On Thursday morning, as he strode out for toss at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot, Ben Stokes became the 76th cricketer and the 16th man from England to play in 100 Test matches.
Ben Stokes made his Test debut in 2013 and had already attained a legendary status in England cricket before taking over the Test captaincy in 2022, the role in which he brought a revolution in England’s Test cricket with the famous Bazball approach. His 100th Test is his 22nd Test as England’s skipper.
The all-rounder who is famous for creating match-turning, momentum-shifting moments in the game has amassed 6251 runs with 13 centuries and taken 197 wickets,
Here is the full list of the England cricketers to have played in 100 Test matches:
James Anderson – 185* Tests
Stuart Broad – 167
Alastair Cook – 161
Joe Root – 138*
Alec Stewart = 133
Ian Bell – 118
Graham Gooch – 118
David Gower – 117
Michael Atherton – 115
Colin Cowdrey – 114
Geoff Boycott – 108
Kevin Pietersen – 104
Ian Botham – 102
Ben Stokes – 100*
Graham Thorpe – 100
Andrew Strauss – 100
It’s just a number: Ben Stokes on playing 100 Test matches
On the eve of his 100th Test, Stokes played down the talks of the milestone, stating that every Test is equally important.
“It’s just a number. I don’t want it to sound like I’m not thankful for the opportunities I’ve had, but with milestones, it’s not done until it’s done. Every Test is just as important as the next one. Then there’s the next one, which will be 101 – it’s just one more. It’s a sign of longevity, but 99, 100 or 101 doesn’t make much difference,” the England captain said.
England made one change from their XI in Vizag. Seeing a better surface in Rajkot, the visitors have replaced off-spinner Shoaib Bashir with fast bowler Mark Wood. Wood played in the first Test in Hyderabad without much success and was rested from the second Test in Vizag, where James Anderson led the attack. England played only one pacer in the first two Tests each, but now in Rajkot will play with two pacers.
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