Ask Bearders #163
Welcome to Ask Bearders, where Test Match Special statistician Bill "The Bearded Wonder" Frindall answers your questions on all things cricket.
Below are Bill's responses to some of your questions posed at the end of his last column and if you have a question for Bill, leave it at the end of this blog entry. Please do include your country of residence - Bill loves to hear where all his correspondents are posting from.
Bill isn't able to answer all of your questions, however. Ö÷²¥´óÐã Sport staff will choose a selection of them and send them to Bearders for him to answer.
Q. One of my ancestors is Bobby Peel, who played for Yorkshire and England but was (to put it bluntly) a drunk. He fell down the steps at either Headingley or Lord's and Lord Hawke kicked him out of Yorkshire and England cricket. Can you shed any light on him, his life and his (ahem) misdemeanours please? Alison Bottomley
Bearders' Answer: Thank you, Alison, for one of the most fascinating questions I have received.
Bobby Peel (1857-1941) was the second of Yorkshire's outstanding left-arm spinners after Ted Peate. In a first-class career of 436 matches between 1882 and 1899, he took 1775 first-class wickets at 16.20 runs apiece, scored 12,191 runs at 19.44, hit seven centuries and held 214 catches. In just 20 Test matches he took 101 wickets at 16.98.
An exceptionally thirsty man, Peel came on to the field at Bramall Lane, Sheffield, in August 1897 having lunched well. He might have got away with it if he hadn't urinated on the pitch in front of Lord Hawke who promptly banished him from the Yorkshire XI. Peel did make four further first-class appearances (for the South, the Players, A.J.Webbe's XI and, finally, for an England XI v the 1899 Australians at Truro). Years later, when his flannels had dried, Lord Hawke stated: 'He never bore me any malice.'
Q. Of those batsmen who have scored 10 or more Test centuries, does Andrew Strauss with 147 have the lowest top score? Ben
Bearders' Answer: No, Strauss has the third-lowest top score among batsmen scoring 10 Test hundreds. The highest of Mohinder Amarnath's 11 hundreds for India was only 138, while the highest of Allan Lamb's 14 centuries for England was 142.
Q. How many Rakesh Patels have played for Pakistan like me? Rakesh Patel
Bearders' Answer: Is this a wind-up? No one using the name Rakesh Patel has represented either India or Pakistan in Tests or in official 50 or 20-over internationals.
There is just one who has appeared for India A in four first-class and three List A matches (2001-02 and 2002-03): Rakesh Bhanuprasad Patel, b Ahmedabad 23 Oct 1978. He represented Gujarat (1998-99) and Baroda (1999-00 to date).
Q. In the first over of an innings in a match, how it decided which end it will be delivered from? Andrew Smezlie
Bearders' Answer: The fielding captain decides. Usually he would give his opening bowlers choice of ends and then decide which of them should bowl the first over.
Q. Was there once an Australian player called up to play a Test by mistake? The selectors had in fact chosen someone else with the same name. Ted Harrison
Bearders' Answer: This was Peter Lawrence Taylor, a 30-year-old off-spinner, who was chosen for the Fifth Ashes Test of 1986-87 after just six first-class matches for New South Wales, including just one of their seven games that season.
The Aussie press dubbed him 'Peter Who' and suggested that the selectors had accidentally called up the wrong Taylor after actually choosing opening batsman and future captain, Mark.
Whether accidental or not, the selection proved to be inspired. Peter Taylor's 6 for 78 and 2 for 76, allied to a battling second innings of 42, gained him the match award as England suffered their only defeat of the series.
Q. How many "ducks" did Don Bradman make during his Test career? Roland Cox, Saint Lucia, West Indies
Bearders' Answer: The Don was dismissed for nought in seven of his 80 Test innings, the two in 1936-37 occurring in successive knocks.
Series Opponents Venue Bowler
1930-31 West Indies Sydney Herman Griffith
1932-33 England Melbourne Bill Bowes
1936-37 England Brisbane Gubby Allen
1936-37 England Sydney Bill Voce
1946-47 England Adelaide Alec Bedser
1948 England Nottingham Alec Bedser
1948 England The Oval Eric Hollies
Q. Who holds the records for the fewest first class matches before their international debut? Rob Mace
Bearders' Answer: There are 33 players who made their first-class debut in a Test match, the most recent being Nazmul Hossain for Bangladesh.
Q. In New Zealand's recent Second Test against Bangladesh, Steve Fleming's 87 comfortably brought up his 43rd fifty but left him short of his 9th century. Is there anybody in Tests who has more fifties and fewer hundreds? Ian McGerty, Hong Kong
Bearders' Answer: No. The next fewest hundreds by anyone scoring 43 fifties is 15 by Alec Stewart who made 45 fifties.
Q. The Third Test between India and Australia at Perth yielded well over a thousand runs, without a single player making a century. Is this a record? Richard Place
Bearders' Answer: No, it is the equal ninth highest but only 96 runs short of the record - table courtesy of Rajesh Kumar of Delhi.
1272-30 S.Africa (710-18)/England (562-12) Durban 1927-28
1262-40 Australia (763-20)/England (499-20) Nottingham 1997
1227-38 W.Indies (613-20)/Australia (614-18) Melbourne 1960-61
1225-40 England (693-20)/Australia (532-20) The Oval 1993
1191-36 Australia (594-18)/India (597-18) Bombay 1964-65
1190-39 N.Zealand (603-20)/Australia (587-19) Melbourne 1987-88
1186-36 England (611-19)/S.Africa (575-17) Johannesburg 1930-31
1183-38 Zimbabwe (683-18)/Bangladesh (500-20) Harare 2003-04
1176-40 England (589-20)/Australia (587-20) Birmingham 2005
1176-40 India (624-20)/Australia (552-20) Perth 2007-08
Q. How many 'Test Match Specials' did Peter Baxter produce up to his retirement and how many producers of 'TMS' have there been? Pixers, France
Bearders' Answer: I asked Peter Baxter. His response was: 'I tried doing a tally in the summer and came up with having worked at 300 and in the studio for another 100 - home and abroad. It's not a very precise number, but it's within five or so either way in each case.'
From 1957, when ball-by-ball commentary began under the title 'Test Match Special', Peter was the second of three producers, taking over from Michael Tuke-Hastings in March 1973, and preceding Adam Mountford who took over on 20 June 2007.
Q. I am a member of a village cricket side and always keen to introduce new ideas. I've been trying to locate a company that supplies the equipment for a stump cam. Do you have any suggestions or contacts please? Olly Nicholson, Reading
Bearders' Answer: I will ask the TVNZ cricket producer when I see him during England's tour next month. Meanwhile perhaps someone who can help you will read this question.
Q. My late father was given a bat by Tony Greig, after doing some plumbing for him, signed by that year's (1972) England players. There are two signatures that we cannot decipher. The ones we got are Boycott, Illingworth, Edrich, Snow, D'Oliveira, Willis, Knott, Underwood, Hampshire, Old, Arnold and Greig himself. The others appear as Barry Wood and something like Reg Murphy! Paul
Bearders' Answer: Sadly, my research will only compound the mystery. Barry Wood made his debut in the fifth Test. Others who represented England in that Ashes rubber were Brian Luckhurst, Norman Gifford, M.J.K. Smith, John Price, Peter Parfitt, Peter Lever and Keith Fletcher.
None of their signatures looks like 'Reg Murphy' although Parfitt's is hard to decipher. However neither Chris Old nor Bob Willis played in that series so you now have the added problem of two signatures that should not be there!
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Bill,
Having checked out the Fixture list for England for this year starting in Feb in N/Z. My question to you is have we ever spent nearly 6 months playing the same team ?
Fred from UK.
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I was just wondering about the highest number of left handed batsmen to represent England at one time? Has there ever been an entirely left handed England XI?
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Two questions:
1. Who was the first cricketer of Afro-Caribbean original to play for England - the earliest I remember was Norman Cowans of Middlesex in the early 1980's?
2. Who was the first of Asian origin, excluding the Indian princes, Ranji, Duleep and the Nawab of Pataudi Snr before World War II?
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Tendulkar has scored 9 centuries against Austrialia and Gavaskar scored 13 against West Indies..
Both were top teams of their era..
But can you please tell us who has scored highest number of centuries against
a.West Indies teams of 1970-1995 and b.Austrilian teams of 1987-2008?
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Has there ever been a over that contained all of the following: 6,4,3,2,1 dot ball, wide, no-ball and a wicket?
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I would like to know who and when were the first touring team to travel by aircraft
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That would either have to be an 8 ball (or 6 ball miscounted) over or the wicket would have to be stumped off the wide. Either that or a run out from one of the 1, 2 or 3.
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Why is it that Australia uses different a different term:
* To show the Score (Wickets / Runs as apposed to Runs / Wickets)
* for Extras / Sundries
How many countries use the Australian method of displaying the score against the original method?
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In a recent England game I noted that Alistair Cook lost his hat while chasing a ball in the outfield, the ball then brushed his hat as it raced by him. Doesnt this mean the batting team should have been awarded 5 runs? Can you clarify this rule for me please,
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I think I'm right in saying the first Afro-Caribbean (Black) cricketer to play for England was Roland Butcher of Middlesex.
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Having been caught in the slips, and then been called back as the bowler had bowled a no bowl last season, I was wondering if any batsmen holds the 'record' for being dismissed more than any other from a no ball? Conversely, does any bowler have the dubious record of 'dismissing' the most batsmen from a no ball?
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Dear Bill,
I've been watching the 3rd test between Australia and India from the WACA and had a question regarding technology. They are using something called "hot spot" and it shows quite clearly where the ball has hit (bat, pad, glove, arm etc). Do you have any information on this system? Who owns it - Australian network carrying the game, the electronics manufacturer that sponsors it? How accurate is it? How does it work? Will we see it in England this summer? It seems very accurate and could make a big difference in decisions on catches and lbws. Do you think that systems like this (and Hawk-eye) will become used by umpires in tests? Do you think that they should?
I'd be very interested to hear your opinions.
Sam Stevenson
Warsaw, Poland
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If there is any bowler who has taken more international wickets than Waqar Younisof pakistan and does not have his little finger of the bowling hand like that of waqar.
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Re 4
As mentioned, Gavaskar dominates v the West Indian team of the given era with 2749 runs and 13 centuries. Next are Alan Lamb and Dilip Vegsarkar who managed 6 apiece.
Brian Lara also has 9 centuries v Australia in that period - then it is Ijaz Ahmed and Richie Richardson with 6.
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I notice that Pathan has been selected in Adelaide to open both batting and bowling for India. I can't off-hand recall another instance of this. Is it a very rare distinction?
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Who do you think is better Tendulkar or Lara
JM Bondi
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I know the record for the most consecutive wins is 16. But what is the record for:
a. most consecutive draws and b. most consecutive losses.
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Re 4
As mentioned, Gavaskar dominates v the West Indian team of the given era with 2749 runs and 13 centuries. Next are Alan Lamb and Dilip Vegsarkar who managed 6 apiece.
Brian Lara also has 9 centuries v Australia in that period - then it is Ijaz Ahmed and Richie Richardson with 6.
Re 2
i would not claim this as definitive, but the most I can find are 5 lefties in one england team - most recently v India at The Oval last year (Anderson, Cook, Panesar, Sidebottom, Strauss).
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Who holds the record for century in consecutive series. I guess it could be tendulkar who made a century in 15-16 consecutive centuries from about 1995 to 2005. The series to count should be atleast 3 test series.
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When was the last time that both batsmen had runners at the same time in a Test Match and does it happen often?
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Have there ever been any examples of an ambidextrous bowler.
It’s a fairly common sight these days to see batsmen changing hands to the play a stroke, but what about bowlers changing the hand they are bowling with.
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Have there ever been any examples of an ambidextrous bowler.
It’s a fairly common sight these days to see batsmen changing hands to the play a stroke, but what about bowlers changing the hand they are bowling with.
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Dear Bill,
I was wondering who was the quickest player to take a catch in test cricket? Has anyone ever taken a catch from the first ball they fielded on their test debut?
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Dear Bill,
I was wondering who was the quickest player to take a catch in test cricket? Has anyone ever taken a catch from the first ball that they were in the field on their test debut?
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Has there been a case of Smith c Smith b Smith or any other name, that you know of?
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What is the highest (and lowest) aggregate of runs made in a test series of 3 tests or more?
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Bill, you are asked a lot of impossible questions in this blog. Clearly you do not have access to every statistic and every ball ever bowled. I guess that for recent (last 20 years or so?) there is a mega-database that, given time, you could find out most things. For much older cricket, other than the obvious 'Wisden' and probably newspapers and copies of all or most scorebooks from Test matches, can you briefly describe what all your sources of data are, from what eras? And, how extensively has the history been computerised?
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Hi
One last try.. Can a batsman be given out lbw for playing a reverse sweep shot if the ball pitches outside the leg stump?
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Someone else should be able to answer this. I know its unlikely but in a limited overs game, the team batting first gets bowled out for 0. The first ball of he second innings is a no ball. Does this mean it is a victory in 0.0 overs?
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Hi
One last try.. Can a batsman be given out lbw for playing a reverse sweep shot if the ball pitches outside the leg stump?
Emmon
London
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RE: Q.17
a) Most consecutive Test draws:
West Indies - 10 (1971-73),
b) Most consecutive Test losses:
Bangladesh 21 (2001-04).
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Tendulkar has scored 9 centuries against Austrialia and Gavaskar scored 13 against West Indies..
Both were top teams of their era..
But can you please tell us who has scored highest number of centuries/runs against
a.West Indies teams of 1970-1995 and b.Austrilian teams of 1987-2008?
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Which batsman averages the highest century wise? For example. Scores of
100
123
198*
103
Are made by a batsman throughout his career. His average century wise is 175.
I'm guessing its either Bradman or Lara.
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question 17 - Ruairidh Calderwood
the record for losses is
Bangladesh lost 21 from nov 2001 to feb 2004
Zimbabwe lost 11 from dec 2001 to nov 2003
West Indies lost 8 from June 2005 to March 2006
The Windies also drew 10 from mar 71 to mar 73
then Pakistan with 9 from Feb 73 to mar 75
and India from Feb 53 to Nov 55
question 25 - john
in a game in 1933, Middlesex vs Somerset at Lords this was one entry in the scorebook in the 1st innings
HW Lee ct FS Lee bwl JW Lee -82
quest 28 & 30 - Emmon
you have asked this before, in the previous blog, and it was answered fully, but in case you missed this
"Tom wrote:
the batsman's stance as the bowler begins his run-up determines which is the leg side for that particular delivery. If he turns around at a later stage, that doesn't affect the definition of leg side for the purposes of the LBW law, or any other regulation, such as the restiction on leg-side fielders behind square."
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Which batsman averages the highest century wise? For example. Scores of
100
123
198*
103
Are made by a batsman throughout his career. His average century wise is 175.
I'm guessing its either Bradman or Lara.
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Hi, Bill, I wonder if it is possible to tell, statistically speaking of course, who has been the most successful test match batsman against real fast bowling? Has anyone correlated batsmen's averages against "blistering" fsat bowlers, like Larwood, Holding, Thompson, Lindwall, Macdonald, Lillee, Tyson, Hall etc? My guess on who would be the best player of "blistering" fast bowling ever? Just a guess, but how about Len Hutton? Best wishes, Geoff England.
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Re: Lbw off a reverse sweep. The batsman's leg and off side become 'set' once the bowler begins his action (I have a feeling it's when he starts his run-up) and hence regardless of where the batsman's body is when the ball is received, if a ball pitches outside his 'original' leg stump, then he cannot be out lbw. I believe your question suggests, for example, a right handed batsman reverse sweeping to his original off side, and the ball pitching in what was outside off stump, he therefore can be given out lbw in this situation
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Hello,
After seeing Irfan Pathan have a successful innings as a nightwatchman I began to wonder if there has ever been a nightwatchman that got top score and/or not out?
Regards,
Anli Zhang
Alabama, USA
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Ref:38 - question on night watch man top scoring
In the Australian 2nd innings of the 2nd test India vs Australia at Perth 1977/78, Tony Mann came in as night watch man and went on to top score with 105. His innings was instrumental in the Aussi win. They won by 2 wickets Jeff Thomson and Ghannon holding out to win at the end.
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Which player has scored test centuries at the most venues?
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question 38 - Anli
what about Gillespie's 201 NO against Bangladesh
he went in at 3, easily his highest ever first class batting position, usually he batted 9, or even 10, for AUS, when hayden was out just before play closed on day 1, and was still there 2 days later when AUS declared at 581 for 4, top scoring in Aus only innings and therefore surely winning the game for them
he is in fact the only person to score 200 in a test and still have an average less than 20
and anyway i'm not sure openning the batting on the first day of a test, as pathan did in the last test against aus, makes him a nightwatchman!
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For Jonathan Question 9
Illegal fielding must be deliberate.
Since Cook's hat blew off as he was running there would be no penalty.
If he had discarded it deliberately as a wicket keeper frequently discards one glove, then there would have been a case for a 5 run penalty.
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Besides Intikhab Alam which other players have claimed a wicket with the first ball of their Test careers?
Naushad Shafkat
Karachi-Pakistan.
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Bill,
A bit of a long winded one this.
During their test carrers, batsmen rack-up various different scores. Most will at some stage make a duck, most will be either dismissed or not out on 1, or 2 and so on. However, lets say a batsmen never, in his career, makes exactly 7 runs, or 15, or 23, or 31 etc. But having made 0,1,2,3,4,5 and 6 at one time or another, 7 is that player's 'lowest unscored score'.
In test cricket, which batsman has the highest 'lowest unscored score'?
We checked this at my home club (Shalford CC in Surrey) to find that that one of our openers has scored avery total up to and including 24, giving a lowest unscored score of 25.
But what is the record in tests?
I'm afraid our own statistician found writing the appropriate quiery in our database very difficult, but I'm sure there'll be no problems at the beeb!
Keep up the good work.
Ian Restall - Shalford Cricket Club, Surrey (Lowest unscored score 12)
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Bill,
A bit of a long winded one this.
During their test carrers, batsmen rack-up various different scores. Most will at some stage make a duck, most will be either dismissed or not out on 1, or 2 and so on. However, lets say a batsmen never, in his career, makes exactly 7 runs, or 15, or 23, or 31 etc. But having made 0,1,2,3,4,5 and 6 at one time or another, 7 is that player's 'lowest unscored score'.
In test cricket, which batsman has the highest 'lowest unscored score'?
We checked this at my home club (Shalford CC in Surrey) to find that that one of our openers has scored avery total up to and including 24, giving a lowest unscored score of 25.
But what is the record in tests?
I'm afraid our own statistician found writing the appropriate quiery in our database very difficult, but I'm sure there'll be no problems at the beeb!
Keep up the good work.
Ian Restall - Shalford Cricket Club, Surrey (Lowest unscored score 12)
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When Brian Lara scored his two record breaking innings against England (374 and 400 not out), The West Indies were still unable to win those matches. Apart from triple centuries against 'the axis of weavils' (Zimbabwe and Bangladesh) How many triple centurions in Test matches have actually won the game they were batting in, and has anyone ever scored a triple century in a losing team? I ask because I am of the opinion that batting records can often detract from the main aim of actually winning matches !
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Has England ever lost at series at home in which Andrew Flintoff has played in?
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Has England ever lost a test series at home in which Andrew Flintoff has played in? Which England player has played in the most series at home without being defeated?
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question 44 - Adam
there have only been 21 test triple hundreds (or higher) and only one of these was against Zimbabwe (none against Bangladesh)
of these 13 ended in draws and 8 wins, no triple centurian in tests has ever been on a losing side
the 8 winners were
Hayden (vs Zim)
Jayawardene (vs SA)
Sobers (vs Pak)
Hutton (vs Aus)
Gooch (vs India)
ul-Haq (vs NZ)
Edrich (vs NZ)
Sehwag (vs Pak)
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In Australia's recent 17 match winning streak how many times did Ricky Ponting win the toss?
Second question, what are the biggest winning & losing streaks for 'guessing right' in Test Match Cricket. I seem to remember Nasser Hussain losing 14 tosses in a row (odds against this are 16384 to one)and Daniel Vettori is currently up to nine correct guesses in succession.
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On which day of the year are most International Cricketers born on?
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How many sixes di Don Bradman hit in his test career?
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No.29
David Gower once was brought on to bowl with only a few runs required by the opposition. He bowled a no-ball on his first delivery, and it was hit for 4 thus winning the game. Gower finished with figures of 0.0-0-4-0.
Can't remember who this was against (probably Aus) but my source is the England Cricket Miscellany Book by John White.
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question 46 - K Brown
the first part of your question, no, Eng have never lost a home series with Flintoff playing at least one match in
he has taken part in 11 series at home since South Africa (won) in 98 (he then missed a couple of seasons) and has since played and won against Zim (2000), WI (2000), SL (2002) NZ (2004) WI (2004) Bang (2005) Aus (2005) and drawn against India (2002) SA (2003) and SL (2006)
as to the second part, hmmmm...
certainly Eng at home never had such a good run as the series up to 2006, and nobody could have played consecutively in more series without loss (but then again flintoff didn't play consecutively), so i don't know is my answer, but i doubt it (maybe someone with a more searchable database or more time than me will discover the answer)
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Bill,
I recently heard Shaun Pollock described as "the ultimate miser" when it comes to giving runs away which got me thinking, who holds the record for the most maidens in test history, and where does Pollock come on the list?
