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Also, centurion No. 8s, cricketers nicknamed “Stumpy”, and youngest List A players

Steven Lynch25-Feb-2014Was Brendon McCullum the first batsman to score a triple-century in the second innings of a Test? asked Carl Jameson from New Zealand

Brendon McCullum’s gutsy 302 against India in Wellington earlier this month was actually the second Test triple-century scored in a side’s second innings. The other one came in another epic rear guard, in Bridgetown in 1957-58: Hanif Mohammad made 337 in 970 minutes to save the match for Pakistan, who had followed on after collapsing to 106 all out in reply to West Indies’ towering 579. There was a near-miss in 1990-91, also in Wellington, when Martin Crowe was out for 299 in the second innings against Sri Lanka: that was New Zealand’s previous-highest individual Test score. There have now been 28 triple-centuries in Test cricket, and 26 of them have been scored in a team’s first innings of the match.Brendon McCullum followed up his 8 in the first innings at Wellington with 302 in the second. Is this difference of 294 the biggest between a player’s two innings scores in a Test? asked Priya Chopra from Hungary

Rather surprisingly perhaps, the difference between Brendon McCullum’s two innings against India in Wellington wasn’t a record. In the 1957-58 match against West Indies in Bridgetown mentioned above, Pakistan’s Hanif Mohammad scored 17 in the first innings before his 337 in the second, a difference of 320. And at Old Trafford in 1964, Australia’s Bob Simpson followed 311 in the first innings with 4 not out in the second.Jimmy Neesham scored a century on Test debut from No. 8 last week. Is this unique? asked Tam Morrison from New Zealand

Jimmy Neesham, against India in Wellington earlier this month, was the seventh No. 8 to score a century on Test debut, although his unbeaten 137 was the highest of all of them. Two of the others were also from New Zealand: by Bruce Taylor, against India in Calcutta (now Kolkata) in 1964-65, and Scott Styris, against West Indies in St George’s, Grenada, in 2002. The first to do it was Australia’s Roger Hartigan, against England in Adelaide in 1907-08, and he was followed by Deepak Shodhan (India v Pakistan in Calcutta in 1952-53), Azhar Mahmood (Pakistan v South Africa in Rawalpindi in 1997-98) and Thilan Samaraweera (Sri Lanka v India in Colombo, 2001-02). There have been two other debut centuries from even lower in the batting order: Reggie Duff (Australia v England in Melbourne in 1901-02) and Abul Hasan (Bangladesh v West Indies in Khulna in 2012-13) both came in at No. 10 (although Duff was a batsman – he usually opened – who was sent in late for tactical reasons). There have been no debut centuries from No. 9 or No. 11, although Ashton Agar came agonisingly close for Australia at Trent Bridge last year before finally falling for 98. The highest score by a No. 9 on debut is Balwinder Singh Sandhu’s 71 for India against Pakistan in Hyderabad (Sind) in 1982-83.Ireland beat West Indies in a Twenty20 match last week. Was this their first international win against a Test-playing country? asked Michael Seymour from Barbados

That victory in Kingston earlier this month was Ireland’s second against a Test-playing nation in Twenty20 internationals, following their defeat of Bangladesh at Trent Bridge during the World Twenty20 in 2009. Ireland have also won five 50-over one-day internationals against Test opposition, including famous victories over Pakistan in the 2007 World Cup (also in Kingston) and England in the 2011 one (when they chased down a target of 328 in Bangalore). Ireland have also beaten Bangladesh twice – in the 2007 World Cup in Bridgetown, and in Belfast in 2010 – and Zimbabwe once (in Harare in September 2010).Which international cricketer was known as “Stumpy”? asked Jeremy Arnold from England

