Brendon Kuruppu

Greatness was firmly thrust upon Sri Lankan wicketkeeper-opener Brendon Kuruppu, but only for a day or two, as he became only the third person to score a double-century on his Test debut, against New Zealand - Richard Hadlee and all - in Colombo. Kuruppu did it the hard way too: his 777-minute innings is the slowest double-hundred in first-class history, all very out of character for a man who later made his reputation as a one-day slogger. It was his first first-class century, and his last Test century: Kuruppu only played four Tests, two of them in England, in 1988 and 1991.
Rob Smyth