The 99 Club
Spare a thought for the unfortunate clutch of Belhus
batters who have been dismissed on 99 or, even more frustrating, finishing on 99 not out!
Only seven fine batters are members of the 'Belhus CC 99 Club':
David Webb (14th June 1981 v Hutton CC)
Martin Guilbert (29th April 2007 v Shenfield CC)
Joe Joyce (25th May 2013 v Hornchurch CC)
Charlie
Lewis (9th July 2013 v Vauxhall Mallards CC)
Danny Joyce (7th July 2018 v Upminster CC)
Saiful Islam (5th September 2020 v Leigh-on-Sea CC)
Ryan Wells (not out) (31st May 2025 v Old Brentwoods CC)
David Webb
The first Belhus batter to be dismissed on 99
Test players are clearly not exempt from nerves. Richie Richardson and Mark Waugh both fell one short of their centuries, as too did Harry Brook against India in 2025 (caught on the boundary). Michael Atherton had the misfortune of being dismissed twice on 99 and Shane Warne's highest Test score was 99. Greg Blewett has the distinction of scoring 99 twice in a calendar year and, in 1960, M. L. Jaisimha, the Indian opener, was run out on 99 (having batted for 500 minutes!). Even the great Sachin Tendulkar was dismissed on 99 - on no less than 3 occasions.
Unfortunately, not every club cricketer gets the opportunity to score a century - particularly those who bat lower down the order at, say, No. 6 or below. It means a lot to any cricketer to score a century during their playing career but, in a bizarre kind of way, is it not more memorable (and a life-long talking point) to score 99 but never make a century? Or perhaps that only applies to those who have actually scored a century!
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