Ask Bearders #181

Q: When Ireland played England in Belfast in June 2006, brothers Dominic and Ed Joyce played against each other. Both were also making their ODI debuts. Surely these are both firsts?

When was the last time the same person started the comments in two out of three consecutive AtBW's (179 & 181)?
My question is, In what year was the first test match, Australia V England in Melbourne 1876/1877 recognised as an official test match?
What would its designation have been until then?
and lastly, Are there any other earlier games which could possibly have been recognised as tests, but weren't?

Irish75!!! AAARRRGGGHHH!!! I took too long to post it!!!

I'm glad you oppose the ICC changing the result of the England v Pakistan Test, but I'd be interested to know what you think of the match between Hampshire and Glamorgan in the 1969 County Championship. The umpires awarded the match to Glamorgan when Hampshire went home before play had been abandoned, but the MCC later declared it to be a draw.

in terms of distance, which 2 test grounds are the nearest to each other and which are the furthest apart?

question 1 - Irish75

well brothers playing against each other in ODIs is unique, but brothers debuting together isn't

the one that immediately comes to mind is:

GS and IM Chappell debuted for AUS vs ENG on 5th Jan 1971 (the 1st ODI)

question 1 - Irish75

i should further point out to my previous post brothers-in-law have played against each other in ODIs, when in Dec 2002 ENG played AUS Craig White batted and bowled against D.Lehmann, whose sister he was married to

Seeing the question about wicket keeping bowlers taking a wicket leads to an obvious question - what's the most number of bowlers from the same side to take a wicket in a match. Have all 11 players ever managed it in a first class game (spread over both innings, obviously).

to stephen_turner (4:)

In that particular case, the "official result" was changed from a forfeit to a draw, because the "missing" team - Hampshire - had, in fact, been misinformed that there would be no further play, due to the weather, and had taken the chance to go home early to avoid traffic, believing the match a washout: their absence cannot be compared to Pakistan's refusal to play on, considering that both teams were present, the light and weather were good, and the pitch in fine condition.

Also in Gloucs/Hants, it being near the official end of the final day's play with very little of the match completed, there was no chance of a result in the Hampshire/Gloucs match - not even a contrived one. Whereas there was most definitely a chance of a result - and, most likely, a Pakistan win at that - when they were refusing to play on.

Another thing that has to be pointed out. Since the "forfeit" incident, no international matches between Pakistan and any other team have been organised: the only Tests that Pakistan have played after the "forfeit", were all organised BEFORE the forfeit. I cannot help but think there is a connection there. Never mind the "security reasons" that get cited: nobody wants to play a team that refuses to accept the umpire's decision (whatever the merits of said decision), to the point of refusing to even play.

Sachin Tendulkar made his test debut at the end of 1989 and is still playing for India. I presume he is the last 1980s debutant still playing international cricket.

Who were the last players to retire who had mad their debuts in the 1970s, 1960s etc.?

Re 1.6

The Joyces is a unique case, but brothers Athula Samarasekera (for Sri Lanka) and Johanne Samarasekera (for United Arab Emirates) have also appeared in ODIs for different countries but not, however, in the same match.

Other pairs of brothers with the same debut (same country) -
Mushtaq and Sadiq Mohammad, P-NZ, Christchurch, 1972-73
DR and RJ Hadlee, NZ-P, same match
LO and SO Tikolo, K-I, Cuttack, 1995-96
BL and DB Kotze, Nam-Z, Harare, 2002-03
JF and PJK Mooney, Ire-E, Belfast, 2006

Re 5 (Dougster 40)

The furthest apart, I should think, would be Chester-le-Street and Dunedin at around 11,750 miles.

The nearest would presumably be in London (Lord's and the Oval) or between two of the grounds in Colombo. If grounds that have disappeared or are not in current test use can also be considered then there are other venues which have, or have had, more than one test ground - Brisbane, Bulawayo, Chennai/Madras, Dunedin, Durban, Johannesburg, Karachi, Lahore, Lucknow, Multan, Mumbai/Bombay, Peshawar and Rawalpindi. Is there a cartographer in the house?

