Who is the first player to score a century in Test cricket?

Scoring a century in Test cricket is a commendable achievement. Difficult batting conditions such as swinging red balls and turning tracks mean that batsmen have to prove their mettle across several facets of the game to bring up a ton in Tests.

Sachin Tendulkar is the most successful Test centurion, with 51 tons to his name. Numerous other players have put in match-winning efforts by notching up brilliant Test centuries.

A Test ton is a priceless entity, and its value was evident even when England and Australia played out the first Test in the game’s history more than 140 years ago.

The world’s First Cricketer to score a century on Test debut,In the First Test Match is Australia’s Charles Bannerman who made 165 runs not out on March,15th 1877. pic.twitter.com/Yew2agkv0x

— MALKEET SINGH (@Malkeet009) June 8, 2021

Charles Bannerman has a series of records to his name. The biggest out of them is the fact that he is the first player to score a Test ton. He brought up the momentous feat on March 15, 1877, when Australia played England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Opening the batting, Bannerman scored 165 off 285 balls in the first innings, hitting 18 fours in the process. His stupendous effort was cut short by injury as he walked off the field retired-hurt after splitting his index finger while batting.

His historic effort helped Australia beat England by 45 runs in the first-ever Test match in the history of cricket.

Other notable Test achievements by Charles Bannerman

Devon Conway has contributed 52.91% of New Zealand's runs in this innings (200/378).Only one player has aggregated a higher % in his debut Test innings - Charles Bannerman 67.35% (165/245) in the first-ever Test match in 1877.#ENGvNZ

— Deepu Narayanan (@deeputalks) June 3, 2021

Charles Bannerman famously played just three Tests for Australia before becoming an umpire. Since he played the first-ever Test, he has a multitude of records to his name. Apart from scoring the first Test century, he is also famous for facing the first ball ever ball bowled and scoring the first run in Test cricket.

With a score of 165 in the first innings, Charles Bannerman did the majority of the scoring for his side as Australia put up 245 on the board in the first innings. He scored 67.34% of his team's runs on that occassion, which is still the record for the highest individual share of runs scored by a batsman in a completed Test innings.