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question 52 - Richard
the match gower bowled 1 ball, a no ball, which went for 4 was against NZ in 1986, in the 2nd test
question 51 - mahin
bradman hit 6 sixes in 52 tests and 69 in 234 first class games
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Ifran Pathan recently opened the batting as well as the bowling for India against Australia in the 4th Test match of the series. Has anybody who has done this for his country before scored a century and taken 5 wickets in the first innings? If not, what is the best performance by a cricketer who opens up with bat and ball.
- Simon Corcoran Dublin Ireland
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I have just been looking at a club scorecard where all of the visiting batsmen were out caught (at slip or other) or lbw etc... and all of the home batsmen were out bowled. Has this ever occurred at test match level?
CK
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Hello Bill, 2 questions if i may.
1. What is the highest number of "bowled" wickets in a test match innings and have all 10 ever been bowled in any form of cricket?
2. Would you know the average aggregate score in test cricket (I'm guessing at about 900?) and what it is in each country therefore giving a "leauge table" of the best countries for batting e.t.c.?
Thanks P.C. - U.K.
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Among the Test Playing nations, which country including Bangladesh has conceded personal bests to both batsmen and bowlers of opposing teams. My take is that it is India, is this true?
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Dear Bill
i have being led to
belive that in the summer of
1988 england v west indies 5
match series england had 4
captains.Is this true if so
whoare they and why
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Bil you and I have appeared twice together on the after-dinner circuit - I used to be a wrier for the Two Ronnies.
Are you still bookable and at what fee?
Brian Voyle Morgan
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Re 59
yep 5 captains during that drubbing by the WI,
Gatting
Emburey
Emburey
Cowdrey
Gooch
my recollection is that Gateaux got the chop for an "indescretion" with a hotel waitress (or similar), Emburey (who had been VC) then got chopped for agreeing to go on the rebel SA tour. Not sure what cowdrey did to get the tap on the shoulder after only 1 match (aside from making only 5 runs and losing by 10 wickets!), then gooch took over
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Bill,
When a batsman employs a runner, can the runner be charged with any instant of interfering with play such as a catchable ball played by the batsman or obstructing a fielder.
Keith in Germany
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Bill,
Can you help me solved a debate with friends on the left handed versus right handed batsmen. If you could list the top 10 lefty and top 10 righty in terms of test runs and average. I know the right handers has the edge in bowling so I will not bother you for this category. Love your columns.
Keith in Germany
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Dear Bill
In light of Adam Gilchrists recent retirement, am I right in thinking that no one has scored more runs at test level who has predominantly batted at no. 7.
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Bill,
I know that a batsman cannot be given out if he plays a ball directly on to the protective helmet of a close fielder and it is subsequently caught.
However nowerdays alot of close fielders wear protective shin and knee guards under their trousers. If a batsman was to play a shot which hits the protected area directly and was then caught, would this be out or is the fact that they are under clothing significant?
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63 - A batsman is responsible for the actions of his runner. If the runner is out under any of the Laws - principally Run Out, Handled the ball, or Obstructing the field, then the batsman for whom he is running is out.
66 - The key fact is that the protective equipment is internal, (ie under clothing) rather than external. With the exception of the wicketkeeper, no fielder is allowed to wear any external protective equipment other than a helmet.
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At the end of day 4 of the current Australia -v- India 4th test I have counted that 15 of the 22 players have scored a test century and that between them they have a combinded total of 204 test centuries. Is this a record for the most number of players in a test having scored a test century and the most number of test centuries scored by the players playing in a test match?
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To Tom (68)
I feel sure that the questions for which you made the helpful comments, are Nos.64 and 67.
Further Keith, if the runner obstructs a catch being taken, then it will be the striker who will be given out and this may not be the batsman for whom the runner is acting.
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Can a batsman be given out "Obstructing the Field" from a no ball if he is attempting to prevent either himself or the other batsman from being run out??
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Dear Bill,
In the recently concluded Perth test against Australia Batsmen Nos. 1 to 9 for India had at least 1 test century to their credit. Has there been a better instance in previous test history ?
Also, after the Adelaide test, collectively on both sides would the number of test centuries to the credit of the players be the maximum in tests ?
Regards,
Francis
Chennai, India.
Francis,
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Hi Bill
On New Year's Eve, I managed to have the whole of my cricket club, including myself, scratching their heads about this question: How is a right handed batsman classed as right handed when the left side of their body is facing the bowler, they move their left foot more than their right, and the controlling hand on the bat is the left hand?
Regards
Mark
Lancashire, England.
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Re 66
Gilchrist has scored 3948 runs @ 46.44 whilst batting at 7, which is a record (Ian healy is next with 3041).
For interest the record holders are (in batting order)
Gavaskar 8511
Hayden 7351
Dravid 7566
Tendulkar 9810
S. Waugh 6754
S. Waugh 3165
Gilchrist 3948
Warne 2005
Vettori 989
Waqar Younis 496
Muralitheran 623
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dear bill
how many people have hit the fast bowlers hole grale of 100mph? i would assume that only brett lee and shoaib will have done this, but confimation would be greatly appreciated
cheers
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Dear Bill
In the opening match of the Scarborough Festival in 1892, between Yorkshire and the MCC, the exceptionally thirsty man, R.Peel, was involved in an amusing incident.
"One of the MCC batsmen made a big drive and a startled horse galloped onto the field drawing a cart laden with ginger-beer; the animal was not caught until Peel, amid cheers and laughter arrested its progress. Not one drop of the beverage was spilled!
Q. Who was the MCC batsman who made the big drive and can you tell me any more about him?
G.Burns
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Re 33
The highest average having made a 100 is quite surprising. Of those with more than 2000 runs in test cricket it goes as follows
Sangakkara 2894 @ 289.4
Chanderpaul 2153 @ 269.12
S. Waugh 4342 @ 255.41
Hammond 3685 @ 245.66
Javed Miandad 3584 @ 238.93
Bradman 5393 @ 234.47
Sobers 3918 @ 230.47
Border 3580 @ 223.75
Kallis 3934 @ 218.55
Tendulkar 5835 @ 216.11
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Can you tell me the names of test match capatains who have been bowlers please?
Kind Regards Shirley Scholes
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I find 76 extraordinary, if it's true. Waugh only made one double hundred in his career, and I think Kallis has no more than one or two; by contrast Lara and Bradman had no end of doubles, and a triple each (plus of course BCL's 400).
One other who I seem to recall had a large number of very high scores was Zaheer Abbas of Pakistan - anyone got his stats to hand?
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Re: 77 & 79, Steve Waugh's remarkable average is due to the fact that of his 32 centuries, 15 of these were not out and therefore do not contribute to the total of "completed innings" required for an average to be calculated. As a result his average is actually higher than his highest score of 200. Lara, on the other hand and perhaps equally remarkably, was only not out twice having scored a century. However, one of these was at Antigua and who knows how many more than 400 he might have scored had he continued against England's dire bowling!
