Cricket’s obsession with the number 100 has morphed noticeably over the last decade. 

There is, of course, the new fourth format to be introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board next summer. A zebra of a competition for newcomers and non-traditionalists, sure, but based on the sport’s deep-rooted affinity for the first notch into three figures. 

Another development has been the acknowledgement of the ‘100-ball innings’. In the age of Twenty20, it is an unofficial marker of those who knuckle down as the rest of the game buckles up. 

It was first popularised by Ed Cowan: the Australian Test opener whose watchfulness was seen as the antidote to uncertainty at the top of the order. His debut knock against India in December 2011 saw him score 68 from 177 balls, lasting almost five hours. A throwback solution, the perfect foil for David Warner, had been found. 

As the left-hander’s worth grew, so did his cult, with alternative commentary service White Line Wireless referring to batsmen reaching 100 deliveries as bringing up their “Cowan Ton”. Cowan played his last Test in 2013 and retired outright in 2018, but the hashtag lives on. Recently, Joe Denly has taken it upon himself to carry on the legacy of this practice with success.

Denly was brought into England’s Test side at the start of 2018 to offer experience to a top four struggling to pull themselves together. And the relative stability he has been able to provide has come from doing as Cowan did. 

In the 34-year old’s last 12 innings he has Cowan-Tonned-up eight times. There was the 155 (50 runs) against Australia at Headingley which built the platform for Ben Stokes’ heroics. Also the 295 at the Oval at the end of the Ashes for 94.  

He has been involved in 11 fifty-run partnerships across this period: five of them over 70 and two into triple figures. His 73 with Dom Sibley in the third innings at Newlands – following his 55 with Joe Root in the first – was as comforting for his partners and the team, as England batted South Africa out of the game with a lead of 437. For the first time in a while, this batting card looked to have established a smart, executable method.

"Big first innings is a plan of ours and as a top-order batter you obviously want to bat time,” states Denly. “But it is a case of understanding the game situation, there may have been times in this game when I maybe could have got on with it a bit more. I think it is just having that game sense, trying to understand what the bowlers are doing, trying to get the bowlers back for more and more spells in their legs, which allows our long batting line-up to take advantage when they are tired.”

Take advantage is what Denly’s teammates did: Sibley racking up 133 not out as his maiden Test hundred; Ben Stokes coming in and thumping 72 from 47 balls; England converting their dominance late on day five into a 189-run win and a series squared 1-1. 

But the only player who has not profited from Denly’s graft is Denly. For as noble as the Cowan Ton is, only the real thing can benefit the individual. 

Cowan was unceremoniously dumped during the 2013 Ashes by Darren Lehmann, who wanted more urgency from his opening batsmen. The Tasmanian, for all his enabling qualities, was easy to drop with just one century, six fifties and an average of 31.

Those numbers match up to Denly’s, apart from one key difference – Denly has not scored a hundred. And, as was the case with Cowan, security can only come through runs rather than balls. 94 is the closest the Kent man has come.

“Certainly, I’m becoming more confident with each game I play, each knock I have,” said Denly on the gap in his Test statistics. “It is frustrating that I haven’t kicked on and get that really big score but I really believe it is just a matter of time if I keep doing the things I’ve been doing. It will be nice to go on and get that big one. Hopefully, it is not too far away.” 

Cowan found out the hard way that even one under his belt was no comfort, nor the support of your teammates to an extent. Denly would do well to do what others have done and build on his good work that, for now, sees him as a vital cog in the XI. For that to continue, he will have to become more selfish. Having done his bit for the team, it’s time to cash in for himself.

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