18-year-old Teague Wyllie became the youngest centurion in Sheffield Shield cricket since legendary Australia captain Ricky Ponting when he scored 104 for Western Australia in their eight-wicket win over New South Wales.
It was just Wyllie's third senior appearance and he looks to be a precocious talent, having also been Australia's leading run scorer at the recent Under-19 World Cup with 278 runs at an average of 69.50 as they finished third.
Surprisingly for a teenager who had just scored his first professional hundred, Wyllie's celebrations were largely muted as he calmly raised his bat while being congratulated by batting partner Matthew Kelly.
Western Australia captain Sam Whiteman revealed after the game that Wyllie echoed a famous quote from former Manchester City and Liverpool striker Mario Balotelli. During the 2012 Euros, Balotelli was asked about his lack of a celebration after scoring and was quoted as saying: "When I score, I don't celebrate because I'm only doing my job. When a postman delivers letters, does he celebrate?"
And Wyllie delivered his own version of Balotelli's riposte, with Whiteman telling ESPNcricinfo : "He said 'tax accountants don't celebrate when they do their tax return so I shouldn't celebrate scoring a hundred'. He loves batting and is an impressive young man. He feels like he's 28."
Speaking to reporters, Wyllie explained: "A lot of the lads take the mickey out of me for not taking the helmet off but I just don't like the attention from it. My old boy drilled into me when you get a hundred that the job is not done.
"So I've never been a massive fan of carrying-on... because I'm just trying to get the team into a good position." And Wyllie wants to go on and play Test cricket for Australia, believing the format to be the "pinnacle" and having modelled his batting on India legend Rahul Dravid, who was nicknamed 'The Wall'.
"Test cricket is the goal and I believe it is the pinnacle when it comes to cricket," he added. "I've always loved batting for a long period of time.
"I idolised Rahul Dravid growing up. He values his wicket more than anyone. Growing up I modelled my game on him a bit when it comes to valuing his wicket and batting for long periods."
