Voges joins elite club of debut Test centurions

Adam Voges joined an exclusive club overnight, becoming the 20th Australian to make a century on Test debut.

Amazingly, five of the past six to achieve the feat were at Windsor Park, with Shaun Marsh and Michael Clarke as Voges' teammates, Greg Blewett with the Bupa Support Team as fielding coach, and Mark Waugh in his role with the National Selection Panel.

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Centurions: Blewett, left, Clarke, Voges, Marsh and Waugh in Dominica

MORE: Adam in vogue to punish West Indies

Here we look back at seven memorable debut tons. 

Shaun Marsh 141 v Sri Lanka, Pallekele 2011

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Filling the shoes of Ricky Ponting has proven to be a tall order, but after receiving his Baggy Green from his father Geoff, Marsh began in stunning fashion on Michael Clarke's first tour as captain. 

It was a West Australian riposte in Pallekele, as Marsh combined with Mike Hussey (142) for a record-breaking 258-run stand. 

Marsh was 87 not out overnight but passed the unlucky mark quickly the following morning, registering three figures and pushing on to make 141 in a seven-hour effort of concentration in humid subcontinental conditions. His partnership with Hussey put Australia in command, but the match was ultimately drawn when rain intervened. 

Marcus North 117 v South Africa, Jo'burg 2009

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Coming into the side along with two other Test debutants, Marcus North faced arguably the biggest challenge in world cricket – South Africa on their home patch. 

But the Western Australian, selected on the back of an impressive Shield season and for possessing a cool head in a crisis, immediately applied his skill-set to the situation. 

The left-hander rescued Australia from a precarious 4-151 and wasn't out until the score passed 400. 

It was an innings of genuine substance against a world-class attack, and one that showed Australia there was light after the retirements of their era of legends. 

The innings was critical in the outcome, which captain Ricky Ponting later described as one of the most satisfying successes of his career. 

North proved a telling selection in an in-between period for Australia, scoring five hundreds in his 21-Test career.

Michael Clarke 151 v India, Bangalore 2004

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Rarely has the arrival of a young player onto the international scene so emphatically lived up to the hype. 

Australia were fighting against 35 years of India-based demons when they arrived for their tour of the subcontinental nation in 2004. Clarke was 23, and despite not yet producing a mountain of runs in the first-class game, had Test cricketer written all over him. 

He came to the crease on day one of this hugely-anticipated series with the score at 4-149, and was fleet of foot from the outset, dancing down the track to leg-spinner Anil Kumble. 

He found steady support in first Simon Katich and then Adam Gilchrist, with whom he pressed the accelerator in the closing stages of day one. 

He was 76 not out at stumps, and virtually doubled his score the following day, bringing up a debut hundred with the Baggy Green atop his head. When he was out for a splendid 151, he'd creamed 18 fours and four sixes, Australia were 8-471 and on their way to a crucial win.

Greg Blewett 102 v England, Adelaide 1995

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England could be forgiven for thinking they'd jumped into a time machine to four years previous when Greg Blewett produced what must rank as one of the classiest debut Test hundreds. 

On their 1991 tour, Mark Waugh had destroyed them with his own debut ton, and Blewett, the silky South Australian with all the shots, was cut very much from the same cloth. 

At stumps on day three he was unbeaten on 91, having driven and pulled England all over his home patch, and after a sleepless night, he reached the magic milestone – the first Aussie since Waugh to do so. 

He followed it up with a century in his second Test as well, and as if England weren't sick of the sight of him, made it three from three against them in the first Ashes Test of 1997.

Mark Waugh 138 v England, Adelaide 1991

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Arguably the biggest talking point surrounding this innings happened before Mark Waugh had faced a ball; news that he would replace twin brother Steve in the XI for his debut sent the media into overdrive. 

Yet Mark, with the experience of 100 first-class matches already behind him, was immune to the commotion, striding to the middle at 4-104 and playing the cuts and drives that had already earned him a glowing reputation in England and Australia alike. 

Where Steve had ruthlessly tormented the English during the previous series in the Motherland, Mark picked up the slack on home turf, making a memorable 138 from 188 deliveries that set the tone for a delightful decade to follow. 

"It was just one of those days when everything came out of the middle," he surmised afterward. There would be plenty more.

Greg Chappell 108 v England, Perth 1970

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The first ever Test match played in Perth was marked by the introduction of a man who would go on to become widely regarded as Australia's best since Bradman.

Tall, correct and seemingly relaxed at the crease, 22-year-old Greg Chappell was straight out of the batting textbook, and the younger brother of Ian immediately made his presence felt in the international game. 

Coming in at No.7 with Australia in serious trouble at 5-107 in response to England's 397, Greg replaced Ian in the middle and after settling into his innings, he promptly put England to the sword. 

Combining with Ian Redpath, Chappell exhibited the sort of stroke play that would make him one of the game's true greats, refusing to be intimidated by an English pace attack that included the fearsome John Snow. 

Instead, he took it to them, playing the aggressor alongside the more experienced Redpath and doing the majority of the damage as 77 were taken from one 10-over period. 

By the time he was out, he had guided Australia to 6-326. The match was drawn, and a legend was born.

Archie Jackson 164 v England, Adelaide 1929

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Eighty-two years after his death, the legend well and truly lives on about the boy who just may have been better than Bradman. 

Archie Jackson was just 19 when, on 97, he cover drove none other than Harold Larwood for four to bring up a stirring century on debut. 

Australia lost the Test but this knock by the NSW teenager – the second-highest on debut by an Australian – was heralded as an instant classic. 

An excerpt from Wisden summed up the quality of the performance: "Accomplished, as will be told later, in circumstances calculated to daunt a player of mature experience, it was, in point of style and beauty of execution and stroke play, the best innings played against the Englishmen during the whole tour." 

Tragically, Jackson played just seven more Tests, dying at the age of 23 from tuberculosis in 1933. 

Australian centuries on Test debut

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