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Maddinson not alone chasing elusive run

Australia's Test rookie can take solace from greats of the game who failed to score on Test debut

For any batsman on Test debut, simply getting off the mark is a cause for celebration.

The often comical quest for that single maiden run intrigued fans in the Adelaide Test last month; Matt Renshaw's first Test run, coming after 19 balls and more than six overs at the crease, drew one of the biggest cheers of the opening day of the match.

Renshaw slips into the groove as a Test cricketer

It was a similar story for Peter Handscomb, who got off the mark from the ninth ball he faced, a feat that was again met with rapturous applause.

Unfortunately for Nic Maddinson, the third of Australia's three debutants in Adelaide, he will have to wait longer than just the 12 balls he faced on debut for his first scoring shot.

Australia's seven-wicket victory meant that the left-hander only had one chance to bat in Adelaide - he registered a 12-ball duck - and he will enter the first Test against Pakistan on Thursday, some 21 days after pulling on the Baggy Green for the first time, still chasing that elusive first run.

But Maddinson can take solace from the fact that he's far from the first player to misfire on debut.

Rabada gives Maddinson a departing spray

The great Shane Warne famously returned figures of 1-150 in the first of his 145 Tests.

Sir Donald Bradman made just 18 and 1 on debut way back in 1928, and was dropped for the next match.

And England legend Sir Len Hutton, who finished his career with almost 7000 runs and 19 Test centuries, managed just 0 and 1 in his first game.

And Maddinson can take inspiration from the following five players, all greats of the game who entered their second Test match still chasing that first run.

Ken Barrington (England)
M: 82 | Runs: 6806 | Ave: 58.67 | 100s: 20 | 50s: 35

Debut: 0 v South Africa, Nottingham, 1955

Like Maddinson, England legend Ken Barrington couldn't manage a run in his one chance on Test debut, falling for a three-ball duck against South Africa at Trent Bridge.

He got off the mark with 34 and 18 in his next Test but was then dropped and had to wait four years for his next chance in the Test side.

He posted half-centuries in each of his first four Tests on his return in 1959 and the first of his 20 Test tons came in his eighth Test.

He finished his career as a genuine England legend and has the seventh highest Test average of all players to have played 20 or more Tests.

Graham Gooch (England)
M: 118 | Runs: 8900 | Ave: 42.58 | 100s: 20 | 50s: 46

Debut: 0 & 0 v Australia, Birmingham, 1975

Image Id: 43D236CF38424893BED225EA3AA099B8

The fact that one of England's greatest ever players failed to get off the mark on Test debut proves that even the best don't have it all their own way.

Gooch was dismissed third ball in the first innings and seventh ball in the second in the opening Test of the 1975 Ashes series against an Australian pace-bowling attack of Dennis Lillee, Jeff Thomson and Max Walker.

Gooch managed scores of 6 and 31 in the second Test but was then dropped and wouldn't return to the Test side for another three years.

He posted 54 in his first innings back in the XI and quickly established himself as a key player in the batting order before going on to score a then-England record of 8900 runs and captaining his country on 34 occasions.

Larry Gomes (West Indies)
M: 60 | Runs: 3171 | Ave: 39.63 | 100s: 9 | 50s: 13

Debut: 0 v England, Nottingham, 1976

Image Id: 9148F3F796004AD48E7962C1AC8BB97E

Like Maddinson, Larry Gomes failed to get off the mark in his first innings on debut and, desperate for another chance, was the next man in when the West Indies hit the winning runs.

He posted 11 and another duck in his second Test before being dropped, but posted his maiden century on his return to the side 18 months later.

Part of a golden era of Caribbean cricket, the left-hander was often overshadowed by his legendary teammates, but his career record means he's regarded as a West Indian batting great.

Saeed Anwar (Pakistan)
M: 55 | Runs: 4052 | Ave: 45.52 | 100s: 11 | 50s: 25

Debut: 0 & 0 v West Indies, Faisalabad, 1990

Image Id: D4D126717D624F75A0D1F0F78F854A5E

Twenty-two-year-old Saeed Anwar made far from a good impression on his Test debut in November 1990, registering a pair and facing just eight balls for the match as a powerful West Indies side triumphed by seven wickets.

Curtly Ambrose did for the left-hander in the first innings and Ian Bishop in the second, a less than ideal start for the opener, who had already proven himself with two one-day international centuries earlier in the year.

Anwar was dropped for the next match and incredibly had to wait more than three years to finally get off the mark, scoring 16 and 7 in his second Test against New Zealand in February, 1994.

He posted 169 in his third Test the first off 11 Test centuries, and is regarded as one of Pakistan's greatest ever openers.

Marvan Atapattu (Sri Lanka)
M: 90 | Runs: 5502 | Ave: 39.02 | 100s: 16 | 50s: 17

Debut: 0 & 0 v India, Chandigarh, 1990

Image Id: FAFDA5274708449A954280DF6E7DDD37

On the same day that Anwar made his Test debut in Faisalabad, Sri Lanka's Marvan Atapattu began his international career in Chandigarh the day after his 20th birthday.

And just like Anwar did across the border in Pakistan, Atapattu registered a pair in his first match.

But things got even worse for the right-hander; he had to wait almost two years before he was handed another opportunity, scoring yet another duck in the first innings and finally registering a single in the second dig, before being dismissed for just 1.

His third Test came 18 months later, where he registered yet another pair, before he finally reached double figures in his fourth Test, against New Zealand in 1997, an incredible six-and-a-half years after his debut.

But after scoring just one run in his first six Test innings, the Sri Lankan went on to top 5500 Test runs in an accomplished career, including 16 centuries.

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