I played for years alongside a wicketkeeper whose nickname was “Stumps”, but sadly he never quite made it to international cricket. “Stumpy” was also the name of the elephant mascot for the 2011 World Cup. I suspect quite a few players may have had this moniker bestowed upon them over the years, but the one I heard it applied to most often was Bruce Laird, the Western Australian opener who played 21 Tests between 1979-80 and 1982-83. He never quite managed a Test century, although he had scored three in the tough World Series Cricket “Supertests” before he won his first official cap. I think the nickname was also sometimes applied to David Boon, another stocky Australian batsman (and glowering short leg). He was more usually known as “Boonie”, but was occasionally called Stumpy because of his short stature. It meant that for a while, when he went in first with Geoff Marsh, Australia’s batting was opened by Stumpy and Swampy.Matthew Fisher played for Yorkshire in last season’s YB40 aged only 15. Is he the youngest List A cricketer ever? asked Kirk Norrington from Sheffield

Matthew Fisher – who has just done well for England in the Under-19 World Cup – was only 15 years 212 days old when he played for Yorkshire against Leicestershire in the YB40 (the English counties’ 40-over competition) in Scarborough last June. He became the youngest to appear for a county in a List A (senior one-day) match – but not quite the youngest in English cricket overall, as Peter Wilshaw – a batsman who later played for Oxford UCCE – was only 15 years 45 days old when he played for the Nottinghamshire Cricket Board against Cumberland in the C&G Trophy in Keswick in August 2002. This was during a brief period when the county 50-over competition was broadened to include recreational Board XIs as well as the first-class and minor counties: five of the seven youngest players in English List A matches represented the Nottinghamshire Cricket Board in that competition between 2000 and 2003. Two of them went on to bigger things, in the form of good county careers – batsman Bilal Shafayat and fast bowler Mark Footitt.

ESPNcricinfo presents the plays of the day from Dhaka

Abhishek Purohit in Dhaka23-Mar-2014The confusion
It is usually reporters facing deadlines who get stressed when there is confusion over the score at the end of an innings. This time, they had company, from the teams and the umpires, as the start of India’s chase was delayed to determine whether West Indies had made 129 for 130. That took more than ten minutes. The source of confusion was what was ultimately deemed an extra single credited to West Indies for crossing over when Lendl Simmons was caught off what was called a no-ball on review. It was surreal for fans and awkward for the organisers as the players and umpires chatted away in the middle when they should have restarted some time ago.The start
Dwayne Smith’s innings was an excruciatingly troubled existence at the crease, his 11 taking 29 deliveries. The signs were there as early as the first over. First ball, he pushed at a Bhuvneshwar Kumar outswinger and was beaten. Second ball, he tried to drive another outswinger and was beaten again. He put bat – at least some of it – to ball on the third attempt but the edge fell short of the wicketkeeper.The anti-climax
The crowd had instantly broken into a roar when Chris Gayle’s face was flashed on the giant screen as the teams lined up for the anthems, expecting the man to entertain them later. They were made to wait and wait. Gayle’s approach of batting himself in at the start of a T20 innings is now well known. It seemed to be another of those days – although he also struggled to middle the ball – when he trotted to 34 off 33. But even as the crowd waited for release, their hopes were dashed when Gayle was run-out by yards, responding slowly after Marlon Samuels cut one behind point and set off for a single.The catch
India put down Gayle twice, and R Ashwin was the culprit on the first instance, at first slip. Ashwin came back from that blip to end Smith’s crawl in the eighth over. A clueless Smith popped one in the air towards vacant short mid-off. Ashwin is a slow mover but he did well to keep his sights on the ball and even as it was dying on him, dived to cover a lot of ground and pluck it low.

Wahab Riaz, the Pakistan left-arm quick, on the pain of missing out on a ten-for, and his love for numbers and batting

