Alistair Cook of England earned the distinction of scoring a hundred in his 50^th test when he scored 118 against South Africa in the ongoing test at Durban. His feat provides the 29^th occasion of a batsman registering a hundred in his 50^th test in the annals of test cricket.

Alistair Cook is the third batsman after Javed Miandad of Pakistan, GR Viswanath of India to register a hundred in his debut test and his 50^th test. Alistair Cook had scored 104 not out in the second innings against India at Nagpur in Mar 2006 on his test debut

The following table lists out all the 29 occasions of batsmen scoring hundreds in their 50^th test.

No	Batsman	Team	Score	Inns	Opp	Venue	Date
1	JB Hobbs	Eng	159	FI	Win	The Oval	14.08.1928
2	PR Umrigar	Ind	112	FI	Pak	Delhi	08.02.1961
3	TW Graveney	Eng	153	FI	Pak	Lord’s	23.06.1962
4	KF Barrington	Eng	256	FI	Aus	Manchester	23.07.1964
5	RB Simpson	Aus	103	SI	Ind	Adelaide	28.12.1967
6	WM Lawry	Aus	205	FI	Win	Melbourne	26.12.1968
7	CH Lloyd	Win	102	FI	Ind	Bridgetown	10.03.1976
8	GR Viswanath	Ind	124	SI	Win	Chennai	12.01.1979
9	SM Gavaskar	Ind	221	SI	Eng	The Oval	30.08.1979
10	IT Botham	Eng	128	FI	Ind	Manchester	24.06.1982
11	JavedMiandad	Pak	280*	FI	Ind	Hyd-Pak	14.01.1983
12	N Kapil Dev	Ind	100*	SI	Win	Trinidad	11.03.1983
13	IVARichards	Win	109	FI	Ind	Georgetown	31.03.1983
14	JG Wright	NZl	138	SI	Win	Wellington	20.02.1987
15	MA Taylor	Aus	170	FI	SAF	Melbourne	26.12.1993
16	RA Smith	Eng	175	FI	Win	St John’s	16.04.1994
17	MA Atherton	Eng	113	FI	Win	Nottingham	10.08.1995
18	WJ Cronje	SAF	126	FI	Engl	Nottingham	22.07.1998
19	G Kirsten	SAF	134	SI	Win	Centurion	15.01.1999
20	ST Jayasuriya	Srl	188	FI	Pak	Kandy	28.06.2000
21	MA Butcher	Eng	124	FI	Aus	Sydney	02.01.2003
22	HH Gibbs	SAF	183	FI	Eng	The Oval	04.09.2003
23	VVS Laxman	Ind	178	FI	Aus	Sydney	02.01.2004
24	CH Gayle	Win	317	FI	SAF	St John’s	29.04.2005
25	TM Dilshan	Srl	162	FI	Ban	Chittagong	03.01.2009
	TM Dilshan	Srl	143	SI	Ban	Chittagong	03.01.2009
26	AB de Villiers	SAF	104*	FI	Aus	Johannesburg	02.03.2009
27	KP Pietersen	Eng	102	SI	Win	Trinidad	10.03.2009
28	MJ Clarke	Aus	103*	SI	Eng	Birmingham	30.07.2009
29	AN Cook	Eng	118	FI	SAF	Durban	26.12.2009

Alistair Cook became the ninth England batsman to register a hundred in his 50^th test. He is the first England batsman to register a hundred in his debut test and 50^th test. The nine occasions are listed below

No	Batsman	Team	Score	Inns	Opp	Venue	Date
1	JBHobbs	Eng	159	FI	Win	The Oval	14.08.1928
2	TWGraveney	Eng	153	FI	Pak	Lord’s	23.06.1962
3	KFBarrington	Eng	256	FI	Aus	Manchester	23.07.1964
4	ITBotham	Eng	128	FI	Ind	Manchester	24.06.1982
5	RASmith	Eng	175	FI	Win	St John’s	16.04.1994
6	MAAtherton	Eng	113	FI	Win	Nottingham	10.08.1995
7	MAButcher	Eng	124	FI	Aus	Sydney	02.01.2003
8	KPPietersen	Eng	102	SI	Win	Trinidad	10.03.2009
9	ANCook	Eng	118	FI	SAF	Durban	26.12.2009

AN Cook is the third batsman after MA Taylor of Australia and CH Gayle of West Indies to score a hundred in 50^th test

No	Batsman	Team	Score	Inns	Opp	Venue	Date
1	MA Taylor	Aus	170	FI	SAF	Melbourne	26.12.1993
2	CH Gayle	Win	317	FI	SAF	St John’s	29.04.2005
3	AN Cook	Eng	118	FI	SAF	Durban	26.12.2009

The following are the other statistical observations on the feat of batsmen scoring hundreds in their 50^th test.

Javed Miandad scored hundreds in his debut test, 50^th test and 100^th test. He is the only batsman in the annals of test cricket to earn the distinction. Javed Miandad of Pakistan, GR Viswanath of India and AN Cook of England registered hundreds in his debut test and in his 50^th test. TM Dilshan is the only batsman to register hundreds in both innings of his 50^th test. He is the 25^th batsman to earn the distinction of scoring hundred in 50^th test. G Kirsten scored zero and 134 in his 50^th test. CH Gayle {317} remains the only batsman to register 300 plus runs in his 50^th test. KF Barrington {256} is credited with the distinction of becoming the first batsman to score a double hundred in his 50^th test. GR Viswanath-SM Gavaskar {brother-in-laws} are the only related cricketers in this elite list.