Re 10

TEST CAREERS - 15 YEARS OR MORE SINCE 1/1/1960

23/07/1949 - 13/07/1976 - DB Close (E)
26/11/1954 - 13/02/1975 - MC Cowdrey (E)
23/06/1955 - 30/01/1975 - FJ Titmus (E)
23/12/1957 - 03/05/1978 - RB Simpson (A)
05/02/1958 - 05/02/1976 - LR Gibbs (WI)
26/03/1959 - 29/03/1979 - Mushtaq Mohammad (P)
04/12/1959 - 09/03/1977 - Intikhab Alam (P)
10/01/1962 - 01/11/1978 - EAS Prasanna (I)
06/01/1963 - 12/08/1980 - DL Murray (WI)
21/01/1964 - 06/01/1982 - BS Chandrasekhar (I)
04/06/1964 - 06/01/1982 - G Boycott (E)
24/10/1964 - 03/02/1980 - Asif Iqbal (P)
24/10/1964 - 28/01/1983 - Majid Khan (P)
04/12/1964 - 06/02/1989 - IM Chappell (A)
27/02/1965 - 29/09/1983 - S Venkataraghavan (I)
10/12/1965 - 11/02/1981 - KD Walters (A)
30/06/1966 - 21/02/1982 - DL Underwood (E)
13/12/1966 - 02/01/1985 - CH Lloyd (WI)
27/07/1967 - 06/01/1984 - Wasim Bari (P)
29/02/1968 - 05/02/1985 - PI Pocock (E)
06/03/1969 - 24/03/1984 - Sarfraz Nawaz (P)
24/10/1969 - 31/10/1985 - Zaheer Abbas (P)
24/10/1969 - 09/03/1987 - Younis Ahmed (P)
24/12/1969 - 15/01/1988 - M Amarnath (I)
05/02/1970 - 17/03/1993 - AJ Traicos (SA/Z)
06/03/1971 - 17/03/1987 - SM Gavaskar (I)
03/06/1971 - 07/01/1992 - Imran Khan (P)
02/02/1973 - 10/07/1990 - RJ Hadlee (NZ)
22/11/1974 - 01/05/1991 - CG Greenidge (WI)
22/11/1974 - 12/08/1991 - IVCA Richards (WI)
10/07/1975 - 07/02/1995 - GA Gooch (E)
24/01/1976 - 05/02/1992 - DB Vengsarkar (I)
09/10/1976 - 21/12/1993 - Javed Miandad (P)
18/01/1978 - 07/02/1995 - MW Gatting (E)
10/02/1978 - 16/03/1993 - JG Wright (NZ)
03/03/1978 - 13/04/1994 - DL Haynes (WI)
24/08/1978 - 30/07/1995 - JE Emburey (E)
16/10/1978 - 23/03/1994 - Kapil Dev (I)
29/12/1978 - 29/03/1994 - AR Border (A)
17/02/1982 - 10/08/2000 - A Ranatunga (SL)
05/03/1982 - 20/02/1999 - Salim Malik (P)
12/11/1983 - 06/01/1999 - NS Sidhu (I)
23/08/1984 - 23/07/2002 - PA de Silva (SL)
09/11/1984 - 23/04/2001 - CA Walsh (WI)
31/12/1984 - 06/03-2000 - M Azharuddin (I)
25/01/1985 - 11/01/2002 - Wasim Akram (P)
26/12/1985 - 06/01/2004 - SR Waugh (A)
15/11/1989 - 02/11/2008 - SR Tendulkar (I)
09/08/1990 - 02/11/2008 - A Kumble (I)
23/11/1990 - 20/11/2007 - MS Atapattu (SL)
06/12/1990 - 01/12/2006 - BC Lara (WI)
22/02/1991 - 05/12/2007 - ST Jayasuriya (SL)
01/02/1992 - 05/01/2007 - SK Warne (A)
04/06/1992 - 12/10/2007 - Inzamam-ul-Haq (P)
28/08/1992 - 11/08/2008 - M Muralitharan (SL)
Others who have played in 2008:
04/03/1994 --- ML Hayden (A)
17/03/1994 --- S Chanderpaul (WI)
19/03/1994 --- SP Fleming (NZ)
26/08/1994 --- WPUJC Vaas (SL)
16/11/1995 --- SM Pollock (SA)
08/12/1995 --- RT Ponting (A)
14/12/1995 --- JH Kallis (SA)

In test cricket the bowling side has the option to take the new ball after 80 overs. How long has this rule been in place for? What is the largest number of overs a side has continued bowling with the old ball after the 80 overs are up?

Marcus, UK

So Barnes and Bradman both scored 234 in the same innings (S.G.Barnes (234)/D.G.Bradman (234) Australia v England, Sydney, 1946-47 ). I'm guessing this is the highest matching scores for one or more batsmen in Tests as they are the only ones with double hundreds, what about all first class? And what about three, four and five batsmen?

Also what's the record for the number of batsmen recording the same score in one innings?

Q I believe that Scotland 'played' Ireland at Raeburn Place, Edinburgh in the 1960's when not a ball was bowled. I am not sure if they even tossed up! This match, I think, was debated when George Goddard came towards 100 caps as to whether it should count.

Re 13:

Great response, very interesting, thanks.

I think a typo might have crept in to Ian Chappell's dates - surely his test career finished in 1980, not 1989??

Sirianblog's question of who has the least number of runouts was fun, but what I really want to know is

"Who ate all the pies" ... or, of test players with greater than (say) 50 caps, who has been run out most frequently? Inzamam must be up there.

More challenging - who has run out the most partners ... ;*) (Boycott perhaps? Or maybe Nasser Hussain ...)

Ok this is a difficult one to explain

Some batsmen have a poor test record, are dropped and then re-invent themselves. I'm sure I recall that GA Gooch had only a mediocre average at one point before scoring heavily in later years (also DW Randall?) Who are the batsmen with the greatest discrepancy in average during their test careers?

So my question is:

Of batsmen ultimately averaging more than 40 in tests who has had the lowest average during their test career?

You will need to add a criteria ie they were reasonably established players when they hit their low

Hello,

My question is about natural disasters or so called "Acts of God" affecting cricket matches. (Not including the weather of course)

For example, has a no ball, a wide or even a wicket been caused by an earthquake or similar event during play?

Has a match ever been influenced or abandoned due to an Elephant stampede or something similar?

Thanks!

digitalprawn, Birkenhead, Wirral, UK

Re 19

I've researched the two I mentioned.

Randall - first 27 matches - av 27.43 - next 20 (after recall) av 40.75. Overall 33.37

Gooch - first 42 matches - av 35.77 next 76 (after recall following rebel tour) av 46.08. Overall 42.58

But there must be bigger discrepancies (do I mean ranges?) than that


(Incidentally I had never noticed this before but if GAG's plane had crashed on the way back from SA would we be saying that he underachieved like DAR? - 35.77 from 42 tests v 33.37 from 47)

re 21 - apologies

DAR aka DWR (if you were confused)

