And how many of them have bagged a pair in the process?
Steven Lynch03-May-2022I recently saw highlights of Greg Chappell’s 201 against Pakistan in 1981-82. He hit only six fours, so must have done a lot of running! What’s the highest number in a Test innings actually run – ignoring anything completed before the ball reaches the fence? asked Mark Wright from New Zealand
That innings of 201 by Greg Chappell for Australia against Pakistan in Brisbane in 1981-82 did indeed include 177 runs apart from the 24 in boundaries. That’s fairly high on the list – but pride of place goes to Pakistan’s Hanif Mohammad, who ran 241 of his 337 (there were 24 fours) against West Indies in Bridgetown in 1957-58.Another Pakistani holds the first-class record: when Aftab Baloch amassed 428 for Sind against Baluchistan in Karachi in 1973-74, he hit 25 fours, and `so ran out 328 of his final score.The record for one-day internationals is 112, by the South Africa opener Gary Kirsten, in his 188 not out (13 fours and four sixes, or 76 runs) against United Arab Emirates in Rawalpindi during the 1995-96 World Cup.What is the shortest completed Test match which saw at least 800 runs scored? asked Hariharasudhan Gunasekaran from India
The answer to your particular query is the second Test between England and Bangladesh in Chester-le-Street in 2005 – it was all done and dusted in 1144 balls (190.4 overs), with England winning by an innings after just 3.5 overs on the third morning. The previous Test, at Lord’s, was actually completed three balls quicker, but featured only 795 runs, so it just falls short of your qualification.If you remove the requirement for at least 800 runs to have been scored, there have been 53 Tests which ended in a positive result with fewer deliveries bowled than in that 2005 game. Fewest of all is the 656 balls (109.2 overs) it took for Australia (153) to defeat South Africa (36 and 45) on a rain-affected pitch in Melbourne in 1931-32.How many people have been stumped twice in the same Test? And did any of them bag a pair while doing it? asked Robin Davidson from England
There have now been 23 instances of a batter being stumped in both innings of a men’s Test. The first to suffer this fate was the England captain “Monkey” Hornby, against Australia at Old Trafford in 1884. The most recent instance was by Sikandar Raza, for Zimbabwe against Sri Lanka in Harare in 2019-20.It has also happened six times in women’s Tests, most recently to another England captain, Karen Smithies, against India in Shenley in 1999.Two of the men bagged a pair of ducks thanks to a brace of stumpings: the England spinner Bobby Peel, against Australia in Sydney in 1894-95, and the Zimbabwe fast bowler Christopher Mpofu, against New Zealand in Harare in August 2005. At the other end of the scale, India’s Rohit Sharma was stumped in both innings against South Africa in Visakhapatnam in October 2019 – but he’d scored 303 runs (176 and 127) so was probably not too upset.Dwayne Bravo went past Lasith Malinga’s tally of 170 career IPL wickets this season•BCCIDoes Lasith Malinga still lead the way for the most wickets in the IPL? asked Susil de Silva from Sri Lanka
The Sri Lanka fast bowler Lasith Malinga was on top of the IPL wicket-takers’ list for quite a few years – he finished in 2019 with 170 – but he’s been passed during this season’s competition by Dwayne Bravo of West Indies. As I write, he has 181; he went past Malinga when he dismissed Deepak Hooda during Chennai Super Kings’ match against Lucknow Super Giants in Mumbai on March 31.Among players who have also appeared in 2022, Yuzvendra Chahal (157 wickets), R Ashwin (152), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (151) and Sunil Narine (150) are not too far behind. Here’s the updated list of the leading IPL wicket-takers.Which Australian Test cricketer was nicknamed “Pythagoras” – and why? asked Chris McDonald from Australia
The man saddled with this strange sobriquet was opener John Rutherford, the first Western Australia representative to play a Test; he won one cap, against India in Bombay (now Mumbai) in 1956-57. Sadly, he died last week at the age of 92.Brydon Coverdale explained the genesis of Rutherford’s unusual nickname in this fascinating article in the Cricket Monthly in 2015. It seems the name arose from an incident on the boat taking the Australian team to Englnd for the Ashes in 1956: “Australia’s players were invited to the ship’s bridge, nothing but water in sight. Keith Miller wondered out loud how far it would be to the horizon. Rutherford responded: ‘Well, do we know how far we are above the water?’ A crew member worked out their elevation, Rutherford pulled out his travellers’ cheques and drew a diagram on the back, calculating the distance to the horizon. Miller says, ‘Christ, we’ve got bloody Pythagoras on board!’ Rutherford recalled, adding: ‘Well, I did have a degree in maths.'”Shiva Jayaraman of ESPNcricinfo’s stats team helped with some of the above answers.Use our feedback form, or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions