Ask Bearders #165
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. ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Sport staff will choose a selection of them and send them to Bearders for him to answer.
Q. I know many batsmen have fallen multiple times in the 90s, but how many have done so in the 190s? Michael Vaughan was out twice like this in 2002 when he scored 197 and 195. How many have bettered or equalled this feat? Rob Wickham
Bearders' Answer: Vaughan is one of nine players to have been dismissed twice in the 190s in Test cricket. The most is three by Mohammad Yousuf Youhana, with all his instances occurring within 12 months: 192 v England (Leeds) 2006; 192 (Lahore) and 191 (Multan) v West Indies in 2006-07.
Q. I noticed that Kevin Pietersen had passed 3,000 runs after just over two years in Test cricket. Is that a record? Roy, Essex
Bearders' Answer: It is the fastest in terms of time (2 years and 150 days) but, in view of the proliferation of Test cricket, the only logical means of measuring the fastest aggregates is by the fewest number of innings. Sir Donald Bradman (33 innings) emphatically heads this table with 18 fewer visits to the crease than his nearest rival, Sir Everton Weekes. Pietersen (63 innings) is equal 16th and is the seventh-fastest England batsman to score 3,000 runs.
Q. In a recent Duleep Trophy match, the South Zone scored 204 in both innings. Has it ever happened in a Test match that in both innings a team had the same score? Simon, Belgium
Bearders' Answer: There have been seven instances of a side scoring the same all-out total in both innings of a Test match, the scores ranging from 136 to 306. It is slightly rarer for both teams to register the same totals in the first innings of a Test, the five instances not to involve a declaration range from 199 to 402.
Q. Who is the oldest player to play in an international match? What was his age when he played his last match? Hasan B
Bearders' Answer: The oldest man to play Test cricket was Yorkshire's supreme all-rounder Wilfred Rhodes, who was aged 52 years and 165 days on his final day of Test cricket at Kingston, Jamaica, on 12 April 1930.
Nolan Clarke, a Barbadian opening batsman representing Holland, is the oldest man to appear in limited-overs internationals. He was 47 years and 257 days old when he played against South Africa at Rawalpindi on 5 March 1996.
Q. The scorecard on CricInfo for the fourth Test between England and Australia at Melbourne in February 1908, shows that, in the last innings, Jack Hobbs was out to the second change bowler Saunders for 0 with the England's score 0 after eight minutes and with the opening bowler Armstrong not having bowled a maiden. How was this possible? Asif Khan
Bearders' Answer: The Australian bowling order changed for the second innings. J.V.Saunders bowled the first over and J.D.A.O'Connor (3 maidens) bowled the second.
Q. I remember Australian fast-medium bowler Tony Dodemaide taking five wickets on his debut in Test cricket. Has any other cricketer achieved this feat? Bharanidharan V
Bearders' Answer: Excluding instances of bowlers taking five wickets in the first Test in which they actually bowled (having not bowled in their earlier matches), Dodemaide is one of exactly 50 bowlers to have taken five or more wickets in their initial Test match. The most recent was Yasir Arafat who took 5 for 161 for Pakistan v India at Bangalore in December 2007.
Q. Does a batsman have to wear gloves whilst batting? One of our players preferred not to and the opposition protested. Obviously if he is acting as a runner he has to but is he required to when batting. Andy Hardy, New Zealand
Bearders' Answer: There is nothing in the laws of cricket that compels a batsman to wear gloves. They constitute a permitted item of equipment, not an essential one.
Q. How many Test cricketers have been born in Lincolnshire? Guy Cudmore, Lincolnshire
Bearders' Answer: Just three, Guy. The first and most famous was the Hon Martin Bladen who became the seventh Lord Hawke and remains Yorkshire's longest-serving captain (1883-1910). He was born in Willingham Rectory, Gainsborough, on 16 Aug 1860 after his mother had fallen off her horse and could not be transported across the county border before his birth. He captained England in four of his five Tests, all of which were played in South Africa.
The second was John C.Hartley, a slow-medium leg-break bowler who was born in Lincoln on 15 Nov 1874. He represented Oxford University (taking 11 wickets against Cambridge in 1896), Sussex and England (two Tests in South Africa in 1905-06), before joining the Army, serving in the Boer and Great Wars, attaining the rank of colonel and being mentioned in dispatches four times.