A and W are close on the keyboard and I have fat fingers

question 20 - digital prawn

there are innumerable instances of "acts of god" or strange occurances causing delays

in 1973 a bomb scare at lords caused a loss of 85 minutes on the third day of the test between ENG and WI (as was 20mins of the match between ESSEX and AUS in 1985)

several war time matches were "interrupted" by bombing

sabotage was suspected in 1985 when an Air india plane crashed off the irish coast, this caused a complete tour cancellation for IND in (of all places) CANADA

in 1989 a test between AUS and SL was delayed because the stump with the camera was too high

in the TRANSVAL vs W.PROV game in 1995 lightning stopped play

in the HOLLAND vs WARKS 2 day match the first day was delayed as the tour bus's satnav system didn't have the (new) dutch ground on it

bees (or wasps) quite commonly stop play, for example ZIM vs ENG A 1990, or SURREY vs YORKS in 1993 and in the TAMIL vs PUNJAB fixture in 2000, which was also held up by a snake on the outfield

bizzarrely the BORDER vs BOLAND match in 1995 was held up when a six was hit straight into a frying pan, containing calamari, which then took 10 minutes to cool down. the bowler couldn't then hold the oil drenched ball and a further delay resulted as the umpires tried to clean it...finally this was in vain and it was replaced

Has any player ever finished their career with exactly the same batting average as their strike rate?

If not, who has come the closest?

Trick, Taipei (née Nottingham)

@TrickInTaipei

Gavin Hamilton.

2 innings, 0 runs, SR 0.

Cheers, Daneel.

Anyone who's actually made a few runs? I'm also interested in their First Class stats.

To PortoIan,

Thanks very much for the interesting and detailed reply!

Cheers, DP

Following the amusing figures of 8-215 for Krejza in the India -v- Australia test, I was wondering how many bowlers have gone for more than 200 in a test match innings, and whether any of those have managed to pick up more than 8 wickets for those runs.

Also, are there any other test matches where a bowler has gone for such a high percentage of the total runs (49% for Krejza), where the run total is over 300.

Cheers

Barry/Andrew, London, UK

Re 15:

I don't know what the most number of batsman to have made the same score in one innings is; but am prepared to put a large amount of money on what score they all shared - I'd say this would be a duck, zero, zip, or nought.

question 28 - Ashen Shugar

21 other bowlers have gone for 200+ in an innings in tests, 2 of them twice, Saqlian Mushtaq and Mankad (who seems to get in a lot of answers!) but none have 8 wkts, the closest being Kapil Dev with figures of 38.4-3-220-7, followed by 3 with 6, Bedi, Peebles and Ahsan. two went for no wkts, Khan Mohammed and N Boje

of all the above cases of a bowler being hit for 200+ the largest % of the team innings is our old favourute Mankad who went for 39.6% in the 1953 game vs WI, so Krezja wins (the right word?) that too, although that is only for 200+run bowlers not all

Which batsman holds the record for the largest number of balls faced in Test matches between having their wicket taken when considering more than one innings/match?

question 31 - Chris Seyk

i don't fully understand your question, but in the 1998 test against PAK Mark Taylor scored 334 not out in the first innings over 564 balls and then 92 in 159 balls, scoring 426 runs in 723 balls before finally getting out

is this what you wanted? the most balls faced in one test for once out, only at the end?

re 31 and 32

Did Sobers beat this? I think he followed his unbeaten 365 with two hundreds the next test. Lara with 400 plus whatever his next innings was must be close too

I think Chris Seyk means between test dismissals ie even if they run over tests or even series

It will probably be a tricky one that runs over 3 or 4 not out innings

Gordon Greenidge scored 134 out of 211 for West Indies vs England in the third test at Old Trafford in 1976. I think he actually scored 134 out of 192 runs scored while he was at the wicket, as he was 9th man out, after opening. I'll leave Bearders to do the maths but this comes very close to Bannerman's highest percentage of runs highest by a single batsman out of team's overall total, before Slater's innings?

Slater's 123 out of Australia's 184 in Sydney 1999 was 66.85% of the innings total; the original article mistakenly re-uses Bannerman's figure of 67.34%. Hi from Northern Ireland, I had to say that as I doubt very much I will ever the chance to correct Bill (or his proofreader)again!

Greenidge scored 69.43% of the runs made while he was at the crease with 134 out of 193, narrowly beating Slater's 68.33% (123 out of the 180 his team made).

Both are eclipsed by at least two other centuries I can find. Gilbert Jessop made 74.82% of the runs scored while he was at the wicket at The Oval in 1902, with his famous 104 coming out of the team's 139.

Even that was beaten by Sir Viv Richards, who scored 110 (out of 146 while at wicket) against England at St John's in 1986. Greenidge was injured and unable to bat in the second innings, but he would surely have enjoyed watching Richards score 75.34% of the runs accrued while he was at the wicket.

NIck-For the record, and because the India-Australia test is so boring, Greenidge scored 63.5% of his teams total in 1976. The other figures I gave are a percentage of runs scored while the batter in question was at the wicket.

question 33 - Sir Ian Blog

i agree, it probably won't be the innings i quoted if it's for various tests, but i did state my answer was for one test with one final dismissal

so far (still looking) i have found 1051 balls between dismissals, over 4 tests, all against IND in 2002, for Chanderpaul when he scored 67*(162 balls) 101* (231) 136* (510!!!) and 58 (148)

i'd also like to point out that lara scored his 400 not out in 582 balls and then was out in the next test for 53 off 76 balls, making 658 balls

sobers was 365 not out and scored 125 in the next game before being dismissed but nobody recorded the balls faced, although the minutes at bat for the 365 was (only) 614 whereas taylor took 720 for his 334 suggesting more balls?

PortoIan (no 32) - yes thank you, this is what I was looking for. Basically just the largest number of consecutive balls faced without being out.

I was wondering if it is known which player hits (or has hit) the greatest percentage of the runs he has scored as sixes.... My reason for asking is that Somerset's tail end batsman Charl Willoughby never 'hangs around for long' but does have a habit of hitting sixes rather often.. (It's not for me to say he pursues a hit or miss approach..)

