5 Legendary Batters Who Never Scored a Test Century at Lord’s

Playing a Test match at the Lord’s Cricket Ground in England is surreal for any player. After all, it’s the “Home of Cricket”.

Players strive to put out their best performances while playing at Lord’s to get their names etched on the honours board. Many cricketers have been lucky to have their names on the Lord’s Honours Board, but a few renowned batters missed out.

Whenever a batter scores a Test century at Lord’s, their name is engraved on the honours board. But some batting greats couldn’t reach the three digits.

Here we’ll look at the 5 legendary batters who never scored a Test century at Lord’s.

Sunil Gavaskar (India)

Sunil Gavaskar had a sensational Test career, with 10122 runs and 34 centuries in 125 Tests. He had a sound batting technique that was difficult to breach, resulting in him scoring heaps of runs.

But luck didn’t favour him while batting at Lord’s. He featured in 10 innings across 5 Tests, scoring 340 runs and 2 fifties. Gavaskar’s highest score was 59 in the 1979 Test against the home side.

Sachin Tendulkar (India)

There’s hardly any record that doesn’t have Sachin Tendulkar’s name inscribed in it. But this is one honour the God of Cricket couldn’t get hold of.

Tendulkar logged 51 centuries, along with 15921 runs in Test cricket. But the Indian batting great failed to score a Test hundred at Lord’s. 

He batted 9 times at the iconic venue, but the maximum he could gather in an innings was 37 runs in the 2007 Test. Overall, Tendulkar amassed 195 runs at an average of 21.66.

Also Read | 5 Unbreakable Cricket Records Set by Sachin Tendulkar

Ricky Ponting (Australia)

The next up on the list is Australia’s World Cup-winning captain, Ricky Ponting. Despite being one of the top century makers in the longest format, he never managed to score one at Lord’s.

Punter featured in 4 Tests at Lord’s, batting 8 times and scoring only 135 runs. His highest score was 42 in the 2005 Ashes Test, which proved to be crucial in Australia’s win. In his last outing in 2010, Ponting bagged a 6-ball duck.

Even though Ponting couldn’t get a Test century, he did score an ODI ton at the same venue in 2005. He scored a match-winning 111-run knock against England.

Jacques Kallis (South Africa)

Just behind Sachin Tendulkar in terms of Test centuries scored, Jacques Kallis remained far from scoring a fifty, let alone a century at Lord’s.

The legendary all-rounder turned up to bat in 5 innings in 3 Tests, but he mustered only 54 runs, with his first outing earning him a duck. Kallis’ highest score of 31 came in his last Test innings at the Home of Cricket in 2012.

Brian Lara (West Indies)

Brian Lara had a penchant for amassing towering scores in Test cricket. And you can get an idea about it from his unbeaten 400-run knock against England, which remains the highest individual score in Tests.

But Lara couldn’t feast on a three-digit score at Lord’s while playing against the three Lions. He played 3 Tests at Lord’s, scoring 126 runs in 6 innings.

Out of the 6 outings, he crossed the double digits in 3 innings, with 54 being his highest score coming in the 1995 Test.