Jamie Smith breaks 94-year England record with maiden test century

WEB DESK: Jamie Smith made history by becoming the youngest England men’s Test wicketkeeper to score a century, breaking a 94-year-old record with his 111 against Sri Lanka in the ongoing Test at Manchester.

At just 24 years and 40 days old, Smith surpassed the previous record held by Les Ames, who was 24 years and 60 days old when he scored a century against the West Indies in 1930. Ames also made a century in Kingston two months later during the same series.

Playing in just his fourth Test, Smith began the third day on 72, with England ahead by 23 runs. He was determined to reach his maiden Test hundred after narrowly missing out during the West Indies tour last month. Smith achieved the milestone in the 77th over by scoring a couple of runs off Milan Rathnayake, contributing to England’s eventual lead of 122 runs.

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Smith is also the first wicketkeeper born in or after 2000 to achieve this feat. With 318 runs from his first five innings, he joins an elite group of England players who have scored more runs in their initial five innings, alongside notable names like KS Ranjitsinhji, Reginald Foster, Brian Valentine, Harry Brook, and David Lloyd.

In the current World Test Championship cycle, Smith is the third wicketkeeper to score a century, following KL Rahul in 2023 and Mohammad Rizwan in the ongoing Rawalpindi Test.