In Yorkshire’s final home Championship match of the season, against Kent at Headingley, one of the visitors’ batsmen scored two centuries. This led to Paul Dyson wondering how frequently this feat has been achieved against the White Rose county.
When Kent won the toss against Yorkshire in mid-September and elected to bat they were quickly reduced to 39 for five. There then followed a triple-century partnership – the highest-ever for the sixth wicket against Yorkshire – which involved a double-century (237) from the 43-year-old Darren Stevens and a century from skipper Sam Billings. Not to be content with that Billings added a further century in the second innings to complete a feat which had previously been achieved only once before at Headingley. It was therefore the first instance in the County Championship on the historic ground.
(Incidentally Stevens took five for 20 in Yorkshire’s second innings to become the second-oldest player to score a double-century and take a five-for in the same match. Stevens was 43 but WG Grace was 46 when he scored 288 and took five for 87 for Gloucestershire against Somerset in 1895.)