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79 and 80.
Political is right in that it is the not outs that swing it. If we drop the entry criteria a bit to those who made more than 1000 runs (addition of all their centuries) then Andy Flower is top having made 1700 runs across 12 centuries - but only have been out 5 times to give an average of 340 !
Zaheer averages 215.80 across his 12 hundreds.
If not outs are discounted (that is what is the average score reached having made a 100 irrespective of whether the player was out or not) then sure enough Bradman is top with 185.97; Sangakkara next with 180.88 and Zaheer 3rd with 179.83. Stephen Fleming is next with 176.11 and Lara 5th with 173.21.
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Who was the last player to play both hockey and cricket at senior level?
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dear bearder
who has the most man of the match awards in both one day internationals and test cricket.
And who has the distinction of remaining man of the series most times in one day international series ( including wc,ch trophy,triangular,4 teams,etc and bilateral series) and also test series.
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To David Jones (71)
There are 4 laws under which a batsman may be dismissed from a no-ball and obstructing the field is indeed one of them. The others are Run Out,Handled the ball and hit the ball twice
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Re 61 & 63
Gatting was the captain for the first match. He went because of an alleged incident with a barmain but probably was pushed out because of the incident with the umpire in Pakistan the previous winter.
Emburey took over for the next 2 as he was the vice captain. He didn't play in the 4th test as it was at seamer friendly Headingly (the rebel tour to SA mentioned in answer 63 wasn't known about until the following year) so Cowdrey, who was captain of then couty championship leaders Kent (and godson of chairman of selectors Peter May) came next.He was then injured playing in the county championship so Gooch took over. Indeed, in the final Test Gooch went off the field for a while and Derek Pringle took over, making 5 captains !
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To David Jones on 3, I think the first cricketer of Afro-Caribbean origin to play for England was the Middlesex batsman Roland Butcher, who played a few Tests on the 1981 tour of West Indies.
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Hi, Mr. Frindall.
I was watching the replay of Gilchrist walking down to the center for his final innings and noticed that the names of some famous cricketers (Sir Bradman, Ponsford, etc) were printed on the steps. Why is that so?
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Dear Mr Frindall
I know that during the 1880s/90s, my Great Grandfather, Sylvester Sinfield, was Captain and Professional for Rishton Cricket club in the Lancashire League. Several of his sons, including my Grandfather, Alfred, also played. Rumour has it that Sylvester was also picked to play for Lancashire for a few matches. Can you tell me whether or not this is so?
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Who will be the new "Bearders" when you hang up your boots?
Somewhere near Stoke (on Trent)
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Re 53 on Gower's figures of 0.0-0-4-0
I played for my college side in 1980 and my bowling figures were 0.1-0-6-0, my first ball having been hit for 6 to win the match for the opposition. The point of particular amusement for my team mates was that the batsman was facing his first ball, and was wearing purple trousers as he had no whites. I recall commenting as I started my run up that this bloke clearly couldn't bat as he didn't even have the proper kit.
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When did scorers start recording the number of overs bowled in a Test match, and what is the highest over rate achieved during a full day? (I suspect it might be Ramadhin and Valentine bowling endless maidens at England in 1950).
Speaking of endless maidens, two years ago I met the holder of the Test record for bowling consecutive maidens, the Indian slow left-armer R G (Bapu) Nadkarni, who bowled 22 of them against England in 1961/62. He is still furious that his sequence of dot balls was ended by a misfield.
Richard Heller London (born New York)
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Ref:38 - question on night watch man top scoring:
In the Australian 2nd innings of the 2nd test India vs Australia at Perth 1977/78, Tony Mann came in as night watch man and went on to top score with 105. His innings was instrumental in the Aussie win. They won by 2 wickets with Jeff Thomson and Ghannon holding out to win at the end. I was around 12 years old then and was in tears (the only time in my life) at India’s second loss in succession by a narrow margin. India had lost the first test at Brisbane by 16 runs, I think.
Epilogue: India went on to win the next two tests at Sydney and Melbourne before losing at Adelaide to go down 3-2 in that lively series which was in competition for viewership with Kerry Packer’s circuit or circus as some dubbed it.
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re 83
Jacques Kallis has most match awards in tests with 19, one clear of Muralitheran - who has most "man of the series" awards in tests with 11.
Both equivalent records in one day cricket are held by Sachin Tendulkar with 56 match awards, and 13 series awards.
On lowest unscored score (post 45) this is difficult to do on anything but a player by player basis. Looking at a few obvious candidates, then Steve Waugh "wins" so far with the lowest unscored score of 35.
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which teams do you think are likely to be the next world champions once the australian senior players all retire, and also who has the highest strike rate in test and one day cricket history?
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The recently retired Adam Gilchrist made 96 consecutive test appearances, constituing his entire test career.
Is this a record number of consecutive appearances and/or is it a record for an entire career consisting of consecutive tests?
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Dear Bearders,
In the 1981 Headingly Test there were 5 'Bearded Wonders' in the England side (Botham, Gatting, Gooch, Old and Willey) and one in the Australian side (Bright). 6 out of 22.
Have there ever been more than 6 in a Test Match before?
That should get you scratching your beard!
Andrew Bauer, Dubai
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Re 95 Allan Border made 153 consecutive appearances for Australia. Gilchrist is 4th on this list behind Mark Waugh (107) and Sunil Gavaskar (106).
I know Tony Greig's career consisted of 58 consecutive appearances but I'm not sure of anyone has beaten that.
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Re 95 I believe Gilchrist's 95 is indeed a record for an entire test career.
The only players with more consecutive tests are Alan Border (153) Mark Waugh (107) and Sunil Gavaskar (106).
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re No 96
I would imagine some of the early test matches had large numbers of bearded wonders.
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re No 96
I think WG was worth 2 on his own.
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Hello Bearders,
When was a team first asked to 'follow on'? Who 'invented' it and how did it become formalised? Could you tell me a little about its history and idiocyncracies? Thanks! Priyadaka, England.
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I think Collingwood should keep his comments on how good he thinks the Kiwi's are.Mind games are now part and parcel of cricket.Why tell the opposition they are good and will be hard to beat.Sportsmanship. Not these days.
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The Sydney Test
Referee Proctor said that he knows about racism, Granted. But he was on the other side of the fence,not the disanvantaged side.
In the light of the final decision of the appeal, and Proctor had only heard one side of the evidence and made his decision, I am wonder whether he should be retained as an Elite Referee?? I think not.
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Have you got details of Matthew Maynards innings for Glamorgan vs Somerset where he apparently scored a century without running a single.If this is correct is it a unique occurance?
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Frank "Typhoon" Tyson was he the fastest?
My uncle who played mostly in the Lancashire League, as did Tyson in the 50s, always reckoned that he was the fastest bowler he had ever seen or faced.
He also used to wax lyrical about a certain test series in Australia in 1954/55. Apparently, where Statham, Cowdrey and May played,and Tyson took 28 wickets minus Trueman, Laker and Lock. The selected captain David Sheppard who apparently chose another career, as opposed to captaining England, and Hutton getting the captaincy.
I don't know how true all this is, but I was told this great story many times as a youth.