The most recent was R.M.H. (Bob) Cottam of Hampshire and Northamptonshire. A right-arm fast-medium bowler, he was born in Cleethorpes on 16 Oct 1944 and appeared in four overseas Tests, two apiece in Pakistan in 1968-69 and in India in 1972-73.
Q. Has there ever been an instance in an international or first-class match when a bowler has taken six wickets in a single over? Hasan B
Bearders' Answer: No. The most in first-class cricket is four and there have been 35 instances. P.I. (Pat) Pocock took seven wickets in 11 balls for Surrey v Sussex at Eastbourne in 1972.
Q. Am I correct in thinking that Courtney Walsh is the only player to have played in all four Test innings in one day? He started the final day batting. David Mallett
Bearders' Answer: He probably is but I need to check some of the 19 Tests that have finished in two days. Seven of those have extended to four innings. As I am currently 'on the road' in New Zealand and without access to detailed match reports, perhaps someone who has could check if any other players have emulated Walsh's feat.
Q. I was recently reading a book by the American Bill Bryson who mentioned that the name "cricket" is derived from a French term, "criquet" which apparently was originally descriptive of a game similar to modern croquet. Is this correct? Rod Carmichael, Thailand
Bearders' Answer: It may have been but a more likely origin is a shepherd's crook or crick. The game is believed to have evolved from bored shepherds defending with their crooks wicket gates or tree stumps against fir cones or stones rolled or bowled along the ground.
Q. Whenever a limited-overs international is washed out, do the runs scored, wickets and catches taken, etc. enter the book of records? K. Murthy
Bearders' Answer: Yes.
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Hi Bill,
What are Steve Harmison's test figures for games where Andrew Flintoff has also been in the team? How does this compare with tests when Flintoff has not played?
(I'm guessing that Harmison does better with his friend Flintoff there to gee him up).
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Are pads for the wicket-keeper mandatory or optional? I have always wondered if the wicket-keeper cannot be more mobile without the pads.
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Hi Bill - always enjoy your column! Has there ever been an instance where a bowler has achieved a hat-trick, spread over three separate innings? (Either in ODIs, tests or first class cricket).
Probably not, but was just wondering...
Thanks!
Dan, Guernsey
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Hi Bill, could you tell me what is the highest score a team has been on in both in Test matches and ODIs, when only one of the opening batsman has scored runs? eg if in the recent test match, cook was on 50 and vaughan was on 0.
Many thanks, Mark Savile in Manchester
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A question for Bill;
I recently read of a West Indian Test cricketer who is the only Test cricketer to have been executed from any country. Who was this man and what records (Test, not criminal) did he possess?
Matt Richards
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While playing in the Dordogne last summer, the opposition bowler was several times no balled for sending down bouncers well over our opener's head. The youngster eventually 'up periscoped' and holed out. He then held his ground claiming that no ball had been called (which it had been)but was still given out. The umpire claimed it wasn't a no ball if he could hit it. Who was right?
I reckon they were both wrong. he should have been out but the umpire should have been calling wides not no balls...
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RE Dan #3
This is not possible as a hattrick must be taken within one match and, as far as I am aware, there has never been a three innings match.
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Dav #9
Hat-trick's don't have to be in the same match, they just have to be 3 consecutive balls.
Do hat-tricks have to be in the same form of the game? If you took the last two wickets in the last game of an ODI series, then played the test series, would your first ball be your hat-trick delivery, or does it have to be the same format?
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In the recent test match vs New Zealand, Ryan Sidebottom took what I consider to be an unusual hat-trick. Not that it bridged two overs, but the unusual aspect being that it was not three consecutive NZ wickets falling as Monty Panesar got a wicket in the over between Sidebottom's first and second wickets of the hat-trick. Are there other occurrences of a hat-trick being achieved by a bowler in the same innings where the final wicket was not the third to fall in quick succession? Also, given that the term hat-trick derives from three occurences in a row then did Monty strictly speaking render the hat-trick invalid?!
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RE:
Courtney Walsh is the only player to have played in all four Test innings in one day
Surely whoever he was batting with at the start of the day will also have appeared in all 4 test innings in one day as well?
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In reply to James, post 8:
You are correct. Bouncers can only be considered no balls in Test cricket, and even then only for the third in an over. The umpire should have been calling wides if the ball was too high for the batsman to reach with a 'normal' cricket stroke. He would then have been perfectly correct in saying that it is not a wide if the batsman can hit it.
