Century (cricket)
Encyclopedia
Sport
A Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...
of cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
, a batsman reaches his century when he scores 100 or more runs
Run (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a run is the basic unit of scoring. Runs are scored by a batsman, and the aggregate of the scores of a team's batsmen constitutes the team's score. A batsman scoring 50 or 100 runs , or any higher multiple of 50 runs, is considered a particular achievement...
in a single innings
Innings
An inning, or innings, is a fixed-length segment of a game in any of a variety of sports – most notably cricket and baseball during which one team attempts to score while the other team attempts to prevent the first from scoring. In cricket, the term innings is both singular and plural and is...
. The term is also included in "century partnership" which occurs when two batsmen add 100 runs to the team total when they are batting together. A century is regarded as a landmark score for batsmen and a player's number of centuries is generally recorded in his career statistics
Cricket statistics
Cricket is a sport that generates a large number of statistics.Statistics are recorded for each player during a match, and aggregated over a career. At the professional level, statistics for Test cricket, one-day internationals, and first-class cricket are recorded separately...
. Scoring a century is loosely equated in terms of merit to a bowler
Bowling (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, bowling is the action of propelling the ball toward the wicket defended by a batsman. A player skilled at bowling is called a bowler; a bowler who is also a competent batsman is known as an all-rounder...
taking five wicket
Wicket
In the sport of cricket the word wicket has several distinct meanings:-Definitions of wicket:Most of the time, the wicket is one of the two sets of three stumps and two bails at either end of the pitch...
s in an inning
Inning
Inning is a municipality in the district of Erding in Bavaria in Germany....
s, and is colloquially referred to as a ton.
Earliest known centuries
Centuries were uncommon until the late 19th century because of the difficulties in batting on pitches that had only rudimentary preparation and were fully exposed to the elements. There is doubt about the earliest known century, but the most definite claim belongs to John MinshullJohn Minshull
John Minshull aka Minchin was a famous English cricketer during the 1770s...
who scored 107 for the Duke of Dorset's XI v Wrotham at Sevenoaks Vine on 31 August 1769. This was a minor match.
The first definite century in a major cricket match was scored by John Small when he made 136 for Hampshire v Surrey at Broadhalfpenny Down
Broadhalfpenny Down
Broadhalfpenny Down, situated on a hilltop about a mile from the rural village of Hambledon in Hampshire, was the home venue for first-class cricket matches of the Hambledon Club from 1753 to 1781...
in July 1775. The earliest known century partnership was recorded in 1767 between two Hambledon
Hambledon Club
The Hambledon Club was a social club that is famous for its organisation of 18th century cricket matches. By the late 1770s it was the foremost cricket club in England.-Foundation:...
batsmen who added 192 for the first wicket against Caterham. It is believed they were Tom Sueter
Tom Sueter
Thomas Sueter was a famous English cricketer who played for the Hambledon Club....
and Edward "Curry" Aburrow and it is almost certain that at least one of them scored an individual century, but there is no confirmation in the sources.
When Hambledon played Kent at Broadhalfpenny in August 1768, the Reading Mercury reported: "what is very remarkable, one Mr Small, of Petersfield, fetched above seven score notches off his own bat". Unfortunately it is not known if Small did this in one innings or if it was his match total. Hambledon batsmen Tom Sueter and George Leer
George Leer
George Leer was a famous English cricketer who played for Hampshire in the time of the Hambledon Club.Leer began playing in the 1760s...
are the first two players definitely known to have shared a century partnership when they made 128 for the first wicket against Surrey at Broadhalfpenny Down in September 1769.
Highest total of centuries in First-class cricket
W. G. GraceW. G. Grace
William Gilbert Grace, MRCS, LRCP was an English amateur cricketer who is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest players of all time, having a special significance in terms of his importance to the development of the sport...
was the first batsman to score 100 career centuries in first-class cricket
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
, reaching the milestone in 1895. His career total of 124 centuries was subsequently passed by Jack Hobbs
Jack Hobbs
Sir John Berry "Jack" Hobbs was an English professional cricketer who played for Surrey from 1905 to 1934 and for England in 61 Test matches from 1908 to 1930....
, whose total of 199 first-class centuries is the current record.
Test cricket centuries
The first century in Test cricketTest cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
was scored by Charles Bannerman
Charles Bannerman
Charles Bannerman was an Australian Test cricketer, a right-hand batsman, who played domestic cricket for New South Wales....
who scored 165 (before retiring hurt) in the first ever Test between Australia and England (played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...
from 15–19 March 1877). The first century partnership in Test cricket
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
was put on between W. G. Grace
W. G. Grace
William Gilbert Grace, MRCS, LRCP was an English amateur cricketer who is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest players of all time, having a special significance in terms of his importance to the development of the sport...
and A. P. Lucas, batting for England, in the first innings of the only Test match between England and Australia on the Australians 1880 tour of England, played at the Kennington Oval (6–8 September 1880).
The current holder of the record for most centuries in Test cricket is Sachin Tendulkar
Sachin Tendulkar
Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar is an Indian cricketer widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket. He is the leading run-scorer and century maker in Test and one-day international cricket. He is the only male player to score a double century in the history of ODI cricket...
of India, who has scored 51 centuries.
One Day International Centuries
The first One Day International (ODI) century was scored by Denis Amiss who amassed 103 runs against Australia at Old Trafford in 1972 (the second official ODI on record). Sachin TendulkarSachin Tendulkar
Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar is an Indian cricketer widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket. He is the leading run-scorer and century maker in Test and one-day international cricket. He is the only male player to score a double century in the history of ODI cricket...
currently holds the record for most ODI centuries, having scored 48 centuries;including a record being the only batsmen to score a 200 in a ODI cricket.