Do you know? The first Englishman to score a Test hundred on debut at Lord’s
Every batter dreams to reach the three-figure mark irrespective of the format at the Home of Cricket, Lord’s. The most iconic and historic stadium in the world has a special honors board, which commemorates players who score a century, pick five wickets in an innings, or take ten wickets in a Test or limited-overs game. Many cricketers have achieved the feat of scoring a ton at the venue but John Hampshire was the first England player to do so on his debut.
Hampshire etched his name into the history books when he became the first player from the country to smash a century at Lord’s on debut. The right-handed batter grabbed the landmark against West Indies in 1969.
Flash back to first century at Lords by an Englishman
The Caribbean side toured for a three-match Test series with the home side winning the opening encounter at Old Trafford in Manchester by ten wickets to go 1-0 up in the series. The action then moved to Lord’s for the second game and the tourists won the toss and opted to bat first.
They posted 380 on the board in their first innings with Charlie Davis smashing a ton. In reply, the hosts managed to reach 344 courtesy of centuries from Hampshire and skipper Ray Illingworth. The former scored 107 off 258 with the help of 15 fours batting at no. six.
The match ended up in a draw with the home side sealing the series 2-0 (3) in Headingly. Born on February 10, 1941, he amassed 403 runs at an average of 26.86. In 16 innings, he struck one century and two half-centuries with the highest score of 107. He played 577 First-Class games and mustered 28059 runs at an average of 34.55, including 43 tons and 156 fifties with the highest score of unbeaten 183.
His last Test appearance came against arch-rivals Australia in Leeds in 1975. Apart from Hampshire, only two other English cricketers have managed to hit a ton on their respective debuts at Lord’s. Former Skipper Andrew Strauss did it against New Zealand in 2004 and former wicketkeeper batter Matt Prior against West Indies in 2007.