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Dear Bearders,
Has there ever been a test match where a team following on has sent out the same two batsmen to open their second innings who were there at the end of their first?
Has there ever been a case where, in following on, an opening batsman has carried his bat through both innings?
Steve
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Re 3,9 & 10.
As far as I'm aware (and I'm sure Bill has answered this before) a Hat Trick has to be Three Wickets taken with consecutive balls bowled in the same match. As there are no 3 Innings First Class Matches, then there has never been a Hat Trick spread over 3 Innings. There have been a couple of Test Hat Tricks spread over two innings, both in the 1988/89 series between Australia and West Indies. Courtney Walsh and Merv Hughes did it. In fact Hughes took a wicket with the last ball of one over, another (the last in West Indies First Innings) with the first ball of his next over, and another with his first ball in West Indies Second Innings, so his was spread over 3 different overs.
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Is it possible to bat without a helmet throughout your time batting?
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Hattricks DO have to be in the same match - they can be spread over two innings but not over two matches.
Bill has emphasized this on many occasions, and will no doubt do so again!
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Hi Bill,
Wonderful column as always.
Do you know if former England football captain and currect Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker ever played First-Class or List-A Cricket? I do know that he chose a football career with Leicester City over a cricket career with Leicestershire in his youth.
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Hattricks DO have to be in the same match - they can be spread over two innings but not over two matches.
Bill has emphasized this on many occasions, and will no doubt do so again!
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question 12 goap
actually a comment on Bill's answer to the Walsh question
i couldn't agree more!
in the last blog i stated
(his batting partner at the start of the day) "so unless King didn't take the field for engs 2nd innings, and from the scorecard you linked to there is no mention that he didn't, he too took part in all 4 innings, as did atherton and ramprakash (unless you are only including batting and bowling in "taking an active part" which is rather harsh...imagine not getting included as a first class cricketer cos you never batted or bowled...where would we be without the likes of F.Hyland?)"
i'd like to point out to Bill that this match wasn't over in two days it was actually 3, walsh (and king, ramps and athers) played four innings (the end of WI 1st, Engs 1st, WI 2nd and the start of Engs 2nd) all on day 2
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Steve 15.
There definitely has, Bearders will be able to tell you who it is but if I remember rightly, there was an eccentric England captain who whilst playing on a 'sticky', sent out the tailenders first.
As I remember, it was a good call. The tailenders took up time whilst the pitch died out and England won.
Bearders? Do we have the full story on this one?
JP
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Regarding Courtney Walsh's part in the 4 innings in one day scenario, what was unusual about Walsh's contribution was that he batted and bowled in all four innings during the day, he managed one ball at the end on the day in England's second innings.
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have there ever been a left arm bowler who bats righthanded.
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Hi Bill,
What's the historical reason for having separate criteria in Tests and ODIs for deciding whether a ball is wide or not?
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Hi Beaders - has anyone ever scored a century in an innings without scoring a boundry?? JW, Dubai
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Hi Bill,
I am from Mumbai & read your each & every 'ask bearders' regularly. If i am not wrong, Ricky Ponting has very unique record in test history.
Being a captain, playing in his 100th test, scoring 100 in both the innings & wining that test match. This happened against SA when they toured Aus in 2005-06
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@ 12 Ron anderson,
THere are many left hand bowlers batting right hand.
Off hand I remember Ravi Shastri
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There are many all-rounder wicketkeepers that both bat well and also keep wickets well.
Has there ever been a bowler/wicket-keeper all-rounder?
A really good wicket-keeper that is also a good-bowler and thus switches back and forth between bowling and wicket-keeping in the same inning?
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There are many all-rounder wicketkeepers that both bat well and also keep wickets well.
Has there ever been a bowler/wicket-keeper all-rounder?
A really good wicket-keeper that is also a good-bowler and thus switches back and forth between bowling and wicket-keeping in the same inning?
A similar question, has a team ever used two wicket-keepers in the team, and switched back and forth between them in an inning, maybe as a way to keep the wicket-keepers "rested" ?
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Ron (24)
Not 100% but I think Michael Clarke of Australia bowls left handed
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Dear Bearders
This is probably close to an impossible question but here goes.
If you take the runs scored by a wicketkeeper and deduct the runs he "conceeds" (ie the runs added by an opponent after being dropped) I wonder how the net batting averages of Englands recent keepers would look.
I guess nobody keeps records of dropped catches but would it be a better way of measuring wicketkeeper performance?