Interview by Jack Wilson12-Apr-2014Talk us through your Test debut – taking five wickets against England.
It was a dream come true, because I was making a comeback after two years and I wanted to prove myself. I couldn’t sleep the night before. I was thinking, “I need to get a five-wicket haul”. And it happened.With your last game for Pakistan coming in November last year, where do you see your international career now?
I think I have a long and very successful career ahead of me. I’m working harder to come back with a bang.You came so close to taking all ten wickets in an innings with your 9 for 59 for Lahore Shalimar. Tell us about that.
I was very frustrated. I had already got eight wickets and I had been bowling for two and a half hours continuously. Suddenly Aizaz Cheema bowled a guy out and I was like, that’s the end of the world for me! I had worked so hard for it.Are you a big stats man?
Yes, I always take notice of the stats. Even while bowling in domestic games, I remember my stats.What has been the highlight of your career?
My 5 for 46 in the 2011 World Cup semi-final against India.What has been the best ball you have ever bowled?
The yorker to Yuvraj Singh in that game.That delivery was quick, 92mph. What is your secret to bowling fast?
My approach towards the game is this: I don’t like to be hit for boundaries by the batsman and my aggression really pumps me up to bowl fast. I love to take the batsman on.You strike me as a guy who loves your batting. Am I right?
I love my batting a lot. I love to strike the ball hard and always want to play my shots. I’m working hard on it and I want to perform consistently with the bat.Who have you found the toughest batsman to bowl at?
AB de Villiers. He is a guy with a lot of shots in him. He has the ability to play extraordinary strokes.Who is the best Pakistani quick bowler to have played the game?
Wasim Akram. He is the king of bowling.At what point did you know you were good enough to have a career in cricket?
It was after playing five years of first-class cricket. My team-mates and friends had belief in me, and I was bowling in every difficult situation.Who is the funniest man in cricket?
Raza Hasan.Which one rule in cricket would you love to change?
We should have five fielders outside the 30-yard circle in ODIs.Give us the name of a Pakistani youngster to look out for, who is destined to have a big future.
Umar Amin. He is very talented and has the ability to be a world-class player.Tell us one thing we don’t know about you.
I love to go out with my friends every other day.

With Robiul Islam having regressed as a bowler, Bangladesh have been left in lurch to find an appropriate bowling-attack leader against Zimbabwe

Mohammad Isam20-Oct-2014Robiul Islam’s banana outswingers regularly beating the bat, Brendan Taylor’s runs and umpiring errors were the recurring themes of the last Test series between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. While Taylor has remained at the helm in Zimbabwe’s Test team and the BCB has added DRS to help the umpires, Robiul will be a mere spectator in the first Test in Dhaka.The Bangladesh pace attack bowled at the Shere Bangla National Stadium’s centre wicket on the first day of training (except Al-Amin Hossain, who was in Chennai doing his action test), but Robiul, on his 28th birthday, was in Fatullah, playing for the BCB XI against the visitors. He took one wicket, a beautiful inswinger that nipped through Vusi Sibanda’s defence. In the last Test series against Zimbabwe, he dismissed the same batsman thrice; two times, he had Sibanda bowled – a yorker and a perfect outswinger that took the offstump – and caught behind once.In that series, in April 2013, Robiul bowled 110 overs and picked up 15 wickets. It is the most wickets taken and most overs bowled by a Bangladeshi pace bowler in a Test series. Robiul was adjudged man of the series, another first for a Bangladeshi pace bowler. Mushfiqur Rahim kept throwing the ball at him, and Robiul kept beating the bat and picked up a wicket every 44 balls.In the last 18 months, Robiul has regressed as a bowler and it is evident in the numbers. He has played only three Test matches out of a possible six, missing one due to injury, one due to a change in team combination and the last one for being a second option. Bangladesh’s bowling coach Heath Streak has seen the downward trend. Streak said he wants Robiul to convince the selectors, who have hitherto backed him, that he is still hungry for a place in the team.”I think he is a very talented player,” Streak said. “I don’t think his conditioning, execution of his skills and current form is the same as the Robiul Islam I saw in Zimbabwe. He has a big role to play in the future and we are looking at him. He has to work hard and show selectors that he is still hungry to play Test cricket. If we can get a fit and consistent Robiul Islam, it is a very big plus for Bangladesh cricket.”Soon after returning from Zimbabwe, he injured his hamstring and quadriceps, recovery from which took several months. He was half-fit against New Zealand last year, and was promptly sidelined in the second Test. In January this year, he was dumped after going wicketless in the first Test against Sri Lanka, bowling 29 insipid overs with few deliveries bending or curving past the batsmen.Robiul picked up two wickets in Bangladesh’s last Test match, against West Indies last month, after Al-Amin Hossain and Rubel Hossain were considered the first-choice. But when given the chance, Robiul was indifferent to the first day conditions, which were conducive to swing and seam bowling. He improved on the second day but by then he had done enough to warrant an “out of form” tag, which put him out of the selectors’ favour for the Test starting in five days.He has taken 20 wickets in nine first-class games since April last year. But while it is easier to blame the player for being out of form, the team management has shown less patience with Robiul than someone like Rubel Hossain who has always struggled to take wickets in Test matches. Having considered Robiul as the lead of their attack after his exploits in Zimbabwe, he has not been given due time to resurrect his bowling form in any of the three series since then.Crucially, the three other pace bowlers who have played ahead and around him during this period, also haven’t performed any better. Granted they were playing in unhelpful conditions for two out of the three series but Rubel, Al-Amin Hossain and Shafiul Islam can only be termed steady at best.By not picking Robiul regularly and considering him as a second option, the team management perhaps unwittingly pushed the selectors to drop him from the Test squad altogether this time. Now, there is no longer a stability in the Bangladesh pace attack. No one is sure who is leading the attack.Among those picked to play against Zimbabwe in the first Test, the numbers do not back Rubel as a bowling-attack leader, Al-Amin is still working on his bowling action, while Shafiul Islam is yet to leave a mark at the Test stage. Shahadat Hossain has returned after nearly two years and age and experience-wise, he should be leading the attack. Without Robiul, Bangladesh are a poorer side.