Regards
Peter Stott
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Hello Bearders,
Do you have a comparison between Warney and Murali on how their Test wickets have been taken? I am convinced that a larger number of Warney's victims were caught in the outfield. I'm not in any way suggesting that he is not a spin legend but I would love to see some stats which suggest that Murali is better. In fact any stats that you could produce to suggest that fact would be very much appreciated.
Many thanks
Mike Denman
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Hi.
I know Ian Bell had a huge average before the 2005 ashes series (over 200 I think) my question is, how many players after 10+ matches could have retired and had a higher average then Bradman?
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Bearders,
When Jimmy Ormond made his test debut (I believe) he was greeted at the crease with a sledge from one of the Waugh brothers that went something like "what makes you think you're good enough to play test cricket...or what makes you think you're good enough to be on the same pitch as me...?" Jimmy's response was "well at least I'm better than MY brother..."
Great reply, but which Waugh was sledging and which Waugh was the "better" Waugh ??
Thanks J D
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What do cricketers typically eat for lunch or tea? You dont want to be munching on anything heavy. What do they eat that keeps them light and energised. Surely a corn beef roll, packet of crisps and a penquin are not going to do the trick. Have you any insight bearders?
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Do you know of a way to watch cricket if you're living in the Netherlands? I'm now glued to the Ö÷²¥´óÐã live scorecard, but I would love to see some action.
Problem is that no one is broadcasting it here, and we cannot receive any of the (foreign) pay-tv channels who are.
Thanks for any help.
Laurens
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When Virender Sehwag scored his 100th run at the Adelaide Oval, the India second innings score was 128. Has there ever been a lower team score in test matches when a batsman reached his century?
John
Belfast
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re 107
I don't think that anyone has passed 10 matches with a higher average than Bradman. Nearest approach that I can find is Neil Harvey who averaged 106.55 after 9 tests - but "only" 95 after 10.
Vinod Kambli also had a good go - averaging 113.28 after 7 tests, he was still on 93.7 after 10.
re 106
The dismissals figures for the 2 great spinners are
Warne Murali
Bowled 116 157
Cght Wkeeper 73 40
Cght Fielder 345 348
LBW 138 136
Stumped 36 41
Hit Wicket 0 1
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Hi,
I have just noticed that in the current match between Namibia and Kenya, G. Snyman has scored 194* out of 241/8. So, what is the highest percentage of a team's runs one batsman has scored in a completed FC innings, and could Mr Snyman beat it? Also, am I right in thinking that the Test equivalent is held by either Andy Flower or Brian Lara?
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is it true that hasan raza made his debut as a 14 year old as i have that it could be wrong. also if he was so good why doesn't play for pakistan?
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Ok, i'm going back to 1984 and the summer when the West Indies beat England 5-0 and Viv Richards, Joel Garner, Clive Lloyd and Co showed us how to play the great game.
Curiously somebody produced a record, which the Ö÷²¥´óÐã used and put to a video montage of the tour.
The only lyrics I can remember are "and if you find your stumps half way down the ground, that means the West Indies are back in town".
I'm trying to get a hold of a copy of it. Any pointers to what the title was, who recorded it, or where I might get a copy would be greatly appreciated.
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Ok, i'm going back to 1984 and the summer when the West Indies beat England 5-0 and Viv Richards, Joel Garner, Clive Lloyd and Co showed us how to play the great game.
Curiously somebody produced a record, which the Ö÷²¥´óÐã used and put to a video montage of the tour.
The only lyrics I can remember are "and if you find your stumps half way down the ground, that means the West Indies are back in town".
I'm trying to get a hold of a copy of it. Any pointers to what the title was, who recorded it, or where I might get a copy would be greatly appreciated.
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re 112
I believe the record for test matches is still held by Charles Bannerman with 165 (retired hurt) out of 245, scored in the first innings of the first ever test match. It also remains the highest score by an Australian batsman on debut.
Bannerman is also the answer to test cricket's first trick question "Who was the first Englishman to score a test century" as he was born in England
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Can a cricketer be sent off permanently as in football ?
Has this ever happened ?
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Re 114
I can provide details of test and 1-day international cricket - Snyman's contribution looks remarkable (80.5% of the total) in comparison.
For 1-day internations, the record belongs to Viv Richards with 189* out of 272 (69.48%)aganist England at Old Trafford in 1984.
The test record is surely the oldest surviving record on the books - set as it was in the very first test match (Australia v England at Melbourne in 1877) when Charlie Bannerman made 165* out of 245 (67.34%).
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Is Dominic Cork the only player of those who have played more than 30 of both Tests and ODI's to have played more Tests than ODI's
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I wondered if there were any instances of one cricketer beating a team on his own. What I mean by this is are there any instances in first class cricket where a batsman has scored a higher total with the bat than the total number of runs scored by the opposing team? Better still has any cricketer ever done this and then taken all 10 opposition wickets to be able to legitamately say "I could have beaten them on my own boys." I doubt anyone has done the later but I'd be interested to know how many if any Test batsman have scored more runs in their innings than opposition has scored in the whole game.
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Dear Bill
Hello there, I was listening to rather old recordings of TMS yesterday & the commentators kept on saying Sundries so my question is when did sundries cease & extras begin & why?
Best wishes
Matt
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Where do the scoring symbols * for captain and †for keeper come from? Have any other symbols ever been used? (Hugh from North-East London, England)
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question 119 - Offi
no, cork is not the leader in this, at least one player has more than 100 of each, but more tests
Gower played 117 tests for England, and only (!) 114 ODIs
also C Lloyd played 110 tests and just 87 ODIs
i believe they are the two highest (in tests) who have played more than 30 ODIs but less ODIs than tests
however we must always remember Langer, who played 105 tests but only 8 ODIs
and just for the fun i think this is going to be an answer from Bill in the next column as the question mysteriously disappeared from here (it was asked as question 3 originally but was very quickly removed, as was my answer)
question3 - Malcolm
there was indeed a one armed vs one legged game, in fact more than one
i have records of one at old trafford in july 1863, where the one legged team won by 21 runs over two innings, taking two days, the two highest scores being by Langsden, 56 and 77 not out, not being enough to beat the one legs
in another match, at islington in april 1867, again a two innings game over two days, the one legs won again, this time by 19 runs, the top scorer being Birchmore in the one legs 1st innings, 62
this would lead one to assume that the one arms were at a disadvantage, and imagining batting with one arm seems to back this up, at least until i read recently about don wilson batting in 1961 with an arm in plaster and scoring a match winning 29, if only he'd been available in the 1860s!