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Ron(24)
Not 100% sure but I think Michael Clarke of Australia bats right handed and bowls left handed
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#24
Michael Clarke: Left arm spinner, RH bat
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24 ron alexander,
Grant Flower,
Bats: Right-handed
Bowls: Left-arm slow bowler
Played for: Zimbabwe, Mashonaland
One-Day Debut: vs. India at Harare, One-off ODI, 1992/93
One-Day Matches: 92
Total Runs: 3,080
Average Score: 35.81
Highest Score: 140
Total Wickets: 41
Runs per wicket: 32.21
Best Result: 4-32
There is probably more, but I could only think of that one
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#29. AB De Villiers can bat and bowl as well as keep. Not sure of overall figurs though.
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Dear Partha (#2)
Law 40 (wicket keepers) states that they are permitted to wear protective leg guards (not obliged).
However as an amateur keeper myself I find they make little difference to my mobility (it's slow either way) but a lot of difference when stopping a fast delivery with ones knees or shins.
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HI Bearders,
Just wondering, whats the earliest start of play time in test cricket and latest close of play time? When was this?
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#24
not quite the question asked, but Stuart Broad and James Anderson both bowl right handed and bat left handed.
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For David Gunner.
Ref question about Gary Lineker, Gary played 3 friendly matches for John Paul Getty's XI in 1992 and 1995. Bill should remember. He played in 2 of the matches. Paul Hawkins.
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Can't believe no one mentioned Ashley Giles as a bowler who bowled with his left hand and batted with his right!
#8 - If it's league cricket check the rules, as one of the leagues I played in actually had a rule that any bouncer bowled after one in the over was a no-ball. Also I think in colts cricket some leagues do actually make a bouncer illegal. Might have changed since I was a colt though.
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#29 Sahlberg
I can remember one...
Full name: Timothy Joseph Zoehrer
Born: September 25, 1961, Armadale, Perth, Western Australia
Current age: 46 years 168 days
Major teams: Australia, Western Australia
Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Legbreak googly
Fielding position: Wicketkeeper
He took 38 first class wickets at 91.7 and averaged around 30 with the bat.
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Dear Bill
I was interested to read your answer regarding Lord Hawke having been born in Lincolnshire. I'd always thought that until the late eighties or early nineties that only those who were Yorshire-born could represent the county. Was this a case of having one rule for the nobility and another for the rest of us?
Matt Coomber, Kyoto.
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On the question of left handed bowlers batting right handed, Denis Compton was one such who indeed performed both at test level.
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Dear Bill
In the ICC all-time Test batting ratings, I see that there is no mention of 'Sir' Geoffrey Boycott in the top 100, yet Alex Stewart is listed at No 99. Surely some mistake to leave out Boyks. What's going on?
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zaheer khan and michael clarke both bowl left handed and bat right handed
and so do i!
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Hi Bill
Can you shed any light on a cricket match played in St Albans (Herts)in the 19th Century whence the one armed took on the one legged?
Also, what is known of the touring Aboriginal Cricket XI of the 1860s? Were they a novelty act or 'genuine' opposition? Has any one of this origin (or for that matter anyone black (excluding Symonds)) ever represented an Australian team?
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question 45 - Roland
before, in blog 163, there was a similar question, my answer then (although not about st albans)
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
for a complete record of the aboriginal tour of 1868 try here
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Hi Bill,
My eight year old son plays league cricket in the backwater of Bedfordshire. One of the Dads of a player from another club is convinced his ten year old will play for England and frequently and publicly admonishes his boy if he fails during a game.
It's my view that Dads who live their dreams through their sons are mad, because the chances of anyone making it all the way to test cricket are very very low. Could you back this theory up by telling me how many new England caps there are each year (compared with the thousands of kids who play) and of these how many go onto play more than ten tests for England?
Paul, Bedfordshire
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at 19, i think it was bradman, after england had batted and had been dismissed easily he sent in his 2 tailenders, saying to one of them u have to hit the ball to get out and as u cant hit the ball on a good pitch ull stand no chance on this one. the tailenders managed to hang around for a bit the pitch dried up and australia racked up a big total. could be wrong but thats what i heard somewere!
