Younger than the Don, a little older than Tendulkar

When (if?) Sachin Tendulkar eventually retires, Alastair Cook, the choir boy who became a batsman, could be best placed to overtake his world-record tally of Test centuries. The possibility is not as outrageous as it sounds. England play more Tests each year than other countries do. Cook made his debut in 2006 and has 62 caps already. And, at 25 years and 348 days, he has age on his side, so form and fitness permitting, Cook will have plenty of opportunities. He has made outstanding use of his chances in Australia so far this summer, scoring 235 and 148 in the first two Ashes Tests. They were his 14th and 15th hundreds, making him the second youngest batsman - after Sachin Tendulkar, ahead of Don Bradman - to score so many.

Tendulkar isn't the youngest batsman to score a century - he's behind Mohammad Ashraful and Mushtaq Mohammad - but he's the youngest to score five Test hundreds, and ten, and every other multiple of five attained by a human being. Tendulkar's the only teenager to have had five Test centuries. He was 40 days younger than Bradman was when he reached his tenth. He is the only 24-year-old to score 15 tons and the only batsman to have 20 before his 27th birthday. And it's likely to stay that way, until another batsman begins in his teens and combines productivity with longevity like Tendulkar has.

Bradman, of course, needed only seven Tests to score five centuries, but he is not unmatched in that feat - George Headley and Everton Weekes did it too. Bradman and Headley were 21 years old, Weekes 23. All of them are in our table of youngest batsmen to score five Test centuries. Headley finished his Test career on 10 tons, Weekes with 15. Both of them don't appear in the tables of youngest batsmen to score 10 and 15 centuries though, but Bradman does. He made his 10th Test century in his 16th match when he was 23, and his 15th ton in his 28th Test five days before his 26th birthday.

Youngest to score five Test centuries

Player	Span	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	100	50	Match End	Age
SR Tendulkar (India)	1989-1993	23	35	3	1382	165	43.18	5	6	Feb 15, 1993	19y 297d
RN Harvey (Aus)	1948-1950	8	12	4	843	178	105.37	5	1	Feb 14, 1950	21y 129d
GA Headley (WI)	1930-1931	7	14	1	860	223	66.15	5	0	Jan 20, 1931	21y 235d
Javed Miandad (Pak)	1976-1979	17	29	8	1592	206	75.80	5	8	Feb 7, 1979	21y 240d
Saleem Malik (Pak)	1982-1984	21	29	5	1126	119*	46.91	5	5	Dec 15, 1984	21y 243d
DG Bradman (Aus)	1928-1930	7	13	1	1196	334	99.66	5	2	Jul 15, 1930	21y 322d
GS Sobers (WI)	1954-1958	21	37	6	1865	365*	60.16	5	6	Dec 17, 1958	22y 142d
AN Cook (Eng)	2006-2007	15	28	2	1207	127	46.42	5	4	May 21, 2007	22y 147d
RJ Shastri (India)	1981-1985	32	49	8	1580	142	38.53	5	6	Jan 5, 1985	22y 223d
RG Pollock (SA)	1963-1967	16	29	2	1510	209	55.92	5	7	Jan 5, 1967	22y 312d
GC Smith (SA)	2002-2003	18	29	1	1639	277	58.53	5	4	Dec 16, 2003	22y 318d
L Hutton (Eng)	1937-1939	13	21	1	1345	364	67.25	5	3	Aug 22, 1939	23y 60d
KD Walters (Aus)	1965-1969	16	26	3	1706	242	74.17	6	9	Feb 20, 1969	23y 61d
DB Vengsarkar (India)	1976-1979	32	52	5	1878	157*	39.95	5	9	Dec 9, 1979	23y 247d
DPMD Jayawardene (SL)	1997-2001	29	47	2	1938	242	43.06	5	9	Mar 11, 2001	23y 288d
MD Crowe (NZ)	1982-1986	30	49	4	1718	188	38.17	5	5	Jul 29, 1986	23y 310d
ED Weekes (WI)	1948-1949	7	10	0	878	194	87.80	5	0	Jan 4, 1949	23y 313d
RR Sarwan (WI)	2000-2004	46	81	6	3134	261*	41.78	5	20	Jun 7, 2004	23y 350d
M Azharuddin (India)	1984-1987	18	27	3	1307	199	54.45	5	4	Feb 16, 1987	24y 8d
JH Kallis (SA)	1995-1999	29	46	5	1682	148*	41.02	5	8	Nov 14, 1999	24y 29d

Cook was sixth youngest to score 10 Test centuries, getting his 10th five days after his 25th birthday, but his five hundreds in 2010 have made him second youngest to 15. He has the opportunity to add more in the Perth Test next week, which ends before he turns 26 on Christmas Day. Cook's unlikely to surpass Tendulkar as the youngest batsman with 20 Test hundreds, though, because he has about six months to score five more hundreds and England don't have any Tests between the Ashes and their home summer in 2011. But it could happen.

Unless he suffers a slump in form, Cook is likely to reach 20 Test hundreds at a younger age than Graeme Smith, Ricky Ponting and Jacques Kallis did. Smith got there just before he turned 29, Ponting and Kallis after they were 29, so Cook has about three years to score five centuries.

Youngest to score 15 Test centuries

Player	Span	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	100	50	Match End	Age
SR Tendulkar (India)	1989-1998	59	89	9	4265	179	53.31	15	18	Mar 10, 1998	24y 320d
AN Cook (Eng)	2006-2010	62	111	7	4814	235*	46.28	15	23	Dec 7, 2010	25y 347d
DG Bradman (Aus)	1928-1934	28	42	3	3849	334	98.69	15	6	Aug 22, 1934	25y 360d
RN Harvey (Aus)	1948-1955	39	67	6	3766	205	61.73	15	12	Jun 17, 1955	26y 252d
GC Smith (ICC/SA)	2002-2008	67	118	5	5507	277	48.73	15	22	Jul 14, 2008	27y 164d
JH Kallis (SA)	1995-2004	75	123	20	5486	189*	53.26	15	27	Jan 20, 2004	28y 96d
RT Ponting (Aus)	1995-2003	65	103	13	4423	197	49.14	15	17	Apr 13, 2003	28y 115d
KP Pietersen (Eng)	2005-2008	45	83	3	4039	226	50.48	15	11	Dec 23, 2008	28y 179d
RR Sarwan (WI)	2000-2009	81	142	8	5671	291	42.32	15	31	May 18, 2009	28y 329d
DPMD Jayawardene (SL)	1997-2006	82	134	10	6114	374	49.30	15	29	Jul 31, 2006	29y 65d
SM Gavaskar (India)	1971-1978	40	77	6	3673	220	51.73	15	16	Nov 19, 1978	29y 132d
V Sehwag (ICC/India)	2001-2008	59	100	4	5102	319	53.14	15	14	Aug 3, 2008	29y 288d
GS Sobers (WI)	1954-1966	53	90	10	4611	365*	57.63	15	14	Jun 4, 1966	29y 311d
Younis Khan (Pak)	2000-2007	57	103	7	4736	267	49.33	15	19	Dec 4, 2007	30y 5d
KC Sangakkara (SL)	2000-2007	68	112	9	5741	287	55.73	15	23	Nov 20, 2007	30y 24d
Javed Miandad (Pak)	1976-1987	86	133	18	6251	280*	54.35	15	34	Aug 11, 1987	30y 60d
MD Crowe (NZ)	1982-1992	63	106	10	4591	299	47.82	15	15	Dec 9, 1992	30y 78d
AR Border (Aus)	1978-1985	73	129	23	5485	196	51.74	15	29	Nov 12, 1985	30y 108d
R Dravid (India)	1996-2003	70	120	13	5909	222	55.22	15	29	Oct 12, 2003	30y 274d
MP Vaughan (Eng)	1999-2005	60	107	8	4399	197	44.43	15	12	Aug 15, 2005	30y 290d

The youngest bowler to take five, ten, 15 and 20 five-wicket hauls played his first Test in Karachi, 1989, the same match in which Tendulkar made his debut. How's that for a freakish coincidence. Waqar Younis had five five-fors in 10 Tests soon after his 19th birthday, beating Kapil Dev, who had reached the mark a week before he turned 21. Waqar took his tenth haul in his 19th Test, when he was 20 years old, and was the only 22-year-old with 15 five-fors. He was slow in collecting them after that and took his 20th only when he was 26 years and 114 days old, still ahead of Ian Botham, who was 26 years and 280 days.

Youngest to take 10 Test five-wicket hauls

Player	Span	Mat	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	5	10	Match End	Age
Waqar Younis (Pak)	1989-1992	19	3745	1908	93	7/76	12/130	20.51	10	2	Aug 9, 1992	20y 267d
Harbhajan Singh (India)	1998-2002	29	7790	3486	127	8/84	15/217	27.44	10	2	Oct 12, 2002	22y 101d
N Kapil Dev (India)	1978-1982	36	7976	3946	142	7/56	11/146	27.78	10	1	Jan 6, 1982	23y 0d
Saqlain Mushtaq (Pak)	1995-2000	27	7852	3444	115	6/46	10/187	29.94	10	2	May 22, 2000	23y 145d
IT Botham (Eng)	1977-1979	19	4476	1897	100	8/34	11/140	18.97	10	1	Aug 7, 1979	23y 256d
Danish Kaneria (Pak)	2000-2005	26	7347	3605	121	7/77	12/94	29.79	10	2	Mar 28, 2005	24y 102d
GD McKenzie (Aus)	1961-1966	33	9700	4078	143	7/153	10/91	28.51	10	1	Dec 28, 1966	25y 187d
DW Steyn (SA)	2004-2008	29	5650	3400	150	6/49	10/91	22.66	11	3	Dec 30, 2008	25y 186d
M Muralitharan (SL)	1992-1998	35	10169	4323	147	7/94	12/117	29.40	11	1	Jan 11, 1998	25y 269d
DL Vettori (NZ)	1997-2004	57	14160	6251	178	7/87	12/149	35.11	10	2	Oct 29, 2004	25y 276d
T Richardson (Eng)	1893-1896	8	2933	1422	66	7/168	13/244	21.54	10	3	Jul 18, 1896	25y 342d
SP Gupte (India)	1951-1956	18	6170	2124	87	7/128	9/145	24.41	10	0	Jan 11, 1956	26y 31d
Wasim Akram (Pak)	1985-1992	42	9072	3881	159	6/62	11/160	24.40	10	2	Jul 7, 1992	26y 34d
SK Warne (Aus)	1992-1995	39	11704	4316	187	8/71	12/128	23.08	10	3	Nov 13, 1995	26y 61d
SM Pollock (SA)	1995-1999	34	7532	2974	140	7/87	9/103	21.24	10	0	Nov 1, 1999	26y 108d
MD Marshall (WI)	1978-1984	34	7309	3438	156	7/53	10/107	22.03	11	1	Dec 11, 1984	26y 237d
DL Underwood (Eng)	1966-1972	26	7090	2158	114	7/32	12/97	18.92	10	4	Jul 29, 1972	27y 51d
A Kumble (India)	1990-1998	45	13593	5437	190	7/59	11/128	28.61	10	1	Mar 21, 1998	27y 155d
GF Lawson (Aus)	1980-1985	31	7156	3690	134	8/112	11/134	27.53	10	2	Jul 16, 1985	27y 221d
DK Lillee (Aus)	1971-1977	31	8400	3852	160	6/66	11/123	24.07	10	3	Mar 1, 1977	27y 226d

