Cape Town - Star Proteas batsman AB de Villiers will miss out on playing 100 Tests on the trot for his country.
READ: Uncapped quartet in SA Test squad
When Cricket South Africa (CSA) on Wednesday announced the various Proteas squads for their upcoming tour to Bangladesh in July, De Villiers’s name was a notable absentee from the Test squad.
He was included in the ODI and T20 squads, but excluded from the Test squad because he wife is due to give birth to their first child, CSA explained.
What was notable about De Villiers's absence in the Test squad is that it will end a remarkable run of 98 consecutive Tests since he made his debut against England as a 20-year-old in Port Elizabeth in December 2004.
De Villiers, 31, currently holds the record for consecutive Tests since making his Test debut, but he will unfortunately not be racking up another century in that regard.
According to cricket statistician Andrew Sampson, others behind him on the list for most consecutive Tests since making their debuts are, Australia’s Adam Gilchrist (96), New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum (93), India’s Sachin Tendulkar (84) and Australia’s Michael Hussey (79).
De Villiers is only fifth on the all-time list for consecutive Tests though.
According to Cricinfo, Australia’s Allan Border tops the list having played 153 consecutive Tests between 1979 and 1994.
England’s Alastair Cook is second on 111 since 2006, Australia’s Mark Waugh is third with 107 Tests between 1993 and 2002, while India’s Sunil Gavaskar played 106 consecutive Tests between 1975 and 1986.
This above-mentioned quartet did however not set the milestones from their Test debuts, as was the case with De Villiers.
De Villiers has scored 7 606 runs in Test cricket, averaging 52.09. He boasts 21 centuries and 36 fifties.