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Re Bearders's answer to David Mallett - Walsh was the first player to achieve this, but not the only one. At Hamilton in 2002, India ended the rain-interrupted first day on 92/8, with Parthiv Patel the not out batsman (the only one, since a wicket had fallen to the last ball of the day the number 10 batsman had not commenced his innings). At the start of the second day's play Ashish Nehra went out to bat at number 10, and on Patel's dismissal was joined by Tinu Yohannan. With Nehra's dismissal for 7, India were all out for 99 (Yohannan was left on 0*); New Zealand replied with 94 (incidentally, the only occurrence in Test cricket of both sides being bowled out for under 100 in the first innings) - Yohannan opened the bowling and finished with 0/16, Nehra came on as first change and took 2/20. India were all out for 154 in their second innings (Nehra 10, Yohannan 8*) and New Zealand finished the day on 24/0 with both Nehra and Yohannan getting a bowl (ending the day with figures of 0/5 and 0/7 respectively), so they both featured in all four innings, and if you count keeping wicket then Patel did also.
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In a completed innings where 10 wickets have fallen, has there ever been a case where no1 batsman scored more than no2, who scored mopre than no3, who scored more than no4 etc.?
Tony
Lincolnshire
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Re 21 left arm bowlers batting right handed.
A player I watched many times for Lancashire in the early 70's, a key component of their successful 1 day team double spin attack with 'flat'
Jack Simmons.
David Hughes, started as a slow left arm bowler and ended up as number 5 or 6 batsman - right handed.
Probably best remembered for his 24 runs off one over at 8.50 pm v Gloucestershire 1971 Gillette Cup Semi
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In a completed innings where 10 wickets have fallen, has there ever been a case where no1 batsman scored more than no2, who scored mopre than no3, who scored more than no4 etc.?
Tony
Lincolnshire
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On left-arm bowlers batting right handed. From 1973 alone:
Ray East (Essex), David Graveney (Gloucestershire), Peter Sainsbury (Hampshire), Bernard Julien and Derek Underwood (Kent), David Hughes (Lancashire), Chris Balderstone, Barry Dudleston and John Steele (Leicestershire), Phil Edmonds (Middlesex), Bishan Bedi, John Dye and David Steele (Northants), Chris Waller (Surrey), Phil Carrick (Yorkshire).
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1. Julian - Harmison's bowling average in matches when Flintoff was also playing (32.02 - 39 matches, 142 wickets) is actually worse than in matches he wasn't (30.11 - 18 matches, 70 wickets).
2. Partha - they're optional.
5. Matt - the player in question was Leslie Hylton, who played six times for West Indies against England in the late 1930s, with a record of 70 runs at an average of 11.66 (HS 19) and 16 wickets at 26.12 (BB 4/27). He was hanged in Jamaica in 1955 after being found guilty of the murder of his wife. By Cricinfo's account, "Hylton told the court that he was attempting to shoot himself but had missed, an argument rather undermined when it emerged he had fired seven bullets into his wife, meaning he had to pause to reload his gun. Wisden, steadfastly skirting round anything remotely sordid even as late as the 1950s, managed to produce an obituary without mentioning the small detail that he had been executed for murder."
9. Martin - yes, this has occurred before. Courtney Walsh's hat trick mentioned by David in #13 involved dismissing Tony Dodemaide with the last ball of Australia's first innings, then Mike Veletta and Graeme Wood with the first two balls he bowled in the second - but they weren't the first two balls of the innings. Walsh came on as first change, after Malcolm Marshall had dismissed David Boon and Curtly Ambrose accounted for Geoff Marsh in the process. Merv Hughes's hat trick in the same series did not consist of three consecutive wickets to fall either - he dismissed Ambrose with the last ball of one over, then Gus Logie fell to Tim May in the next before Hughes added the wicket of Patrick Patterson to end the innings, then completed his hat trick by having Gordon Greenidge LBW to his first ball (and, in this instance, THE first ball) of the second innings.