Plays of the day from the fourth ODI between New Zealand and Sri Lanka in Nelson

Andrew Fidel Fernando20-Jan-2015The exchange
Umpire Ian Gould was unflustered during a heated run-in with several Sri Lanka players in the Hamilton match, and his deadpan was in fine form in Nelson as well, when Kumar Sangakkara made a remark early in the match. Sangakkara was displeased that a bouncer from Mitchell McClenaghan was not called a wide, despite it seemingly having passed well over Tillakaratne Dilshan’s head, and told Gould that the square-leg umpire had signaled the ball should be a wide. “Did he?” was Gould’s reaction, as he went about his normal business. When Sangakkara replied with “yes,” Gould’s response of “Shit!” was dripping sarcasm. Not once during the exchange did the umpire make eye-contact with the batsman. Not once did he seem remotely interested in changing his decision.The salmon leap
Brendon McCullum had already taken a diving catch to dismiss Thisara Perera, but he outdid himself for agility in the final over when he sought to take a catch off Nuwan Kulasekara. The batsman had drilled the ball high to McCullum’s right, at mid-off, but he was immediately in the air, both heels kicked up, and reaching out horizontally to clasp the ball in two hands. He wasn’t able to hold on, as he fell back to earth, but had quickly got a throw away to the bowler, who still managed to run Kulasekara out.The shave
Pod shaving is said to be a dying art among batmakers in the world, but Rangana Herath did his bit to keep tradition alive when he made Kane Williamson’s bat lighter by a few milligrams using his boot. Grant Elliott pushed one slightly towards mid on in the 32nd over, and in his haste to cut the ball off, Herath stood on the face of Williamson’s blade, as the non-striker grounded it behind the crease. Herath apologised and went to inspect the bat soon after, to find his spikes had carved two lines into it.The stroke
Mahela Jayawardene played several gorgeous strokes during his 94, but the best piece of timing came perhaps from Martin Guptill’s blade in the sixth over of New Zealand’s innings. Angelo Mathews had bowled tightly during his new ball spell, but the moment he pitched it fractionally too full, Guptill took a long stride down the pitch, and with masterful control, lifted the ball high over the long-off rope for six.

