Which two batsmen hold the record for the maximum consecutive Test 50s? (18 February 2002)

The man who originally held the record was the great West Indian Everton Weekes. Between 27 March 1948, when he played the last Test of his team's 1947-48 series against England, to February 9, 1949, when he played the last of five Tests against India, Weekes was relentless in his run-getting. His scores during the seven innings in that period make fabulous reading even now - 141, 128, 194, 162, 101, 90 and 56. "Obviously that was the highlight of my career," Weekes said in a recent interview. "It was five centuries in five innings and the world record and I'm proud that it still stands nearly 50 years later." Incidentally, it would have been six hundreds in a row if he had not been declared run out for 90 in India.

The consecutive hundreds record has stayed safe even into 2002. But the record for consecutive fifties was equaled by another unforgettable Test cricketer. September 22, 2000 was when the man in question would make the first in an equally amazing sequence of Test scores. Andy Flower, for it was he, had by dint of his perseverance peaked as a batsman of supreme ability that season. In fact, the nine Tests which he played in 2000 were to see him aggregate 1045 runs at a monumental average of 80.38. After making 65 in the above-mentioned Test innings against New Zealand, he went on to make 183*, 70, 55, 232*, 79, 73 in a period that lasted until 22 April 2001. Four of these innings (from 183* to 232*) came in two Tests of the previous Zimbabwe tour of India which saw him make 540 runs at an average of 270. Flower would possibly have surpassed Weekes' record if he had not been run out by Javed Omar when on 23 in his next Test innings.

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