.

·         Ian Botham took a 5-wicket haul on his debut and a century in his 50^th test.

·         Kirsten scored a century and bagged a duck in his 50^th test.

·         Ricky Ponting is the only player to win 100 or more tests.

·         Graeme Smith is the only player to captain in 100 or more tests.

TAILENDER

Pietersen served as a commentator for ESPN-Star during the ICC World T20 in SL as he was not a part of English squad following a disciplinary action from the ECB. Chris Gayle brought Gangnam style celebration during the tournament. Click here to watch who is better in Gangnam dance -  Pietersen or Gayle?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ld9ZjgPyQRk