it appears that some players played in both games, although the records i have don't give initials
those appearing twice would be Hammond and Crabtree for the one legs and two smiths (brothers?) for the one armed
this type of game (opposites playing each other) appear to be fairly common in the 19th century and early 20th, smokers against non smokers and actors against authors being two other examples, and there were other one limbed games too. also i'm sure i've heard of a beards against clean shaven game, but can find no record for it
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question 119 - Offi
no, cork is not the leader in this, at least one player has more than 100 of each, but more tests
Gower played 117 tests for England, and only (!) 114 ODIs
also C Lloyd played 110 tests and just 87 ODIs
i believe they are the two highest (in tests) who have played more than 30 ODIs but less ODIs than tests
however we must always remember Langer, who played 105 tests but only 8 ODIs
and just for the fun i think this is going to be an answer from Bill in the next column as the question mysteriously disappeared from here (it was asked as question 3 originally but was very quickly removed, as was my answer)
question3 - Malcolm
there was indeed a one armed vs one legged game, in fact more than one
i have records of one at old trafford in july 1863, where the one legged team won by 21 runs over two innings, taking two days, the two highest scores being by Langsden, 56 and 77 not out, not being enough to beat the one legs
in another match, at islington in april 1867, again a two innings game over two days, the one legs won again, this time by 19 runs, the top scorer being Birchmore in the one legs 1st innings, 62
this would lead one to assume that the one arms were at a disadvantage, and imagining batting with one arm seems to back this up, at least until i read recently about don wilson batting in 1961 with an arm in plaster and scoring a match winning 29, if only he'd been available in the 1860s!
it appears that some players played in both games, although the records i have don't give initials
those appearing twice would be Hammond and Crabtree for the one legs and two smiths (brothers?) for the one armed
this type of game (opposites playing each other) appear to be fairly common in the 19th century and early 20th, smokers against non smokers and actors against authors being two other examples, and there were other one limbed games too. also i'm sure i've heard of a beards against clean shaven game, but can find no record for it
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After a recent game of golf, while enjoying the 19th, we were discussing cricket and who would score the highest number of runs in one over in the coming 20-20 series in NZ. One of our foursome, a well-built Maori gentleman, mentioned that he once scored more than 36 in one over in a local match - in the pre 1980's days of the 8-ball over in New Zealand. I wondered if that feat had ever been done in First Class matches down-under or anywhere else? - Barry Livesey, Auckland, New Zealand (from Bolton).
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question 125 - Barry
in all first class cricket the highest score off one over is a little higher than 36...
In a match against Canterbury at Christchurch in 1989-90, RH Vance (Wellington) deliberately conceded 77 runs in an over of full tosses which contained 17 no-balls and, owing to the umpire's understandable miscalculation, only five legitimate deliveries.
however for 8 ball overs the total is significantly lower, in fact lower than 36...
The greatest number of runs scored off an eight-ball over is 34 (4, 0, 4, 4,6, 6, 6, 4) by RM Edwards off MC Carew, Governor-General's XI v West Indians at Auckland, 1968-69.
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Ref #122
The MCC use the symbols the other way round for some reason - an asterisk indicating the'keeper and a printer's dagger for the captain. Check the scorecards at Lord's. They won't come into line with the rest of the cricketing world for fear that it would 'confuse the members'.
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Re 15 - question on the same man opening the batting and bowling like Irfan Pathan did at Perth recently -
In 1976/77 series India vs England, Sunil Gavaskar opened the batting and bowling for india in the 2nd innings of the 4th test played at the Chinnaswami stadium, Madras and both innings of the 5th test played at the Wankahade Stadium, Bombay. Those days India was hard pressed to find suitable pace bowlers to open the attack.
Notice that both the cities have undergone a name change since !
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question 125 - Barry
in all first class cricket the highest score off one over is a little higher than 36...
In a match against Canterbury at Christchurch in 1989-90, RH Vance (Wellington) deliberately conceded 77 runs in an over of full tosses which contained 17 no-balls and, owing to the umpire's understandable miscalculation, only five legitimate deliveries.
however for 8 ball overs the total is significantly lower, in fact lower than 36...
The greatest number of runs scored off an eight-ball over is 34 (4, 0, 4, 4,6, 6, 6, 4) by RM Edwards off MC Carew, Governor-General's XI v West Indians at Auckland, 1968-69.
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Of players to have played more than 30 of both ODI's and Tests, is Dominic Cork the only player to have played more Tests than ODI's?
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Bill,
I know that old score sheets did not enable the exact number of deliveries to be calculated,but I wonder if the records for some of the famous fast scoring feats exist.
C.I.J. Smith fast 50
Percy Fender fast 100
D.C.S.Compton fast 300 in South Africa on tour
If they do, would you be prepared to ESTIMATE the number of deliveries received so that we may have some basis for comparison with the modern giants?
I realise that such an estimate would necessarily be subject to error but, I feel sure that in your hands, the error would be small enough to give us a very good idea just how quickly they scored.
Tom Waldock (Plymouth Devon)
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There are plenty of candidates, sadly, for the most unsporting player but how about the most sporting? Obviously such things as arguing, sledging, barging, not walking, etc are not measured in the scorebook - but let's be creative and imagine ways of rating players' sportsmanship. I propose for bowlers, the ratio of successful to unsuccessful appeals. I would guess most modern bowlers are around 0.2. Top of the averages, somewhere in the teens, might be the late lamented Derek Shackleton - of whom a true story: Such was the precision of his bowling that he always knew whether a ball would hit the stumps and could judge perfectly whether a batsman was LBW. He gained a reputation for only appealing when it was out, and was highly respected.
He only erred once, as I recall him telling....A well known batsman failed to walk when given 'not out' for an obvious caught behind. This irritated Shackleton, uncharacteristically, and he sought justice. The next ball was aimed, quite deliberately, to beat the bat and strike low down on the pad, but definitely missing leg stump. The ball swung precisely as intented, the batsman missed, the ball struck the pad, and Shack appealed knowing full well it was not out.... and the umpire obliged with a raised finger. Just as Shack knew he would. That was the only time in his career that he ever resorted to any gamesmanship. Any other candidates for top 'true sportsman' ?
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There are plenty of candidates, sadly, for most unsporting player but how about the most sporting? It's not measurable of course but I suggest for bowlers a ratio of successful to unsuccessful appeals. Most modern bowlers would average around 0.2 I guess. My nomination for sportsman bowler of all time is Derek Shackleton somewhere in the high teens. Such was the precision of his bowling that he always knew whether a batsman was LBW, and such was his sportsmanship that he only appealed when he knew he was out. Umpires and players knew this, and the world was a happier place for it.
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Re 15 - question on the same man opening the batting and bowling like Irfan Pathan did at Perth recently -
In 1976/77 series India vs England, Sunil Gavaskar opened the batting and bowling for india in the 2nd innings of the 4th test played at the Chinnaswami stadium, Madras and both innings of the 5th test played at the Wankhade Stadium, Bombay. Those days India was hard pressed to find suitable pace bowlers to open the attack.
Notice that both the cities have undergone a name change since !
The links to the match archives are shown below -
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Could you tell me something about the career of Luke Wright who seems to be making a remarkable start in New Zealand ? Living in Paris, I rely entirely on TMS and the Ö÷²¥´óÐã website for cricket information but am unable to find the England squad in New Zealand on the site
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Dear Bill,
Apart from wasim akram and bruce reid, which other left arm non spin bowlers have taken more than 100 test wickets.
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When was the last time that Australia were not ranked number 1 in the world?