A look at how the eight teams stack up for the USACA T20 National Championship

Peter Della Penna02-Apr-2015

Group A

Central East
The squad wound up on the receiving end of some very harsh beatings in last year’s tournament. On paper, they have the weakest team in the group mainly owing to a lack of overall depth. At the top of the order, they are led by captain Fahad Babar, who was USA’s leading scorer at last October’s ICC WCL Division Three in Malaysia. Central East also hold one of the country’s best slow bowlers in offspinner Muhammad Ghous. They are also boosted by the presence of former USA wicketkeeper Ashhar Mehdi, but they will be heavily dependent on Babar to keep them competitive in matches.Central West Central West competed hard at this tournament in 2014 but ultimately ended winless. They may find it hard going again this year with Usman Shuja and Orlando Baker absent. The region’s talent drain took another big hit with the retirement of Sushil Nadkarni and the departure of young allrounder Ryan Corns, who has relocated to Australia. On the plus side, they have former Tamil Nadi Ranji Trophy representative Dhandapani Devarasan back for the second year in a row. The squad also contains the promising fast bowler Shuja Naqvi, who spent the winter training in Australia at the Darren Lehmann Academy. They’ll be coached once again by former Pakistan international Asif Mujtaba.New YorkDespite being without Massiah and Marshall, New York are traditionally rich with talent and still remain a contender. Adam Sanford, who took three wickets in the curtailed final, is missing this year but has been replaced in the squad by another former West Indies Test bowler in Jermaine Lawson. Current USA allrounder Karan Ganesh should play a key role in their fortunes while Akeem Dodson, Barrington Bartley, Nicholas Standford and the big hitting Quasen Alfred will all be pushing hard to get back into the USA squad for next month.USA Development XIThis squad is a mixed bag. It features several Los Angeles area talents including last year’s USACA T20 Nationals MVP, Nisarg Patel. Former Gujarat legspinner Timil Patel, who toured with USA in Malaysia last year, is also a key component and can provide middle-order runs as well. Two players to keep an eye on who are consistently on the doorstep to selection are fast bowlers Jasdeep Singh, who impressed last year with the Central West, and Hammad Shahid.

Group B

AtlanticAtlantic boast one of the better bowling attacks in the tournament, including two good spinners in Ryan Persaud and Danial Ahmed, as well as experienced pacers in Imran Awan and Adil Bhatti. Their batting, which was slightly weak last year, is boosted by the addition of former USA international Andy Mohammed. Charan Singh and Raj Bhavsar will be eager to build on encouraging performances they had in 2014.North EastThe weakest team in Group B, they may wind up going winless with a squad that is largely inexperienced. Hard-hitting Sharaz Baksh and former Karnataka player Aditya Mishra, their opening combo from last year, are not in this year’s traveling party with Mishra now playing for North West. The squad does have a few players with the ability to clear the ropes in captain Twain Walter, Akil Husbands and Jonathan Bonner but the deck will be stacked against them.North WestAfter finishing with two wins from three games last year, North West have gotten much stronger and enter as the clear tournament favorites. Two major additions to the team are wicketkeeper Ritesh Kadu, who played last year for South West, and Mishra, who turned out for the North East in 2014. They are the two players with the best chances of filling the vacancies left in the USA squad by the retirements of Nadkarni and Aditya Thyagarajan. The team is a phenomenal fielding group and has outstanding depth with captain Srini Santhanam, Pranay Suri, Saqib Saleem, Krish Goel, Pranay Suri, Naseer Jamali, Vibhav Altekar all having represented USA at junior or senior level.South EastBehind the solid captaincy of Japen Patel, South East made a surprising run to the final in 2014. Anything less than a semifinal spot would be a disappointment with the core of last year’s team returning. Besides the explosive Steven Taylor, the team also boasts a solid crew of young talent in Dunae Nathaniel, Shaquille Forbes, Kushal Ganji and Omari Williams. While they will miss last year’s USACA T20 leading wicket-taker, former Windward Islands legspinner Camilus Alexander, the squad’s batting strength is enhanced by the return of opener Timothy Surujbally.