12. Steve/19. John-Paul - there have indeed been instances in Tests of teams switching their batting order around for tactical reasons, but none involving a follow-on. The full story on the one John-Paul mentions is that it was West Indies vs England at Bridgetown in 1935; West Indies batted first and were all out for 102, England slipped to 81/7 (with the usual batting order) before declaring in order to force WI to face the dreadful batting conditions, they sent the bowlers in first (including the above-mentioned Leslie Hylton, making his Test debut; he rose to the occasion with 19, his highest Test score), and declared at 51/6 to set England 73 to win, a target which, after employing the same trick of shuffling the batting order, they reached with four wickets in hand. The match Laurie (47) refers to was Australia vs England at Melbourne in 1937: Australia declared their first innings at 200/9, England responded by declaring at 76/9 before Bradman sent Bill O'Reilly and Chuck Fleetwood-Smith out to open the second innings. They both made ducks as Australia slipped to 97/5 - before Bradman went out at number 7 and scored 270, which, unsurprisingly, remains a record for that position, and was rated by Wisden when they compiled their "top 100" a few years ago as the best Test innings ever. Bradman and Jack Fingleton (136) set a sixth wicket record partnership of 346 which still stands, and despite a century from Maurice Leyland in England's second innings they lost by 365 runs. There's at least one instance of a team following on opening the innings with the two batsmen already at the crease, but not in a Test. In the match between Glamorgan and the Indian touring team at Cardiff Arms Park in 1946, Indian made 376/6 declared before dismissing Glamorgan for 149. The Glamorgan captain, Wilf Wooller, agreed to waive the usual interval between innings and open the second with the two batsmen already in the middle, Johnny Clay and Peter Judge, to save time. Judge, having been bowled first ball by Chandra Sarwate to end the first innings, was then bowled by Sarwate again with the second ball of the second innings, to complete the quickest pair in first-class history. Glamorgan managed to hold on for the draw at 73/7.
No batsman has ever carried his bat through both innings of a Test (Desmond Haynes came closest, opening the batting and being last man out in each innings); a few have done so in both innings of a first-class match but I don't think any of them involved a follow-on.
14. Jake - yes it is. Helmets are purely optional; Viv Richards was known for never wearing one.
16. David - as Paul Hawkins mentions, Lineker played three matches for Sir JP Getty's XI, but these did not have list A status as in each case one side had 12 players (in the days before the ICC's "supersub" experiment that was enough to disqualify a match from being awarded such status). For the record, against I Zingari in 1992 Lineker scored 22, didn't bowl or take a catch; against the Arabs in the same season he kept wicket and made one catch and one stumping before scoring 10; and against the same opponents in 1995 he gave up the gloves, didn't bowl or take a catch and scored 6.
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Question number 21, Inzamam-ul-Haq former pakistan captain was the one who batted right handed and also bowled some overs in ODI's with left hand slow deliveries....
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Sahlberg, 26.
Tatenda Taibu has proved fairly useful in all three departments! In 88 first class matches he has scored 4694 runs @ 35.29, 252 dismissals (229ct, 23st) and taken 22 wickets @ 19.59.
For Mashonaland against Midlands at Kwekwe (2003/04) he made his highest score (175*) and took 8-43 in an innings. For good measure he was also captain!
Could this be the most outstanding instance of batting and bowling personal bests in the same match, and is 8-43 the best bowling figures for any designated wicketkeeper? Possibly - Bill is sure to know! Bill?
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In the recent Hamilton Test match a remarkable number of maidens were bowled over in both England innings. Were any records made or approached?
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Hi Bill,
I have noticed that playing football has increased my flexibility, stamina and strength and has made me quicker whilst playing cricket. Do you think if cricketers were given similar training like footballers do, will it help them to perform better whilst they are batting, bowling or fielding?
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Would an ambidextrous batsman have to declare which way to play, if not how would the fielding side set up to cope?
Has this ever been known to happen?
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The aforementioned Wilfred Rhodes was surely the greatest left arm bowler/right arm bat in the history of the game. He started as a specialist bowler but worked his way up the order and finished up opening the batting.
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Hello Bill
I like Gary Gilmour Can you compare him with his stats at a equal level with Andrew Symonds or Flintoff Or Ravi shatri
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Hi bill, how are you?
do you know, or knbow where I can find out, a list of best bowling partnerships please?
As in records for Lillie/thommo or other common bowling partnerships so can see how they compare?
Can find heapsa batting partnerships but no bowling ones.
Cheers
Ed
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Hi Bill,
My friend recently bought me an England ODI shirt as a present, he couldn't decide what number to get on the back so settled for 28 (my age).
What we were wondering though is how do England assign shirt numbers in the ODI squad as from the list I got off the ECB website it seems to be all over the place? Do you get to pick your own number?
Thanks, Max from London
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22. Shatajit - I've always been a bit puzzled by this myself. The relevant law (25) states "If the bowler bowls a ball, not being a No ball, the umpire shall adjudge it a Wide if... in his opinion the ball passes wide of the striker where he is standing and would also have passed wide of him standing in a normal guard position. The ball will be considered as passing wide of the striker unless it is sufficiently within his reach for him to be able to hit it with his bat by means of a normal cricket stroke." No mention there of the length of the match - perhaps it just came about because one delivery more or fewer in an innings makes a bigger difference in a limited overs match?
