French batsman Gustav Mckeon became the youngest player to strike a century in T20 International cricket this week.
McKeon is aged 18 years and 280 days old – and hit 109 from 61 balls in Monday’s T20 World Cup Qualifier fixture against Switzerland in Finland.
His innings featured nine sixes and five fours. France lost the match despite McKeon’s ton.
Afghanistan batsman Hazratullah Zazai was the youngest centurion in T20I cricket previously. He was 20 years and 337 days old at the time of 2019’s ton against Ireland in Dehradun.
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Why is Mckeon’s feat an international century?
Prior to 2019, the International Cricket Council reserved T20I status for selected nations. From 2019, all ICC member countries were afforded T20I status.
McKeon and 100s of players from small nations such as Belgium, Spain, Botswana and several others are listed in the same T20I record categories as – for example – South Africa’s David Miller, India’s Rohit Sharma and England’s Liam Livingstone.
T20I cricket, nowadays, is contested on natural turf and synthetic concrete and matted pitches.
The ICC’s rankings for men’s T20I competition currently feature 70-plus teams.