Amid a hostile atmosphere at the SCG, Mitchell Johnson’s blows with bat and ball sent Australia soaring into the World Cup final

Daniel Brettig at the SCG26-Mar-2015Mitchell Johnson walked to the wicket at a moment when the SCG was more Pune than Paddington. Shane Watson had holed out to deep square leg, the Australia innings had stalled at the death and India supporters were rejoicing in anticipation of chasing something in the region of 310. A few overs before, the hosts and heavy favourites had been 232 for 2 and galloping, but now the quieter home contingent of supporters might easily have been in a library, so silent they had become.In years gone past, Johnson had been unnerved by crowds. In England his brain and limbs were so scrambled by personal taunts relating to his family that he went into something of a meltdown at Lord’s, just a few months from displays in lower-profile South African climes that led to him being named ICC cricketer of 2009. At this very SCG in January 2011 he was heckled all the way to the wicket and laughed all the way back, bowled by Chris Tremlett for a first-ball duck.This time Johnson walked out into a similarly intimidating tumult, knowing that Australia did not have enough runs and there was precious little time left to get them. They needed a late burst and Johnson took it upon himself to provide it. He had only faced 11 balls all tournament, six weeks in all, and been dismissed by two of them. Somehow Johnson found a way to cajole his first three balls, from Mohammad Shami, to the boundary.In the final over Johnson struck again, clattering Mohit Sharma’s fourth and fifth balls for four over mid-off and then for six beyond wide long on. He walked off with 27 runs from nine balls to his name, and Australia had the sprint finish they so badly needed. Arguably, Johnson had just made his most pivotal contribution so far of a tournament at which he has sat behind Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood as the team’s third paceman.It was after Australia’s reboot following the loss to New Zealand in Auckland that Johnson assumed the role of first-change bowler. He had been battered by Brendon McCullum with the new ball at Eden Park, though getting some of his own back by bruising New Zealand’s captain with one of the few balls he put where he wanted. Instead of setting the agenda, Johnson would exploit gaps opened up by Starc and Hazlewood or probe for his own should they fail to strike early.

Johnson bored in on Kohli and the vital extra kilometres of pace he had been missing in his last Test match meeting with India proved the undoing of their No. 3

The tactic did not work against Sri Lanka in Sydney, when Tillakaratne Dilshan pulled off the trick of cuffing Johnson for boundaries every ball of an over. But there were no protests, no expressions of irritation that he did not get the new ball, and no sulks. Johnson was here to help win the tournament in whatever way he could. The runs at the back end of Australia’s innings against India proved that beyond doubt, but he would add two spinal wickets to their number before the night was out.During the India Tests, Johnson had slipped back a gear or two in pace as an acknowledgement of how flat the wickets were and how Australia needed him to bowl longer spells. It was an exhausted Johnson who was withdrawn from the team for the final Test with a minor hamstring strain, but also one who knew he could be faster again later in the summer. At the SCG it was his pace that would provide the difference Australia so desperately needed after Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan had made a fine start.While Josh Hazlewood accounted for Dhawan, Johnson bored in on Virat Kohli, and the vital extra few kilometres of pace he had been missing in his last Test match meeting with India at the MCG proved the undoing of their No. 3. In December, Kohli had hooked and pulled Johnson with something like impunity. In the late March he was surprised to find the ball arrived faster and higher than before, a skied top edge plopping gently into Brad Haddin’s gloves.Next over, Rohit was intent on regaining momentum lost by the earlier wickets. One short ball was swung lustily for six in front of square, returning the crowd to the ecstasy of late afternoon. Johnson, though, was as focused as when he walked out to bat. Unable to summon swing, he instead looked for variation off the pitch, bowling a delivery cross-seam that skidded on while deviating just enough to catch Rohit’s inside edge and his leg bail. That cheer for the six became a more guttural roar for the wicket.Like the runs, these wickets were brief moments in a wider narrative. But they were as central to the tale as anything longer lasting. Michael Clarke said as much after the match, marvelling at Johnson’s resolution but also pointing out how he has been steeled by past experiences, whether they be in England, Sydney or two previous World Cup campaigns.”I’ve always said Mitchell making runs gives him confidence with the ball, I think tonight was a good example of that,” Clarke said. “Mitch is a class performer. He probably hasn’t had the standout tournament everybody expects of him all the time, because he’s such a great performer you expect him to take five wickets every time he walks out on the field. But I think he’s done a fantastic job for this team throughout this tournament.”He’s a wicket-taker, he’s an X-factor, but he’s got experience under pressure now. So a dangerous weapon to have. He’s an example of someone who always puts the team first – he would love to open the bowling but he knows it’s best for the team at the moment that he bowls first change. He hasn’t blinked once at it, it doesn’t bother him. He wants to win, that’s what’s most important.”Bowling first change, facing a raucous Indian crowd, pondering elimination, tiring at the end of a long summer. None of this fazed Johnson, as he made a contribution every one of his team-mates will remember. By the end of the night it felt once more like Australia’s home World Cup, and Johnson had played large part in making it so.