23. mheeaad - this has been done in first-class matches but not in Tests; the closest is a century containing only one boundary.
24. Sandeep - you are correct. Other players have scored one century in their 100th Test (Alec Stewart is the first to come to mind, I think there have probably been one or two others as well), but Ponting is the only one to score two.
26. sahlberg - there have been a few keepers who have bowled occasionally, but I can't think of anyone who's done so on a regular basis.
27. sahlberg - one or two instances in warm-up matches when a team wasn't sure which keeper to pick for the Test and wanted to give them both a try-out, but again not done regularly.
29. Sam - I'm pretty sure Bearders and others do keep records of dropped catches. I think Matt Prior's record might not look too good...
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I have always been confused with regard to the reverse sweep/shot. Can you please clarify how a wide would be declared when one plays this shot. While playing this shot is it mandatory that the bat grip should remain the same... [explain the above for a Left handed batsman]
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Hi Bill,
I was wondering if any Northern Territory cricket players have ever represented the Australian national team, either at tests or ODI. I have not found any yet.
Thanks,
Miles
Hong Kong
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Dear Bill
Please can you explain why, when a batsman is not out at the end of an innings, although his runs count towards his career average, the inning itself is not used as a divisor?
Surely this gives a false impression of a batsman's prowess? For example, a number 11 could, in theory, play 100 test innings, scoring 1 in each. If he was not out in 99 of those innings, his test average would end up as 100.
Surely if each innings was counted as a divisor this would be a truer reflection of the player's ability, as his average would then be 1?
I know my example is an extreme case, but it would surely make sense that a player's runs divided by total innings should be the criteria for an average?
Regards
ColS
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Hey Bill, I am a born and raised yank who played professional water polo in aus and nz for one year and fell in love with cricket. I was wondering, and sure the records only go back so far, what is the longest spell bowled by a single bowler in a test match and first class match. Also, has there been an ambidextrous bowler or batsmen who has batted or bowled both left and right handed at some point in their career? Thanks and love the column.
Richie - Long Beach, Ca
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#58,
Ambidextrous batting is soemthing thats always interested me too. Its probably 'not cricket' but switching your side ever over or every few balls would be sheer hell for the fielding team to work around...
Taking it to the extreme, would a dismissal of 'obstructing the field' be possible if one were to be using the technique purely to deceive or to deliberately messup a bowlers runup?
it happens in baseball, as 'switch hitting' so I wonder why its not taken off in cricket??
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On the first day of the 2nd Test against NZ, England lost no wickets in 2 of the sessions, but 5 in the other. It was almost unbelievably topsy-turvy.
I'm sure there have been plenty of occasions in Tests when a batting side has managed two sessions without losing wickets, but has any other side lost as many as 5 wickets in the third of those sessions?
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Bill, can you find out what the lowest first innings score in Test history is for a team who won the toss and elected to bat. Similarly, can you tell us who has conceeded the most in the first innings having elected to field? Thanks
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Hi Bill
Has there ever been a wicket in international cricket where the batsman, bowler and catcher all had the same surname? eg.
Smith - caught Smith, bowled Smith
Pete
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Has anyone in test or first class cricket taken a hat-trick in three separate overs?
In other words he took a wicket with the last ball of one over. When he came to bowl the first ball of his next over he took the 10th wicket of the 1st innings. Then when he came on to bowl in the 2nd innings he took a wicket with his first ball.
Gary
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Dear Mr. Frindall
Did I imagine THIS? Test Match - New Zealand vs. England - IN ENGLAND - late 60's /70's - Richard Hadlee lost OR won the toss and for his OPENING bowling attack put on a spinner at each end! Did this REALLY happen or was I imagining it? Many Thanks, PJS
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During Englands abject first test defeat against New Zealand one thing stood out, the number of catches that Alistair Cook took. I was wondering what is the record in terms of number of catches in a test match by a player other than the wicket keeper?
