The 99 Club
Of course it's very disappointing when a batter is dismissed in the 90s.
But spare a
particular thought for the unfortunate clutch of Belhus
batters who have been dismissed on 99.
Fine batters all, but did they succumb to a bout of nerves?
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)
David Webb
First Belhus batter to be dismissed on 99
Test players are clearly not exempt from nerves. Michael Atherton was twice dismissed on 99, Richie Richardson and Mark Waugh both fell one short of their centuries. And 99 was the highest test score made by Shane Warne. 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 his playing career but, in a bizarre kind of way, is it not more memorable (and a life-long talking point) to score 99 but not make a century? Or perhaps that only applies to those who have actually scored a century!
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