Slowest Test century for England: Is Dom Sibley’s second Test hundred slowest for an English batsman?

Slowest Test century for England: Dom Sibley’s second Test century is among the slowest ones for English batsmen since 1990.

During the second day of the second Test of the ongoing West Indies’ tour of England in Manchester, England opening batsman Dom Sibley pushed an Alzarri Joseph delivery down the ground to run three runs and complete his second Test century.

Opening the batting with Rory Burns (15) yesterday, Sibley completed a well-deserved century on the back of (still) playing for more than 100 overs.

In what wasn’t the best of starts for England on Day 1, Sibley put on display grit and determination to hang in there after his team lost three wickets. As a result, the 24-year old batsman is in the middle of an unbeaten 181-run partnership alongside vice-captain Ben Stokes.

With England struggling to zero in on an opening pair in this format, Sibley scoring two Test centuries in contrasting conditions this year has undoubtedly put his name forward to demand a longer run at the top of the order.

Slowest Test century for England

It wouldn’t be wrong to say that the best part about Sibley’s innings was his patience in the form of leaving balls outside the off-stump. Giving the impression of judging the surface early on, Sibley understood the importance of spending time in the middle on a sluggish pitch.

The right-hand batsman’s discipline was such that discussions of him scoring the slowest Test century for England were doing the rounds yesterday. Sibley, who reached the three-figure mark on the 312th delivery that he faced, has sure entered the record books as far as English batsmen are considered.

Since the start of 1990, former captain Nasser Hussain (343) has scored the slowest Test century for England. Having scored only four boundaries before reaching his century, Sibley’s 312-ball effort finds him at the fifth place in the list of slowest Test centuries by an English batsman after 1990.

Batsman	Balls	Against	Venue	Year
Nasser Hussain	343	SA	Durban	1999
Michael Atherton	326	AUS	Sydney	1991
Michael Atherton	317	PAK	Karachi	2000
Michael Atherton	315	WI	The Oval	2000
Dom Sibley	312	WI	Old Trafford	2020
Michael Atherton	310	NZ	Trent Bridge	1990
Michael Vaughan	299	SL	Kandy	2003
Robin Smith	295	SL	Colombo	1993
Michael Atherton	294	NZ	Old Trafford	1994
Ian Bell	293	IND	Nagpur	2012