Only a rear-guard action by Brad Haddin and Mitchell Johnson saved some embarrassment for Australia on Day 1 of the first Ashes Test at Gabba. The England had the whipping hand at Tea restricting the Aussies to 153 for 6.
The Public enemy No.1 as per Australians, Stuart Broad was their chief tormentor, snaffling 5 wickets. But the total let down of the day was not seeing ‘thala’ Kevin Pietersen in action.
Not exactly absent was KP, as he took the catch to dismiss David Warner, off who else, but Stuart Broad.
But what we love about Kevin Pietersen is not his fielding or even his off-field tantrums, only his batting.
This especially being his 100th Test Match, look forward to a 100, maybe even two! Why not? This is Brad Haddin’s 50th Test, and he has scored his 50 and is still playing at stumps (273 for 8).
:-)
KP is only the 10th England player to make the 100-Test club. I write England players and not ‘English’ players, for some of them are not exactly British - like KP himself, who is a South African. Imagine, if KP had not been made to wait 4 years of qualifying period, what more he could have achieved.
(image courtesy BBC)
Which really makes the qualifying period stupid, in cases like KP. For Pietersen was born to an English mother, which made him eligible to play for England. In such cases, why waste time denying Cricket the extraordinary batting skills of a player like KP?
For the record, the 9 players before him who are in the 100 Test match club are:
Alec Stewart (133), Graham Gooch (118), David Gower (117), Mike Atherton (115), Colin Cowdrey (114), Geoffrey Boycott (108), Ian Botham 9102), Andrew Strauss, and Graham Thorpe (100).
Curiously, India already has 10 players in the 100 Test Club:
Sachin Tendulkar (200), Rahul Dravid (163), VVS Laxman (134), Anil Kumble (132), Kapil Dev (131), Sunil Gavaskar (125), Dilip Vengsarkar (116), Sourav Ganguly (113), Virender Sehwag (104), and Harbhajan Singh (101).
More statistics for the bored:
As of the 1st Ashes Test, the 100 Test club has 56 players. Before the Ashes are finished at least 2 more players will join the group - Michael Clarke (99), and Alastair Cook (99). Chris Gayle (99), and Ian Bell (94) will jump in later this year.
Of the 56 cricketers to have played 100 Test matches till today, 11 are Australians, 10 each of Englishmen and Indians, 8 from West Indies, 6 Proteas, 5 Sri Lankans, 4 Pakistanis and 2 Kiwis.
The Public enemy No.1 as per Australians, Stuart Broad was their chief tormentor, snaffling 5 wickets. But the total let down of the day was not seeing ‘thala’ Kevin Pietersen in action.
Not exactly absent was KP, as he took the catch to dismiss David Warner, off who else, but Stuart Broad.
But what we love about Kevin Pietersen is not his fielding or even his off-field tantrums, only his batting.
This especially being his 100th Test Match, look forward to a 100, maybe even two! Why not? This is Brad Haddin’s 50th Test, and he has scored his 50 and is still playing at stumps (273 for 8).
:-)
KP is only the 10th England player to make the 100-Test club. I write England players and not ‘English’ players, for some of them are not exactly British - like KP himself, who is a South African. Imagine, if KP had not been made to wait 4 years of qualifying period, what more he could have achieved.
(image courtesy BBC)
Which really makes the qualifying period stupid, in cases like KP. For Pietersen was born to an English mother, which made him eligible to play for England. In such cases, why waste time denying Cricket the extraordinary batting skills of a player like KP?
For the record, the 9 players before him who are in the 100 Test match club are:
Alec Stewart (133), Graham Gooch (118), David Gower (117), Mike Atherton (115), Colin Cowdrey (114), Geoffrey Boycott (108), Ian Botham 9102), Andrew Strauss, and Graham Thorpe (100).
Curiously, India already has 10 players in the 100 Test Club:
Sachin Tendulkar (200), Rahul Dravid (163), VVS Laxman (134), Anil Kumble (132), Kapil Dev (131), Sunil Gavaskar (125), Dilip Vengsarkar (116), Sourav Ganguly (113), Virender Sehwag (104), and Harbhajan Singh (101).
More statistics for the bored:
As of the 1st Ashes Test, the 100 Test club has 56 players. Before the Ashes are finished at least 2 more players will join the group - Michael Clarke (99), and Alastair Cook (99). Chris Gayle (99), and Ian Bell (94) will jump in later this year.
Of the 56 cricketers to have played 100 Test matches till today, 11 are Australians, 10 each of Englishmen and Indians, 8 from West Indies, 6 Proteas, 5 Sri Lankans, 4 Pakistanis and 2 Kiwis.
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