Over the years there have been many cricketers, perhaps regarded as rather more serious batsmen, such as the late Ollie Milburn who made a habit of hitting the ball clean over the boundary rather often....

Would love to know...

re: 31 & 38

The record is held by Chanderpaul but I believe he broke his own record of 1051 during the tour of england last year with scores of
116* from 413 (2nd innings third test)
136* from 406 (1st Innings 4th test)
and 70 from 255 (2nd innings 4th test)

giving a total of 322 from 1074

Re Jonathan Ellis (#9): Yes, in the case of Hampshire it was a mistake not a true refusal to play. But don't we still have to maintain the principle that the umpires' decision on the field of play is final and can't be overturned by the authorities?

question 40 - P Harris 825

for all first class i'm not sure but in tests the record is 67% of career runs in sixes:

DT Mutendera had a one match, two innings, career for ZIM in 2000 during which he scored 10 runs, all in his first innings, including one six

however i suspect you wanted over a longer career, so the highest % with over 10 sixes are:

Nixon McLean WI 368 runs 11 sixes 18%
Mortaza BAN 647 runs 18 sixes 17%
Akhtar PAK 544 runs 22 sixes 24%
Afridi PAK 1683 runs 50 sixes 18%

also worth a mention is Southee for NZ who has scored 83 test runs including 9 sixes, or 65%, all of which he managed in one innings of 77*, giving that innings 70% sixes, which must be a record for test innings over 50

question 41 - The Silver Bullet

you are quoting MINUTES at crease not BALLS faced

for the 3 innings you mention chanderpaul faced 257, 257 and 163 balls making a total of 677 balls (over as you say 1074 minutes)

Re 42 - stephen_turner has hit the nail right on the head.
Most people would probably agree that the umpires were right in the England / Pakistan case and wrong for Gloucs/Hants but the Laws are quite clear. Once they have made their decision - right or wrong - no-one else can change it.

Re message 27 - no doubt many people will also remember the celebrated occasion when Dickie Bird held up a test between England and the West Indies in 1995 because the sun was too bright - it was reflecting off a window into the batsman's eyes I believe!!

(sorry - I meant message 20 not 27!)

Re 38,

I think you've cracked it, Ian.

My initial thoughts turned to Hanif's 337 (P-WI, Bridgetown, 1957-58), the longest test innings of all but one of many, alas, for which the number of balls is not recorded. However we know that he opened and was out at 626-6. The innings was declared after 1914 balls at 657-8 so assuming even scoring rates throughout he would have been in for around 1824 balls. Allowing for extras, his partners would have scored something like 258 runs (out of 626). Assuming the same strike rate for Hanif and his partners that would imply he may have faced like 56.5% of those 1824 balls, i.e. about 1030. Too many assumptions though, so my money's on Chanders too!

I am sure that all 3 Chappell brothers played for Australia together at some point. Has this feat been equalled or surpassed?

question 49 - Magna Morton Fan

no the 3 Chappells never played together, either in ODIs or Tests

the 3 Graces, WG, Dr EM and GF all played in one test, against AUS, in 1880

In 1892 three Hearne brothers played in the SA vs ENG test, but 2, George and Alec for ENG and Frank for SA (their cousin, John also played in that game, for ENG)

Kennedy, Collin and David Obuya (Otieno) have played many ODIs for KENYA, all brothers

Better known the 3 Hadlee brothers, Barry, Dayle and Richard all played ODI together

4 Mohammad brothers played test cricket for PAK but never at the same time, at most 3 together in 1969

Likewise for the 4 Ranatunga brothers for SL, although they played mostly in ODIs and never more than 2 together

Wettimuny (SL) and Tancred (SA) are other sets of 3 brothers who have played international cricket, but never more than 2 at the same time and in the case of the Tancred brothers one at a time

Re 49 (magnaMortonfan )

Whilst all three Chappells have not played tests together they have all appeared in the same Sheffield Shield match four times. On the first two occasions they were all on the same side (South Australia) but in the other two matches Greg was on the other side (Queensland).

Re 15 (GeordieDom)

The records for most ducks in a single innings (and also both innings) is five and seven respectively both by New Zealand against South Africa at Johannesburg (1953.54). I don't recall seeing any other score appearing more than three times in any innings, and I greatly doubt if there are five of any other kind!

The most ducks in a first class innings appears to be nine in the first innings by Muslims v Europeans, Pune, 1915/16. They also scored six in the second innings making 15 in the match and, since the two batsmen who scored in the first innings also scored in the second, that meant six pairs as well.

A few years later, in 1922 at Edgbaston, there was another mass duck outbreak in a remarkable match. This time there were eight in Hampshire's first innings against Warwickshire. Hampshire got 15 and had to follow on. At 177-6 they were still 31 behind. Then George Brown and William Shirley put on 85 for the 7th - 262-7. Arthur McIntyre came in and was out for five - 274-8. Wicketkeeper Walter Livsey came in and put on 177 for the 9th before Brown was bowled for 172. In came last man Stuart Boyes and contributed 29 towards a 10th wicket partnership of 70 before being bowled, leaving No 10 Livsey not out on 110. 521 all out.. Warwickshire were bundled out for 158, and Hampshire won by 155 runs. Moral: you can still win even if eight of your side are out for 0!

Re 52

Whoops, correction! The number of ducks in Muslims v Europeans is eight, not nine. I did not spot one of the zeroes was a 'not out'. Sorry!

