YP Comment: Jennings makes his mark

AS cricketing debuts go they don't come any more testing than this. To face one of the best teams in the world on their own soil in front of a packed, partisan crowd is a daunting prospect for even the most experienced players.
By The Newsroom
Published 9th Dec 2016, 10:19 BST
Updated 14th Dec 2016, 10:54 BST
England's batsman Keaton Jennings raises his bat after scoring century on the first day of the fourth cricket test match between India and England in Mumbai, India, Thursday, Dec. 8, 2016. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)England's batsman Keaton Jennings raises his bat after scoring century on the first day of the fourth cricket test match between India and England in Mumbai, India, Thursday, Dec. 8, 2016. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
England's batsman Keaton Jennings raises his bat after scoring century on the first day of the fourth cricket test match between India and England in Mumbai, India, Thursday, Dec. 8, 2016. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

To face one of the best teams in the world on their own soil in front of a packed, partisan crowd is a daunting prospect for even the most experienced players.

To do so in your first ever Test match requires nerves of steel. Which is precisely what Keaton Jennings showed in reaching 112 in his maiden innings for England against India in Mumbai.

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The 24-year-old kept his head, displaying a level of maturity and discipline beyond his years. Not that this was simply a performance of dogged resistance. The reverse-sweep to the boundary that brought up his century proves he is a young man with huge talent.

In reaching this milestone, Jennings is in illustrious company, joining a list that includes W G Grace and Alastair Cook as well as two Yorkshiremen in the form of Paul Gibb and current Yorkshire CCC president John Hampshire. A star is born.

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Related topics:EnglandMumbaiIndiaYorkshire CCC