Ricky
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question 137 - David
well over 100 wkts i'm not sure but there are a couple you missed over 200 wkts in tests
Chaminda Vaas (331)
and a certain
G.Sobers (235)
okay i know he bowled all sorts but they included medium fast
a couple more with 100 wkts come straight to mind, but this is not an exhaustive list
A Davidson (186)
T.Lock (174) bowled a mix of slow and medium
Z. Khan (170)
T Goddard (123)
K Ghavri (109) a mix of slow and medium
I Pathan (100)
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Hi Bill,
I've noticed that Alistair Cook has scored nearly 2000 Test runs and 500 ODI runs, and has not yet hit a six in either form of the game. I was wondering if this is unique in any way, and if not, who has scored the most runs in Tests and/or ODIs without scoring a maximum?
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Bearders!
Before he retired last year, my philosophy supervisor at University was Edmund Craig. A brilliant philosophy professor, but he revealed to me one evening that he was also quite a dab hand with the bat. It seems that Eddie Craig is considered to be one of the finest players never to play for England. Could you shed some light on the career of this quite extraordinary philosopher, and while you're at it, are there any other cricketers who have gone on to big things in the academic world?
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Bearders,
When Jimmy Ormond made his test debut (I believe) he was greeted at the crease with a sledge from one of the Waugh brothers that went something like "what makes you think you're good enough to play test cricket...or what makes you think you're good enough to be on the same pitch as me...?" Jimmy's response was "well at least I'm better than MY brother..."
Great reply, but which Waugh was sledging and which Waugh was the "better" Waugh ??
Thanks J D : Holland
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In a recent Sri Lankan domestic game both sides' 1st innings were All Out for 155. This got me thinking - what is the highest (& lowest) 'equal 1st innings' scores in all First-class & Test Match cricket?
(All Out not including declarations)
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question 141 - Michael
well firstly his name was Edward (not Edmund)
he averaged 36 in 50 first class games, playing for Lancs and Camb Uni, just between 1961 and 63
his "best that never played for Eng" tag comes from a remark made by Mike Brearley, who felt he was a much better batsman than Brearley when at Cambridge (he also felt he was a better scholar)
without wishing to annoy Brearley fans, I can't help thinking that MB made a career out of being a captain not a batsman anyway, so being a better batsman than MB wouldn't instantly mean you'd get his test place
if you want to read about Craig there is a nice article here about all those that nearly made it to tests
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In which year was the rule added to ICC that THE OVERTHOWS WILL BE AWARDED TO BATSMAN AND NOT TO THE EXTRAS???
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Is England's 6 run outs in 2 ODI a record? What is the most run outs in a series?
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A bit of a stats related question:
After a bowler has taken a wicket in a test match what are the chance of him taking a wicket with his next ball? If he were to take another wicket, what are the chance of their next ball being a wicket (a Hatrick).
I suppose i want to know if there is a greater chance of the hatrick wicket than the second wicket due to pressure on the third batsman to survive or the bowler bowling harder to take a hatrick?
Thanks,
Roberto.
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A bit of a stats related question:
After a bowler has taken a wicket in a test match what are the chance of him taking a wicket with his next ball? If he were to take another wicket, what are the chance of their next ball being a wicket (a Hatrick).
I suppose i want to know if there is a greater chance of the hatrick wicket than the second wicket due to pressure on the third batsman to survive or the bowler bowling harder to take a hatrick?
Thanks,
Roberto.
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Hi Bill,
Can you tell me how many Sharmas have played international cricket for India. I can count 5 viz Chetan,Yashpal,Gopal,Sanjeev, and Ishant. Have I missed any?
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Hi Bill,
My eight year old son plays under 10s cricket and a father of a lad from another team is so hell-bent on his boy being a test player that he really lays into him if he doesn't perform. Out of interest, given the huge number of players at my son's age, how many are likely in my son's age group to play for England? I would guess one or two, but I wonder how many new caps a year can we expect, and of those, how many go on to play more than 30 times for England?
It might give me the statistics to shut this guy up next time the teams play, and convince him to just let his son play for fun!!!
Thanks,
Paul - Bedfordshire
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Hi Bill,
In the 1986-87 ODI between India and Srilanka played at Wankhede stadium in Mumbai, Azharuddin scored 108 as India amassed 299/4 in 40 overs. Even though Srilanka lost the match (they made 289) Roshan Mahanama was declared the Man of the Match for his 98. Are there any instances of a player from the losing side being awarded Man of the Match even though he scored LESS than a player from the winning side??
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Hi Bill,
In the 1986-87 ODI between India and Srilanka played at Wankhede stadium in Mumbai, Azharuddin scored 108 as India amassed 299/4 in 40 overs. Even though Srilanka lost the match (they made 289) Roshan Mahanama was declared the Man of the Match for his 98. Are there any instances of a player from the losing side being awarded Man of the Match even though he scored LESS than a player from the winning side??
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Hi Bill,
We've seen matches where the score has been adjusted due to some error (usually amended during the lunch break or overnight for Test matches). Following a televised match, do the scorers ever watch the entire match back on replay to check that the scoring has been correct? If so, has a mistake ever been spotted and the score/stats amended appropriately and, more intriguingly, has this ever resulted in a change to the match result?
Thanks, Matt in Oxfordshire
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Hi Bill,
After Paul Collingwood's fast 50 this morning, I was wondering whether his innings of 6 6's and no 4's is a record in ODI for most 6's without a 4? What is the corresponding record in Tests and First Class.
Thanks,
Alastair Crisp, England
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Has any player eevr taken a ten wicket haul and scored a century in a Test match? If not who has come the closest?
Freedom Aluteni from Windhoek, Namibia
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Re. the comment about bowling the most maidens, or the highest proportion of maidens: I would guess that spin bowlers, particularly of the subcontinental nations, would hold that record.
But I wonder what's the record number or proportion, of maidens for a fast bowler? (We'll allow medium pacers in, for the sake of argument.)
I can think of a few names that fit the mould, but I don't really know where they fit into the list...
Shaun Pollock was always pretty miserly.
Curtly Ambrose, on his day, could be impossible to get off the square. So could Joel Garner.
Alec Bedser and Trevor Bailey, in the '50s, both known for being miserly with the run-rate.
Angus Fraser - I remember in the early 90's, Fraser patiently bowling maiden after maiden from one end, usually while the opposition took the rest of the England attack apart at the other end...
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response to post 152
In the 1984 Nat West Trophy Final at Lords, Lancashire's John Abrahams was declared Man of the Match.
Lancs bowled Warwickshire out for 117, during which time Abrahams did not bowl, take any catches, or effect any run outs. He did bat as Lancs easily knocked off the runs, but was out for 0!
He won the award for his 'overall captaincy' of the Lancs side.
Surely the most bizarre 'MotM' in cricket history?
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Hi Bearders,
Can you tell me the statistical difference between dukes cricket ball and the kookaburra ball, i.e economy rate, average runs per innings and strike rate?
Also do wickets fall at different periods and to different styles of bowler?
what is your opinion, should there be just one type of ball used in test matches thoughout the world?
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Watching a recent review of Stephen Flemmings test career, prior to his last test, I noticed that whilst he had made 44 test fifties he had only made 9 hundreds.
I was wondering what the worst conversion rate of fifties to hundreds for a test batsmen who had had a significant test career was?
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how many times has Andrew Strauss been out lbw or caught behind wrongly as shown in tv replay.
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