Flashback: The first-ever cricketer to hit 100 sixes in Test cricket
Hailed as the purest version of the gentleman’s game, Test cricket is indeed a test of players’ skills, patience, and character. Unlike ODI and T20I cricket, an individual can’t make a mark within a span of a few deliveries. Instead, one needs to toil four hours and sometimes even days to make a substantial contribution. After all, a Test match spans for as many as five days.
Scoring runs in this version of the game also takes some beating as the red cherry does more talking than the white one. While the new ball would swing around, spinners will come into play as the game progresses. Also, the matter of fact is that it takes just one delivery to dismiss a player. Hence, a batter can’t afford to put a foot wrong.
Owing to all these factors, we see a majority of the batters emphasizing to play long knocks and bat defensively. Nevertheless, there have been students of this game who don’t obey this law. In modern-day cricket, we have seen players following an attacking approach even in the longest format of the game.
Adam Gilchrist – The man who revolutionised the role of a wicketkeeper
Speaking of attacking batting, taking the aerial route in Test cricket was a vastly unpopular idea a few decades ago. However, batters don’t mind depositing the red ball in stands these days. Hitting sixes, in fact, has become a hallmark of many players’ batting styles. However, do you know who was the first player to smash 100 sixes in Test cricket?
He was none other than Adam Gilchrist. The dashing wicketkeeper-batter was nothing short of a nightmare for bowlers during his playing days. While the Australian talisman was an opener in white-ball cricket, he used to bat at number six in Test matches. Be it saving the side from a top-order collapse or boosting the total with a substantial knock, Gilly rose to every challenge and took Australia to numerous wins.
Speaking of his sixes, the southpaw cleared the ropes 100 times in 96 Test matches. As mentioned above, he was the first to achieve the fact. In fact, former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum is the only other player to hit 100 sixes in Test matches to date. The Kiwi swashbuckler smashed a total of 107 sixes in 101 Test matches during his phenomenal career.
