There may have been a washout at Chester-le-Street, but there was nothing damp about the praise pouring forth for Sachin Tendulkar's 32nd one-day international hundred. Amazingly, it was Tendulkar's first ODI century against England. In The Independent, Angus Fraser said, "Like the inevitable crash of the housing market, it was bound to happen." Fraser knows what he's talking about: he was in the England side when the 17-year-old Tendulkar stroked a sublime maiden Test century at Old Trafford in 1990. He added that Tendulkar toyed with Ashley Giles "as a cat does a mouse".

In The Times, Christopher Martin-Jenkins called it simply "an innings of the highest quality". Derek Pringle in The Daily Telegraph agreed. To him, it was "a masterclass … an A-Z of how to compile and bedazzle in the same innings!"

Composure and pacing were features of Tendulkar's knock, as he laboured a bit to begin with. Tanya Aldred in The Guardian wrote that "there was a time yesterday when Tendulkar looked not only blue-collar but to be operating out of a creaking old Cortina".

He soon moved up the gears, though. In The Mirror, Mike Walters said the denouement to Tendulkar's innings was "the fastest gallop to hit the North East since the Blaydon Races".

There was also praise for the languid strokeplay of Yuvraj Singh. He cracked 40 off 19 balls, making it 135 off 128 balls in the series - and he's only been dismissed once. CMJ said he hit the ball "with an almost statuesque grace, like a reincarnate Frank Woolley".

But the last word must go to Tendulkar, and to Walters: "If you haven't got a ticket for the Test series yet, you're a mug. A sporting legend is coming to town near you soon - come and see this bloke at work while you can."

Rob Smyth is on the staff of Wisden.com.

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