Re 15, 52

I have now discovered that the record for the number of times the same score has appeared on an innings card is not held by the aquatic biped after all. The score of 1 was made by no less than six batsmen in India's second innings against the West Indies at Ahmedabad, 1983-84. The scorecard read -

SM Gavaskar lbw b Holding 1
AD Gaekwad b Davis 29
NS Sidhju c Dujon b Holding 4
SM Patil c Daniel b Marshall 1
RJ Shastri c Dujon b Marshall 1
K Azad b Marshall 3
Kapil Dev b Davis 1
RMH Binny c Greenidge b Holding 1
SMH Kirmani not out 24
BS Sandu lbw b Davis 1
Maninder Singh lbw b Daniel 15
Extras 22 Total 103

question 54 - David CW

yes (in tests), tied with 0 three times

PAK 1st innings vs WI 1980
SA 2nd innings vs IND 1996
BAN 2nd innings vs WI 2002

also three times in ODIs

PAK vs ENG 1987
PAK vs WI 1993
SA vs AUS 2001

Sourav Ganguly got a golden duck against Australia in Nagpur, which happened to be his final test innings. This must be quite rare; getting a golden duck in their final test innings, how many people have achieved this feat?

question 56 - Witty Robbie

not as rare as you would think, not including Ganguly there have been 4 others who have a career average above 30 (so batters) since the counting of balls faced became common (in the 70s), there were probably many more in the 100 years before and in the non-batsman category

DW Hookes AUS vs IND Dec 1985
Rashid PAK vs IND Jan 1983
CT Radley ENG vs NZ Aug 1978

and most unfortunately

KJ Hughes AUS vs WI Dec 1984

as he also got a duck (albeit not golden, he lasted 2 balls) in the 1st innings too

and just so i can get him in, my favourite

Mankad IND vs WI Feb 1959

also got a duck in his last innings at test level but the number of balls faced was not recorded, like many others (yes there have been many others who also got ducks but not golden in their last innings but i like to think of Mankad as "special")

sorry i should point out an alternative spelling (probably the correct one) of Rashid

Haroon Rasheed

also i thought ODI last innings golden ducks would be of interest,

Athey ENG vs NZ March 1988
AC Parore NZ vs SA Feb 2002
Ramiz Raja PAK vs IND Sept 1997
NS Sidhu IND vs PAK Sept 1998
Trescothick ENG vs PAK Sept 2006

(note Trescothick may yet be back)

Good morning Bill,

I was just casting an eye over Sachin Tendulkar’s career stats and I noticed that his balls faced, 22685, and his strike rate, 54.05, are both followed by an asterisk. I have seen this with pre-war players, when statistics weren’t quite so detailed, but I cannot see why this should be the case with a modern player. Can you enlighten me?

question 59 - Bertie Wooster

it was common before the mid 1970s not to record balls faced in Tests, and in some first class matches this carried on into the 1980s

all test players who played before 1970 won't hve a S/R all balls faced, and first class players in some areas who played before 1990 won't either

Tendulkar falls into the latter category, a few of his first games don't record the balls faced, so his S/R is impossible to calculate exactly

see for example

https://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Scorecards/50/50723.html

his first 1st class game where he scored 100, but nobody knows how many balls this took =(

Question: In the last test India vs Australia, Krejza had figures off 8-215. From 0 to 10 wickets taken what are the worst figures in terms of runs conceeded by any bowler in test matches?

In the 4th Test between India and Australia, Jason Krejza went for 358 runs in the match - this can't be far off being a record?!

#61

A Kumble (Ind) 10-74 v Pak, Delhi 1999

AA Mailey (Aus) 9-121 v Eng, Melbourne 1921

JJ Krejza (Aus) 8-215 v Ind, Nagpur 2008

N Kapil Dev (Ind) 7-220 v Pak, Faisalabad 1983

BS Bedi (Ind) 6-226 v Eng, Lords 1974

OC Scott (WI) 5-266 v Eng, Kingston 1930

B Lee (Aus) 4-201 v Ind, Sydney 2004

Saqlain Mushtaq (Pak) 3-237 v SA, Cape Town 2003

Fazal Mahmood (Pak) 2-247 v WI, Kngston 1958

LO Fleetwood-Smith (Aus) 1-298 v Eng, Oval 1938

Khan Mohammad (Pak) 0-259 v WI, Kingston Feb 1958

You will notice that two of those occurred in the one innings!

Nick

#62

The record no of runs conceded by a bowler in a test match is 374 by OC Scott (5-266, 4-108) for WI vs Eng in Kingston 1930.

Krejza is second, followed by AA Mailey, then AA Mailey (again).

Nick

A couple more Krejza records:

Most runs conceded in first innings of debut match:
215(-8) - previous record:
204(-0), OAC Banks, WI-A, Bridgetown, 2002-03

Most runs conceded in second innings of debut match:
143(-4) - equalled record:
143(-4), VI Smith, SA-E, Nottingham, 1947

Most runs in either innings (all matches):
143 (4-215, 4-143). previous record:
136 (5-146, 2-136). DW Carr, E-A, Oval, 1909

First player on debut to concede at least 200 runs in one innings and 100 in the other, and only the second in any match (after OC Scott).

15 bowlers have taken 10 or more wickets on debut. What happened after that?

Player - Match debut - Remainder of career

F Martin (E, 1890) - 12/102 - 2 wkts @ 19.50
T Richardson (E, 1893) - 10/156 - 78 @ 26.46
AE Hall (SA, 1922-23) - 11/112 - 29 @ 26.68
CV Grimmett (A, 1924-25) - 11/82 - 205 @ 25.11
CS Marriott (E, 1933) - 11/96 - did not play again
K Farnes (E, 1934) - 10/179 - 50 @ 30.80
AV Bedser (E, 1946) - 11/145 - 225 @ 25.47
HHH Johnson (WI, 1947-48) - 10/96 - 3 @ 47.33
AL Valentine (WI, 1950) - 11/204 - 128 @ 31.33
SF Burke (SA, 1961-62) - 11/196 - 0 wkts for 61 runs
RAL Massie (A, 1972) - 16/137 - 15 @ 34.00
JK Lever (E, 1976-77) - 10/70 - 63 @ 29.85
ND Hirwani (I, 1987-88) - 16/136 - 50 @ 37.02
Mohammad Zahid (P, 1996-97) - 11/130 - 4 @ 93.00
JJ Krejza (A, 2008-09) - 12/358 - ?

