Ul Hassan's Wait Comes to an End

For Zain ul Hassan though, patience was much more required. Since the departure of David Lloyd, Glamorgan’s spots at the top order has left a gaping, looming hole. While Marnus Labuschagne, Sam Northeast, Kiran Carlson, Chris Cooke (and more recently Colin Ingram and Ben Kellaway) operated in a dominant engine room, questions aplenty remained over the top spots. Even when Lloyd was around, he stepped up as captain more as a case of having to do so than a show of willingness; he was often joined by Andrew Salter, an ul Hassan alike player – natural as a lower-middle order player and a useful bowler sent to do a job tarnished with risk.

In another world, perhaps it would’ve been the Welshman, Salter, to have made a maiden first-class century against an international-littered seam attack. Instead, ul Hassan continues to step up and provide a role, previously to today, seemingly unnatural to him.

Whereas three years without a century for an opening batter at county level might see the wallowing end to your career. How long does it take the average opener to score their first century from any level?