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.

Proper Test 100 …. Well played @DomSibley 👍

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) July 17, 2020

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.

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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