First England player to score a Test hundred on debut at Lord’s John Hampshire was born today in 1941

Former English player John Hampshire was born on this day in 1941. He had a brief stint with the English team but his first-class career lasted for more than 500 matches which speaks volumes of his longevity. He was also the first England player to score a Test century on debut at Lord’s, the home of cricket. 

Lost after an unbelievable start

John Hampshire made his international debut in 1969 when he played his maiden Test match against West Indies at Lord’s. It was an unbelievable start to his international career as he scored a century in a difficult situation for his team. The English team was trying to get past the first innings total of West Indies (380) but the home team could not get off to a good start as they lost half of the side for just 61 runs. However, the debutant Hampshire stood strong and built a brilliant partnership with the skipper Ray Illingworth. Eventually, Hampshire scored 107 runs and carried the team total to 344 runs. 

Unfortunately, even after such a dream beginning to the international career Hampshire could not play for his country for too long. He represented England in only 8 Test matches scoring 407 runs at an average of 26.86. Hampshire also got the opportunity to make a mark in ODI cricket when he made his ODI debut in 1971 against Australia in Melbourne. But the ODI career was also short-lived as he played only 3 One-Day internationals. It was a disappointing end to a career that appeared to be very promising. 

Eventually, John Hampshire hung up his boots in 1984 after a long first-class career where he played 577 matches scoring a staggering 28059 runs. Not just first-class cricket but Hampshire had a wealth of experience in List A cricket as well. He took part in 280 List A matches where he amassed 7314 runs. After his cricket career was over, he also tried his hands at umpiring.