Tales of bittersweet debuts

Eighty-two batsmen have scored a century on Test debut; 77 have a half-century or more in their first ODI; 526 players have been dismissed for duck in their maiden Test; and 153 have been out for no score in their first ODI. How many players, though, have scored a hundred and a duck on Test and ODI debut respectively, and vice versa? And are there any who've bagged a duck on both Test and ODI debut?

Australia's Marcus North was the last batsman to score a Test century on debut - 117 against South Africa in February - and he very nearly joined a select club of batsmen who've scored a century in their first Test and a duck in their first ODI (North managed 1 against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi). Only four batsmen have done it; none before Saleem Malik in 1982 and after Mathew Sinclair in 1999-00.

Malik was bowled second ball for duck by Joel Garner in his first ODI at the SCG in January 1982, but scored a second-innings hundred on Test debut against Sri Lanka in Karachi in March. Sinclair had a terrific first Test, scoring 214 against West Indies in Wellington in 1999, but made a blob in his first ODI against Australia in Christchurch in February 2000.

Five batsmen have scored 50 or more on ODI debut but made a duck on Test debut. Sri Lanka's Chamara Silva top-scored with 55 against Australia in Colombo on his ODI debut in 1999. He had to wait seven years to make his Test debut, against New Zealand in 2006, and when he finally got his chance, he botched it. Silva was out for a pair in Christchurch but bounced back with a half-century and a hundred in his second Test, in Wellington.

Only five batsmen - Dennis Amiss, Desmond Haynes, Andy Flower, Saleem Elahi and Martin Guptill - have scored centuries on ODI debut, but none of them managed one in their first Test. Haynes and Flower, though, appear in our table below because they scored half-centuries in their debut Tests.

The closest anyone has come to scoring a century on both Test and ODI debut is Stephen Fleming. He played his first Test, against India, in Hamilton on March 19, 1994 and made 92 before he was caught by Kapil Dev off Rajesh Chauhan. A week later, Fleming played his first ODI against India, in Napier, and was run out on 90.

Fifteen unfortunate batsmen suffered ducks on both Test and ODI debut, and Chris Martin isn't one of them. Bishan Bedi was the first, falling for 0 in the second innings of the Kolkata Test against West Indies in 1966 and bagging another in the first ODI of the Prudential Trophy, against England in 1974. No one has made a pair on Test debut as well as a duck in their first ODI. Bangladesh's Enamul Haque Jr came closest: he made 0* and 0 against England in his first Test, in Dhaka in 2003, and a duck against Zimbabwe on ODI debut in Chittagong in 2005.

Andrew Hudson appears in both the first table as well as the one below. He was out for duck on ODI debut against India in November 1991 and made 163 in his first Test innings, in Barbados in 1992, making him one of four batsmen to score a duck and a century on ODI and Test debut respectively. However, he also appears in the list of batsmen with ducks on both ODI and Test debut because he was dismissed for 0 by Curtly Ambrose in the second innings in the 1992 Bridgetown Test.

Remember Joey Benjamin? You probably don't, unless you follow county cricket. He was a medium-pacer who played one Test and two ODIs for England in 1994-95 but batted only once in each format. Fanie de Villiers nailed him for a duck in the 1994 Oval Test, and Craig McDermott bowled him for 0 on ODI debut in Sydney in 1994. He played one more one-dayer, in January 1995, before disappearing from the international circuit.

This list has largely been about batsmen, but here's a question about bowlers to round it off. Only two bowlers have taken a five-for on Test debut and a four-wicket haul on ODI debut. Who are they?

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