Andrew Hudson

Andrew Charles Hudson (born 17 March 1965 in Eshowe, Natal) was a South African Test and ODI cricketer. The right-handed batsman played 35 Tests and 89 One Day Internationals for South Africa in the 1990s. His career spanned 16 consecutive summers, playing for both his country and his province KwaZulu-Natal. Although his career statistics do not match up to the best, he was a treat to watch as he played the square cut, cover drive and pull exceptionally well.

Debut Century

Hudson made his Test debut against the West Indies in Bridgetown on 18 April 1992. The South African side was led by Kepler Wessels and it would be a one off Test for the side who had just returned from Test exile. The West Indian bowling lineup was strong with Patrick Patterson, Curtley Ambrose, Kenny Benjamin and Courtney Walsh. In a stunning nine hour innings, Hudson was unfazed by the West Indian fast bowlers and scored 163. He brought up his hundred by pushing Jimmy Adams for a single to mid-on and became the first ever South African to score a Test century on debut. The feat would not be emulated until Jacques Rudolph scored 222 not out against Bangladesh some nine years later. Hudson's innings ended when he was clean bowled by a yorker from Benjamin and the South Africans would go on to lose the game by just 53 runs. He also recorded a duck in the game, one of only three cricketers to have scored a hundred and a duck on their Test debuts.

International cricket

It was a career that started in the...
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