Also: making 600 and not winning, and lopsided contributions in a team’s innings

Steven Lynch19-May-2015When Kevin Pietersen made his triple-century, the next-highest score was just 36. Was this a record? asked Richard Maxwell from England

While Kevin Pietersen was amassing that remarkable 355 not out against Leicestershire at The Oval last week, the next-highest score was Kumar Sangakkara’s 36. As it turns out, there have been three lower second-highest contributions to a first-class innings that contained a triple-century. When Vijay Hazare made 309 not out for Hindus against the Rest in the final of the Bombay Pentangular tournament at the Brabourne Stadium in December 1943, his brother Vivek made just 21: they put on 300 for the sixth wicket – and still lost by an innings. Vivek’s 21 took him five and a half hours: “He blocked every ball and proved immovable,” wrote Vijay. “Even Trevor Bailey could have taken his correspondence course!” When the New Zealander Bert Sutcliffe scored 385 for Otago against Canterbury in Christchurch in a match that started on Christmas Day 1952, the next-best was Alan Gilbertson’s 29; and as VVS Laxman piled up 301 not out for Hyderabad against Bihar in Jamshedpur in 1997-98, the second-highest score was Daniel Manohar’s 35. The biggest discrepancy between the highest score of an innings and the next-biggest is 396 runs, when Hanif Mohammad made 499 and Wallis Mathias 103 for Karachi against Bahawalpur in Karachi in 1958-59.I noticed that Gubby Allen had 99 not out when the innings was declared during a first-class match in 1952. Who was the captain who did this? asked Tushar Trivedi from India

The match you’re talking about was Oxford University’s game against the Free Foresters in the Parks in 1952. Wisden didn’t identify captains back then, and their match report doesn’t help. Allen, the former England captain, was a month short of his 50th birthday at the time, and was already a major presence in the Lord’s committee-rooms – so at first I thought he must have been captain himself, as no one else would have dared to declare on him! But EW Swanton’s biography of Allen, Man of Cricket (1985), explains what happened: “Following rain on the first day, Errol Holmes announced that he would have to declare, come what may, on the second at lunch, which found Gubby looking helplessly on at the non-striker’s end, not out 99.” Holmes, who had previously captained Surrey, played five Tests himself in the 1930s. Allen made amends the following year with 143 not out – his last first-class hundred – for the Free Foresters against Cambridge University at Fenner’s. In this year’s Sri Lanka Premier League tournament, Tamil Union managed to score 530 for 6 on the first day against Air Force. Was this the highest first-class total in one day? asked Uwaisul Karnain from Sri Lanka

This achievement by Tamil Union came on the way to a total of 650 for 8 and an eventual huge victory over the Air Force in Katunayake in February. But although it was a fine effort, it was some way short of the first-class record: there have been no fewer than 52 instances of a day’s play in a first-class match containing 600 or more runs. The overall record is the amazing 721 runs piled up by Don Bradman’s Invincibles on the first day of the Australians’ tour match against Essex in Southend-on-Sea in 1948. Bradman led the way himself with 187 in 125 minutes, and there were three other centuries.Hannan Sarkar: following in Sunil Gavaskar’s footsteps?•Getty ImagesRegarding your recent answer about Frank Worrell being out the same way twice for 65 in a Test – is the highest instance in first-class cricket Geoff Boycott’s “bowled Harper 87” twice in 1980-81, something I remember being struck by at the time? asked Charles Barr from England

