Top five: England’s greatest century-makers

Alastair CookThe former England captain is well ahead of the pack in the list of most prolific run-scorers and century-makers for his country. Cook was once thought of as the likeliest candidate to beat Sachin Tendulkar’s mark of 51 Test centuries. Whether that happens or not, the 33-year-old will likely end with a good enough pile if he can keep going.

Kevin PietersenWith ‘KP’, there’s always the matter of what could have been. In 104 Tests, he slammed 23 centuries and 35 half-centuries, totalling 8181 runs. But he played only eight-and-a-half years of Test cricket and finished up when yet to be 35. That’s one batsman who achieved so much but could probably have done even more.

Wally HammondOne of the all-time greats of the game, Hammond finished his 634-match first-class career with a mind-boggling 50,551 runs and 167 centuries – the latter only behind Jack Hobbs and Patsy Hendren. Of those runs, 7249 came in his 85 Tests, inclusive of 22 centuries. The best of them – 336* against New Zealand in Auckland in 1933 – was also his best first-class score and, at the time, the highest in Test cricket. A dashing stroke-maker, Hammond could well have ended with better numbers had – like with so many others – his career not coincided with the war years.

Colin CowdreyA schoolboy prodigy who went on to become the first man to play 100 Test matches, Cowdrey was an outstanding batsman and captain. Fred Trueman felt Cowdrey was “a terrific talent who never fulfilled his potential”, and true while that might be, he didn’t do too badly. The 114 Test appearances came with 7624 runs, and the 22 centuries were accompanied by 38 half-centuries. Cowdrey was a great of the game all right, as his 42,719 runs with 107 first-class centuries prove.

Geoffrey BoycottOne of just six batsmen to score 150 or more first-class centuries, Boycott will likely find a place – or get very close to one – in most England 'dream teams' in Test cricket. A classical batsman, Boycott’s defence was the sort of stuff that students of the game could marvel at, and he loved batting and scoring runs, both of which he did a lot of. He missed 30 Test matches when at his prime between 1974 and 1977, he might well have reached 10,000 Test runs – he finished with 8114 from 108 games – and scored 30 centuries.

Ian BellStrong and dependable, Bell was a pillar of the English batting line-up through the best part of the 2000s, scoring runs heavily without too many poor patches. His hundreds came in 118 Test matches, the last of which he played at the relatively young age of 33. He is still scoring in first-class cricket, though, inching towards the 20,000-run mark in the format, and should add to it before he wraps up for good.