What is the lowest score made by a team winning a test match by an innings - batting first and second?

I notice that Fred Trueman's middle name was Sewards. What other unusual cricketing middle names are there?

question 67 - Sir Ian Blog

the lowest 1st innings score that won by an innings was, surprisingly considering the low follow on score, 172 by ENG vs AUS in 1888, AUS scored 81 in their innings and then followed on, scored 70, giving ENG a win by an innings and 21

for a 2nd innings of a match the record is slightly lower, 153 by AUS vs SA in 1932. In their 1st innings SA made 36, AUS 153 and finally SA 45, giving AUS a win by an innings and 72

question 68 - Sir Ian Blog

it depends on your definition of "unusual" (and also where the player comes from as unusual English names are different from unusual Indian names)

however limiting myself to English names i came up with the wonderfully named

John Elicius Benedict Bernard Placid Quirk Carrington Dwyer

who played 64 matches for Sussex begining 1904 and for quantity, let alone quality, is going to take some beating

When one says a batsman was out without troubling the scorers, how much trouble does the batsman really cause? What exactly do YOU do, when marking a batsman who is in for, let's say, 4 balls before and then being dismissed.
Aaron van Geordieland

When was the last time England, or a team playing against them, completed the 'double' of winning the Test Series and the adjoining ODI Series??? I don't think it has occured for about 5 years...

Danny, London

question 72 - Danmo 2312

unhappily i believe you are right

the last time a team won both the ODI and Test parts of the same tour that included ENG was ENG in BAN in 2003/2004 when ENG won 3 out of 3 ODIs and 2 out of 2 Tests

however during the last few years it has become more and more common to group the two tourists to england (as well as to other countries) together to make a triangular ODI competition, so, for example, in 2005 ENG won the ashes against AUS and won 4 out of 7 ODIs, but these 7 included 3/3 against BAN but only 1/3 against AUS (the third was no result) the final was then tied, so ENG won more than BAN and AUS but didn't win the series

Q. I remember that at a certain time new zeland in an innings had everyone scoring in double digits but not exceeding 20 (should I say they have scores in teen's). They had players like Thompson, Lee Germon, can you please shed some light on this test match? Also is there such an instance in ODI?

question 74 - Prashanth P

your memory must be playing with you, NZ have never had a test innings when all batsmen scored double figures

there have only been 11cases in all tests (3xENG 3xSA 3xIND and 2xAUS) and the lowest score of all these was 358, so somebody scored more than 20

the two players you mention only played tests twice together, one not having any NZ innings due to rain, the other NZ losing, in the first innings 7 double figures, but one of these greater than 20 (Germon in fact), and in the 2nd 7 double figures too but 5 higher than 20

in ODIs 11 batsmen have never scored double figures in one innings, the closest being 4 cases of 10 (WI, PAK, ZIM, IND), again these all included at least 2 scoring more than 20

Re 54.

DavidCW, I would have bet my house on the score shared by most batsmen in an innings being zero, and not 1 as you have proved. Fortunately, I didn't - mind you, with house prices as they are I would not have lost much!

Bill,
This summer I was pleased to finally make a century in California, USA. This completed making a century and taking five wickets on every continent-Europe (England and Holland), Asia (India), Africa (Morocco, Kenya and South Africa), Oceania (New Zealand), South America (Ecuador and Argentina) and North America (USA) all barring Antartica, which is still alluding me!
Whilst I doubt my personal achievement is that unique, has anyone achieved this at Test level?
Is there anyone out there that has managed to play in Antartica?

Mike, Las Vegas, NV-USA

question 77 - Tiger Milk Boy

there have never been any Tests or ODIs played in South America, in fact there have only been a handful of first class matches played there, however...

Bob Wyatt scored a first class century against Argentina in Buenos Aires for Sir TEW Brickman's XI in 1937, as well as tons in, amonst other places, Newlands, Cape Town (Africa), Gymkana, Mumbai (Asia), WACA (Oceania), County Ground, Hove (Europe) but his highest in N.America was 81 in the Kensington Oval, Bridgetown

this is the closest, as he is the only player to score a first class ton in South America and at least 2 more

regarding Antartica there is a club run by the British Antartic Survey, with its own ground

their home page is:

https://www.antarctica.ac.uk/met/jds/cricket/

whoops! (twice sort of)

i was a bit hasty with that last link, the BAS don't actually play in the Antartic!

fortunately their Australian collegues do:

https://www.aad.gov.au/default.asp?casid=7029

and i should point out that North and South America are one continent, so lots of Test players have managed this, for example Boycott has 100s in ENG, SA, WI, PAK(and IND) and AUS

We all have known the records for 1st to 10th wicket partnerships. But, would you give the record for consecutive batsmen partnerships like, partnership between No.1 bat and No.2 bat,No.2 and No. 3, ... (I'm very much interested in the No. 10 and No. 11). Also the same for ODI's.

Re 78

Isn't Guyana in South America?

#77,78,81

Guyana is indeed in South America. In tests, there have been 61 centuries at Bourda and 2 at Providence. Also 21 five-fors at Bourda and 1 at Providence. No player has done both, though.

On the other hand, all of the West Indies grounds (possibly apart from Jamaica) are closer to S America than N America. At its closest point, Trinidad is only about 10 miles from mainland S America.

