Haseeb Hameed, the Lancashire batsman, hit his first first-class century in almost three years with a 298-ball 117 against Middlesex on Friday. The 22-year-old’s knock comprised of 17 fours and one six against a Middlesex attack featuring Toby Roland-Jones, Steven Finn, Tim Murtagh.
Hameed’s hundred followed up from a double century against Loughborough MCCU last week. Having batted at No.3 in that warm-up fixture, Hameed was pushed up to open after Alex Davies injured his hand while fielding on the first day.
“I was quite determined going into the game,” he told BBC Lancashire Radio.
Here's Haseeb Hameed reaching his hundred with a six!pic.twitter.com/EIpNd13R6Q
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) April 12, 2019
“The attack that we were up against, I knew it was going to be a good challenge. That’s the sort of challenge that you want as a batter.
“With the unfortunate injury to Al [Davies], it gave me an opportunity to go up top. I enjoyed batting out there.”
Having scored 1,129 runs at an average of 52 in the County Championship in 2016, Hameed made his Test debut for England against India in November of that year. He broke his finger midway through the series and has not turned out for his country since.
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In 2018, the Bolton-born batsman averaged under 10 for Lancashire, failing to pass fifty in his 18 innings for the Red Rose.
“It is difficult to put into words,” added Hameed. “It’s a number of emotions. There’s that delight of being able to pass the 100-figure mark, there’s a feeling of satisfaction for that little moment.
“It was brilliant for me to pass the 100-run mark in the first game of the season and I can take that confidence going forward.”