That’s a good spot, as it turns out that that is indeed the first-class record for identical dismissals in the same match: Geoff Boycott was bowled by Roger Harper for 87 in both innings of England’s warm-up game against a West Indies Board President’s XI in Pointe-a-Pierre in Trinidad at the start of their 1980-81 tour of the Caribbean. Offspinner (and ace fielder) Harper, who went on to have a distinguished career for West Indies – 25 Tests and 105 ODIs – was only 17 at the time. I had to check the facts with Philip Bailey, Wisden’s statistician, who confirmed: “That is the first-class record, assuming you don’t count not out – both Arthur “Ticker” Mitchell and Zaheer Abbas made 100* in each innings of a game.” Have Pakistan ever failed to win a Test before after scoring more than 600 runs in their first innings, as they did in Khulna? asked Margareth Schipper from Belgium

Pakistan’s 628 in the recent first Test against Bangladesh in Khulna was the 14th time they had amassed 600 or more in the first innings of a Test, and the tenth time they had failed to press home a victory. They have actually won only four Tests after making 600: innings victories over Sri Lanka in Galle in 2000, New Zealand in Lahore in 2002, and England in Lahore in 2005-06, plus a ten-wicket win over India in Faisalabad in 1982-83.Does Sunil Gavaskar hold the record of being out first ball of a Test three times? asked Krishna Darooka from the USA

Sunil Gavaskar was dismissed by the very first ball of a Test match on three occasions – by England’s Geoff Arnold at Edgbaston in 1974, in Calcutta (now Kolkata) by Malcolm Marshall of West Indies in 1983-84, and by Imran Khan against Pakistan in Jaipur in 1986-87. Gavaskar played 125 Tests in all, so he can probably be forgiven those three lapses. But he’s not unique: his feat was matched by the Bangladesh opener Hannan Sarkar, who won rather fewer caps – just 17. Four of them came against West Indies, and in three of those – bowled in Dhaka in 2002-03, and lbw in St Lucia and in Kingston in 2004 – the unfortunate Sarkar was dismissed first ball by the left-arm fast bowler Pedro Collins. No one else has been dismissed by the first ball of a Test match more than once. For the full list, click here.

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Jul-2015Both Ajinkya Rahane and M Vijay completed their fifties before Chamu Chibhabha dismissed Rahane for 63•Associated PressVijay looked on course of a big score and looked fluent with his stroke-play…•Associated PressBut he was caught at deep backward square leg in the 34th over, after making 72, his highest ODI score•Associated PressNeville Madziva managed a few late strikes to finish with 4 for 49, but Stuart Binny, Kedar Jadhav and Ambati Rayudu pushed India to 271 for 8•Getty ImagesZimbabwe didn’t start well in the chase, losing three wickets within 11 overs. However, Chamu Chibhabha held one end up with his 72•Getty ImagesChibhabha was run out in the 32nd over which worsened things for Zimbabwe. Richmond Mutumbami and Graeme Cremer put on a 52-run stand but soon Zimbabwe were 195 for 9•Associated PressIndia bowled Zimbabwe out for 209, completing an easy 62-run win and thereby taking an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series•Getty Images

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Oct-2015Richmond Mutumbami was promoted to open, and was struck by a Mohammad Irfan bouncer, but managed a gutsy 67 off 85•AFPBut after an opening stand of 89, Zimbabwe crumbled. Offspinner Bilal Asif took 5 for 25, his first five-wicket haul•Associated PressPakistan’s pacers kept up the hostility as well and Zimbabwe crumbled to 161 all out•Associated PressAsad Shafiq held firm after an opening stand of 58 from Bilal and Ahmed Shehzad•AFPAnd Shoaib Malik continued his rich vein of form to seal Pakistan’s seven-wicket victory, and the series 2-1•AFP