Tendulkar is also the youngest player to play 50 Tests (at 23), 100 Tests (29) and 150 Tests (35). This is no surprise. Some of the names below him are, though. For instance, Ramnaresh Sarwan played his 50th Test when he was 24 years and 59 days old, second to only Tendulkar. Sarwan made his debut at the age of 20 and his arrival coincided with a period of prolific Test activity for West Indies. He played seven matches in 2000, followed by 10, 12, 9 and 12 in the next four years.

Mark Boucher's the second youngest to play 100 Tests. He played his 100th when he was 30 years and 43 days old. Kallis was about 142 days older when he picked up his 100th Test cap.

Youngest to play 50 Test matches

Player	Span	Mat	Runs	HS	Bat Av	100	Wkts	BBI	Bowl Av	5	Match End	Age
SR Tendulkar (India)	1989-1997	50	3438	179	49.82	11	4	2/10	61.75	0	Mar 18, 1997	23y 328d
RR Sarwan (WI)	2000-2004	50	3401	261*	40.97	6	20	4/37	39.65	0	Aug 21, 2004	24y 59d
N Kapil Dev (India)	1978-1983	50	2129	126*	32.25	3	200	8/85	29.33	15	Mar 16, 1983	24y 69d
RJ Shastri (India)	1981-1987	50	2307	142	36.61	6	111	5/75	39.71	2	Feb 8, 1987	24y 257d
DL Vettori (NZ)	1997-2003	50	1249	137*	20.47	1	150	7/87	35.78	7	Dec 30, 2003	24y 337d
AN Cook (Eng)	2006-2009	50	3654	160	42.98	10	0	-	-	0	Dec 30, 2009	25y 5d
Mohammad Ashraful (Ban)	2001-2009	50	2149	158*	23.10	5	19	2/42	58.63	0	Jul 20, 2009	25y 13d
AB de Villiers (SA)	2004-2009	50	3308	217*	42.41	8	2	2/49	49.50	0	Mar 2, 2009	25y 13d
MV Boucher (SA)	1997-2002	50	1761	125	28.86	3	0	-	-	0	Feb 24, 2002	25y 83d
Harbhajan Singh (India)	1998-2005	50	841	66	15.29	0	219	8/84	27.87	17	Dec 22, 2005	25y 172d
Saleem Malik (Pak)	1982-1988	50	2234	119*	37.86	6	5	1/3	19.80	0	Oct 11, 1988	25y 178d
JH Kallis (SA)	1995-2001	50	2952	160	41.00	7	94	6/67	27.44	2	Apr 23, 2001	25y 189d
Javed Miandad (Pak)	1976-1983	50	3860	280*	57.61	10	17	3/74	36.64	0	Jan 19, 1983	25y 221d
CH Gayle (WI)	2000-2005	50	3364	317	40.04	7	31	5/34	37.51	1	May 3, 2005	25y 224d
GC Smith (ICC/SA)	2002-2006	50	3969	277	47.81	11	8	2/145	93.75	0	Dec 30, 2006	25y 332d
DPMD Jayawardene (SL)	1997-2003	50	3501	242	47.95	9	4	2/32	53.50	0	Jun 24, 2003	26y 28d
DB Vengsarkar (India)	1976-1982	50	2847	157*	39.00	6	0	-	-	0	Jun 28, 1982	26y 83d
Waqar Younis (Pak)	1989-1998	50	538	45	9.96	0	244	7/76	22.06	19	Mar 2, 1998	26y 106d
DI Gower (Eng)	1978-1983	50	3374	200*	42.17	5	1	1/1	2.00	0	Jul 18, 1983	26y 108d
IT Botham (Eng)	1977-1982	50	2625	149*	36.45	10	229	8/34	22.89	19	Jun 28, 1982	26y 216d