The 100 Club

2006 will see the entry of quite a few members into the '100 tests' club.

Anil Kumble recently played his 100th test match at the Kotla, but here is a list of players who will play their 100th test in 2006 (barring injury) :

(Name of player, country, number of tests as of dec 31, 2005)

Ricky Ponting Australia 99
Muttiah Muralitharan Sri Lanka 99
Shaun Pollock South Africa 96
Justin Langer Australia 96
Stephen Fleming New Zealand 96
Jacques Kallis South Africa 95
Rahul Dravid India 94
Shivnarine Chanderpaul Wes Indies 91

Given that there are only 35 players who've reached the elite list so far, it is quite significant and an indicator of the amount of cricket played these days that 8 more players will ,in all probability, join the list this year, a 22.8% increase.

Trivia: Mohammad Azharuddin of India is the only player to be stranded on 99 test matches. Azhar had played 98 tests before South Africa toured India in 1999. He missed the first test due to injury and made a 100 in his 99th test match. Hansie-gate was exposed and Azhar got a life ban, thus leaving him one short of a 100 tests. However, in the process he achieved the feat of scoring a 100 in his first and last test match.