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question 74 - Joel
Cook was close with 6, but no cigar, the record being 7 catches in a test, by 5 players
Chappel (gs) 1974 aus vs eng
Hayden 2003 srl vs aus
Fleming 1997 zim vs nz
Tillakaratne 1992 srl vs nz
Yajurvindra Singh 1976 ind vs eng
question 73 - peter
you must be imagining things, only WA Hadlee (the father) captained NZ in Eng and that was in the 1940s
in fact in the 15 tests richard hadlee played in england, between 1973 and 1990, he ALWAYS opened the bowling
this is also true of the 7 tests vs eng he played in nz and the 23 ODIs he played against eng, both home and away (except in 3 when he bowled first change after medium fast openers, sneddon or collinge)
question 72 - gary
yes, merv hughes vs wi in 1988
he took the wicket of ambrose with the last ball of his 36th over, May then got logie in the next over, leaving merv to finish off the innings by bowling patterson with the first ball of his 37th over. In the 2nd inning hughes actually opened the bowling (lawson was injured in the aus innings) and got greenidge with the first ball of the innings, making his hattrick across 3 overs
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Daryl Tuffey had the knack of picking up a wicket in the very first over of the match in both Tests and LOIs. Is he the all-time leader in this category?
Thanks
Beburg Zehri from Canada
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in the current wellington test match england have 6 left handed batsmen - has a test team ever had a full team of eleven left handed batsmen? what is the record number?
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#47
iT happened in the 1936-37 Ashes, on a sticky wicket , The Don in his first series as captain almost reversed the batting order in the 2nd innings , so that the tailenders could bat while the wicket dried up. Later Don and Fingleton batting at#6 &7 added 346 runs for the 6th wicket, a record todate and Aussies on the verge of losing the test and Ashes turned the tables winning not only that test but also the next two, the only team 0-2 down to win a test series.
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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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question 79 - michael
you asked this question 2 blogs ago, and i answered it fairly, i thought, comprehensively
if you missed that answer
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
and his cricinfo stats page, with photos, is here
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Saleem Jaffer, Saleem Yousuf and Saleem Malik have played multiple matches together. What's the record of players with the same first name playing in a match together?
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It is quite common for the score made in each of the four innings of a match to decrease each innings.
What about the other way round?
It is technically possible if the team batting second scores one or two runs more than the team batting first in the first innings and in the second innings the team batting first exceeds both the first innings totals and then the team batting secong wins the match by scoring a boundary.
Has it ever happened?
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Would you please tell me the last TMS
broadcast where BJ,CMJ,DM,HB,TEB & FT
shared the mike together ?
Nandakishore
Chennai
India
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Greetings Mr. Bearders
I noticed that Ed Joyce and his brother Dom Joyce made their ODI debuts on the same date. However, they made their debuts against each other! Ed for England and Dom for Ireland, have there been any other similar instances?
Thanks
Cheers
Ash
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Dear Bill,
I was just wondering what the highest number of catches by any one fielder (i.e. not the wicket keeper) was in:
- a first class innings;
- a first class match;
- a Test innings;
- a Test match.
I wonder if you could help me in this? The answer will determine whether I bat at 3 or 8 this year...
Thanks!
Alex
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question 85 - Alex
records for catches (not w/k)
in a test innings is FIVE by 5 players
(richardson AUS/singh IND/azhuraddin IND/srikkanth IND/flemming NZ)
in a test match is SEVEN by 5 players too
(Chappel ENG/Hayden AUS/Fleming NZ/Tillakaratne SL/Singh IND)
in a first class innings SEVEN twice
(mj stewart and as brown)
in a first class match TEN just once
(wr hammond)
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Bill
re: Jimmy Anderson's 'football' injury at Wellington. If his injury had been serious enough, would he have been permitted a runner if needed to bat? I know he was injured during the test but not it was during play and was clearly so self-inflicted.
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Re #64 - If a batsman plays a reverse sweep, the Law states that the "legside" for the purposes of LBW, fielding restrictions, wides etc is defined by his stance as the bowler begins his run-up.
#66 - The convention of not outs not being included in the divisor for a batsman's average is long-standing, and massive confusion would result if there was any attempt to change it. For fairness, if a not-out innings was included, should some allowance not been made for hypothetical runs the batsman might ahve scored if his time at the crease was not terminated through no fault of his own?
#87 - Providing a player is injured after the nomination of players at the toss, he is entitled to a runner/substitute fielder. It doesn't matter if the injury occurs while play is in progress, during the lunch or tea break, or if he slips and falls in the shower in his hotel room - the injury is just as valid.
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what is the highest scoring test match where there has been a winning team and the highest scoring test match where there has been a draw, and what is the lowest scoring test match?
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