Nick

question 81 and 77 - Sir Ian Blog and Tiger Milk Boy

damn, of course it is...not doing too well here

so one answer would be

Brian Lara, scored test hundreds (in chronological order) in
OCEANIA (Sydney vs AUS)
S.AMERICA (Bourda vs ENG)
N.AMERICA (Antigua vs ENG)
EUROPE (Old Trafford vs ENG)
ASIA (Galle vs SL)
and AFRICA (Queens Sports Club vs ZIM)
as well as 28 others

i think i'll leave geographical questions alone in future!

question 80 - Prashanth P

the highest partnership in tests for number 10 and 11 batsmen is 128 between K.Higgs (63) and JA Snow (59*) for ENG vs WI in 1966 - the 6th highest 10th wkt partnership

in ODIs it's 72 between Abdul Razzaq (46*) and Waqir Younis (33) in the PAK vs SA game in 1998 - this is the 2nd highest 10th wkt partnership

Re 80 (prashanth_p)

An interesting enquiry and something I had in mind to look at one day, so here goes. Hope you find this helpful.

HIGHEST TEST PARTNERSHIPS
1st/2nd bat: 415 (ND McKenzie 1, GC Smith 2), SA-B, Chittagong,2007-08
2nd/3rd: 451 (WH Ponsford 2, DG Bradman 3), A-E, Oval, 1934
3rd/4th: 624 (KC Sangakkara 3, DPMD Jaywardene 4), Colombo SSC, 2006
4th/5th: 411 (PBH May 4, MC Cowdrey 5), Birmingham, 1957
5th/6th: 385 (SR Waugh 5, GS Blewett 6), A-SA, Johannesburg, 1996-97
6th/7th: 346 (JHW Fingleton 6, DG Bradman 7), A-E, Melbourne, 1936-37
7th/8th: 347 (DS Atkinson 7, CC Depeiaza 8), WI-A, Bridgetown, 1954-55
8th/9th: 313 (Wasim Akram 8, Saqlain Mustaq 9), P-Z, Sheikhupura, 1996-97
9th/10th: 190 (Asif Iqbal 9, Intikhab Alam 10), P-E, Oval, 1967
10/11th:
128 (K Higgs 10, JA Snow 11), WI-E, Oval, 1966
124 (JG Bracewell 10, SL Boock 11), NZ-A, Sydney, 1985-86
120 (RA Duff 10, WW Armstrong 11), A-E, Melbourne, 1901-02
94 (PW Shewell 10, AEE Vogler 11), SA-E, Cape Town, 1905-06
84 (TG Southee 10, CS Martin 11), NZ-E, Napier, 2007-08
81* (WH Lockwood 10, W Rhodes 11), E-A, Birmingham, 1902
For 9th wicket (earlier batsman JL Hendriks having retired hurt) -
34 (CC Griffith 10, LR Gibbs 11), WI-A, Bridgetown, 1964-65

HIGHEST ODI PARTNERSHIPS
1st/2nd bat: 286 (WU Tharanga 1, ST Jayasuriya 2), SL-E, Leeds, 2006
2nd/3rd: 331 (SR Tendulkar 2, RS Dravid 3), I-NZ, Hyderabad, 1999-00
3rd/4th: 237* (RS Dravid 3, SR Tendulkar 4), I-K, Bristol, 1999
4th/5th: 275* (M Azharuddin 4, AD Jadeja 5), I-Z, Cuttack, 1997-98
5th/6th: 223 (M Azharuddin 5, AD Jadeja 6), I-SL, Colombo RPS, 1997-98
6th/7th: 218 (DPMD Jayawardene 6, MS Dhoni 7), Asia-Africa, Chennai, 2007
or 165 (MEK Hussey 6, BJ Haddin 7), A-WI, Kuala Lumpur, 2006-07
7th/8th: 123 (MEK Hussey 7, B Lee 8), A-SA, Brisbane, 2005-06
8th/9th: 119 (PR Reiffel 8, SK Warne 9), A-SA, Port Elizabeth, 1993-94
9th/10th: 118 (JP Yadav 9, IK Pathan 10), I-NZ, Bulawayo, 2005
10th/11th:
72 (Abdur Razzaq 10, Waqar Younis 11), P-SA, Durban, 1997-98
67* (JA Mprkel 10, M Ntini 11), SA-NZ, Napier, 2003-04
66 (JK Manade 10, PJ Ongondo 11), K-WI, Nairobi, 2001-02
65 (MC Snedden 10, EJ Chatfield 11), NZ-SL, Derby, 1983
64 (Harbhajan Singh 10, L Balaji 11), I-E, Oval, 2004
For 9th wicket (earlier batsman ST Jayasuriya having retired hurt) -
20 (CRD Fernando 10, PW Gunaratne 11), SL-A, Centurion, 2002-03
10 11 20

re 83

Brian Lara, I accouted for in the hundreds. I am trying to work through G.Sobers career and see if he may have scored Test centuries and taken five wickets in an innings in every continent-barring Antartica.
Although Trinidad & Tobago is almost in South America, it is in North America. Guyana is the only country that currently as Test cricket in South America.
Incidentally someone posted me this link about ice cricket in the Antartica.
https://www.aad.gov.au/default.asp?casid=7029
Anyone for a game?

#86

Garry Sobers never played tests in Africa. Neither, for that matter, did any of the great all-rounders of the 70s/80s - Botham, Imran, Hadlee - except Kapil Dev who managed to play 5 tests in Africa at the end of his career. Kapil managed one century in Africa, but no five-fors. He also missed making a century in Oceania. And of course he did neither in Guyana.

