As a young man, Aiden Markram always seemed to rise to the moment. In the 2014 ICC Under-19 World Cup Final, he stood unbeaten on 66*, steering South Africa to their first title in that format. Even then, there was a clarity to his game—big moments didn’t fluster him, they seemed to bring out his best.
There are plenty of cricketers with good stats. Plenty with pretty averages, a pile of hundreds, and a few with flair to match. But as Temba Bavuma said in a press conference just yesterday, Aiden Markram has something rarer. “Character,” he said, letting the word hang. And that’s it, isn’t it? Character is what separates good players from memorable ones, and in Markram’s case, that character is finally translating into something resembling greatness.
He has now scored three fourth innings Test centuries—a feat that instantly elevates him to a rarified level. These weren’t just hundreds, they were match-shaping, match-defining tons in vastly different conditions. One at home in South Africa. One in England. One in Pakistan. That’s bounce and seam, swing and nibble, reverse and spin. Three of the toughest environments to bat last in—he’s done it all.
It’s a ridiculous statistic when you consider that he has just eight Test hundreds in total. That means three out of his eight have come in the fourth innings, where most players struggle to survive, never mind thrive. That’s a conversion rate that borders on mythical. And if you include his 100 against India in the second Test of 2024—widely considered the innings of the year—then four of his eight have come in the most trying of circumstances. Half. Think about that.
It’s the sort of thing that makes you shake your head, not in disbelief, but in wonder. How can a man so clearly capable of such towering, spiritual efforts, have only eight hundreds in 45 Tests? As one commentator joked, the great Steve Smith doesn’t even have one—and yet Markram, blessed with timing, power, and poise, seems to only fire when the world is on fire.
But when he does, he reminds us what greatness looks like. Yesterday was one of those days. He didn’t just score a hundred—he touched the divine.
You’re reminded of something Faf du Plessis once said. That Brendan McCullum had convinced him to stop chasing big scores, and to start chasing greatness. You could argue that yesterday, Markram took that same step. He stopped trying to prove he was good. He proved he could be great.
Eight centuries in 45 Tests isn’t bad. An average in the high 30s is respectable. But when you have back-to-back innings of the year contenders—2024’s against India, and likely 2025’s as well—it begins to feel almost impossible that this player doesn’t average 40. How can someone play the best innings of the year two years in a row, and still not be in the elite club statistically?
Because, up to now, Aiden Markram’s career hasn’t been about stats. It’s been about moments. And maybe now, finally, at 30 years old, he’s entering a new chapter. He’s no longer fighting to live up to his potential. He’s cashing in. Slowly, quietly, he’s building the sort of legacy you don’t see coming—until it’s already there.
This could be the beginning of something special. In fact, it already is.
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