Nick

re 83 etc

I think Inzamam has done it too but not Chanderpaul even though he is a Guyana specialist (no hundred in Australia or NZ)

Back to the question about batsmen running out their partners, add Bopara who did it twice today!! (1st ODI vs India)

question 77 etc....

in Guyana the only two test grounds are Bourda, Georgetown (30 tests) and Providence (1 test)

players who scored 100 in these tests:

Jayawardene
Warnapura
Turner
Hooper
Hinds
Roach
Chanderpaul x4
Richardson x3
Crowe
Jarvis
Lloyd
Hutton
M Khan
Lara x2
Sobers x5
S.Ahmed
Kanhai
Kirsten
Gavaskar x2
Langer
Walcott
Atherton
Dravid
Adams
ul-haq
Worrell
Wood
Walcott
Davis
Sarjeant
Hendred
Grieg
Shillingford
Greenidge
Amiss
Ponting
Boycott
Headley x2
Hunte
Miandad
Ganga
Haynes x2
Dexter
Chappell
Richards
Kallis
Gomes
Subba Row
Kallicharran
Williams

and players who took 5 wkts in an innings:

Johnson
Hollies
I Khan
Gibbs x3
Snow
Hawke
Garner
Hall
Ramadhin
Goddard
Gillespie
Walters
Border
Constantine
Drakes
A. Ayub
Ferguson
Ghani
Valentine
Vaas

i think you can see from this (as Nick 6591 pointed out in post 82) nobody has done both

about today's ODI IND vs ENG, i notice Harimson was run out without facing a ball, my two questions are:

1. Has there ever been a Test match or a ODI with 2 or more players run out without facing a ball? (what is the record)

2. Who holds the (unwanted) record for most dismissals without facing a ball in tests and ODIs?

If in 100 years time, the ICC change their classification of the 'Rebel Tests' of the 80's, even Geoff Boycott will not be one to have scored hundreds on all 5 continents, and I'm sure he's not happy about that! Goochie will be though!

#77 etc

If we agree the rules as:
Guyana = S America
Rest of WI = N America

then the best I've found so far is Jacques Kallis who has scored centuries on six continents and has five-fors on four (missing S America and Oceania).

#91

In ODIs, two run outs without facing a ball has happened twice in the same innings on three occasions:

CPH Ramanayeke and SD Anurasiri, SL v NZ, Colombo 5/4/86

Moin Khan and Azhar Mahmood, Pak v Ind, Sharjah 8/4/99

G Flower and SM Ervine, Zim v Pak, Bulawayo 23/11/02

In separate innings of the same ODI, two others:

Wasim Akram (Pak) and A Ranatunga (SL), Perth 31/12/89

GB Hogg (Aus) and Shahid Afridi (Pak), Amstelveen 28/8/04

The undoubted king of this is Wasim Akram who has been run out (no balls faced) four times in ODIs.

In test matches, obviously the records are far less complete for balls faced, but I can only find just over 20 batsmen who have been out this way. My source, Cricinfo, is a bit suspect in this respect. I can just about believe that Geoff Arnold was run out for 1 having faced no balls vs Australia in Perth Dec 1974 (if his first ball was a no ball, he got one run and was run out going for the second). But I can't believe, as Cricinfo states, that Dennis Lillee faced zero balls in his innings of 14 in 115 minutes vs Pakistan in Sydney Jan 1977 (he was eventually out lbw).

Nick

while watching englands flogging in India yesterday i was struck by how short the boundaries seemed, and this got me thinking, does anyone know where the biggest and smallest international or test grounds in terms of boundary distance or area are,
I would assume the largest to be in Australia, and smaller ones in India. Obviously the IPL was played on postage stamp sized grounds, but i am more interested in International/Test grounds.
thanks for a great blog site beeb.

paradino2, an englishman in oz

question 94 - Nick 6591

thanks, exactly what i wanted

J Agnew wrote in his recent column on the first ODI:

"[Yuvraj] called for the runner when he had scored 37. He then smashed 101 from just 41 balls! I am surprised the umpires allowed him to get away with it."

Personally if I had a bad back and could not run hitting sixes (if only I could) would seem the logical thing to do.

Can a captain object to a runner being used. And if he does - then what?

re. 97: The laws of the game are pretty clear on the matter of objections - allowing use of a runner is the umpires' decision. The opposing captain has no right to object to any type of substitute, either batting or fielding.

quoting from the laws on the following site:

https://www.lords.org/laws-and-spirit/laws-of-cricket/laws/law-2-substitutes-and-runners-batsman-or-fielder-leaving-the-field-batsman-retiring-batsman-commencing-innings,28,AR.html


"2. Objection to substitutes
The opposing captain shall have no right of objection to any player acting as a substitute on the field, nor as to where the substitute shall field. However, no substitute shall act as wicket-keeper. "

Where the rules on runners is most interesting in the context of Yuvraj's injury is in the case of subsequent games.

If Yuvraj plays in the game tomorrow, bats, and asks for a runner again, strictly speaking, the umpires have to assume that his injury has 'worsened' and allow it, since 'medical professionals' have passed the player fit prior to the game.

If the umpires suspect 'sharp practice' they can then report it after the game, but I think proving any sharp practice in this regard would be very hard indeed.

question 97, etc..

duckmachine, whilst i agree completely that the law states it is up to the umpire to decide

"If the umpires are satisfied that a player has been injured or become ill after the nomination of the players, they shall allow that player to have
(i) a substitute acting instead of him in the field.
(ii) a runner when batting."

however the part you quote is ONLY for substitute fielders, not for runners that are always called RUNNERS not substitutes in the law

so in fact the laws make no allowance for Objections to Runners... presumably the captian can't object not because it says he can't but because it isn't even mentioned (unless you count law 1, captains responsibilities or law 42 fair/unfair play)