Also, declining the follow-on, most away hundreds, and stumped twice in a Test
Steven Lynch02-Aug-2016Have England – or anyone else – ever had a bigger lead than the 391 they had against Pakistan, and not enforced the follow-on?! asked Jared Kingsford from Australia
England have declined to enforce the follow-on on two occasions with a bigger lead than the 391 they had at Old Trafford last week. In Kingston in 1929-30 they led West Indies by 563, but still didn’t make them bat again, instead setting a target of 836. This was a timeless Test, so there was some logic behind the England captain Freddie Calthorpe’s apparently inhumane decision – although he still didn’t win, as West Indies had reached 408 for 5 when the match was left drawn after nine days as the England team had to catch the boat home. In another timeless Test, in Brisbane in 1928-29, England batted again despite a lead of 399 – and went on to win by a record 675 runs. The other two instances of a team not enforcing the follow-on despite a lead higher than 391 were both by Australia against England in recent years: in Brisbane in 2006-07 they led by 445 but batted again, while in Adelaide in 2013-14 they went in again despite being 398 in front on first innings. Australia won both Tests comfortably.Is R Ashwin the first Indian to score a hundred and take seven wickets in an innings in a Test? asked Sunitha Shetty from Bangladesh
With 113 and 7 for 83 against West Indies in Antigua last week, R Ashwin was indeed the first Indian – and only the third man from any country – to ally a seven-for to a century in the same Test. Ian Botham actually did it twice: he made 108 and took 8 for 34 against Pakistan at Lord’s in 1978, then in the Golden Jubilee Test against India in Bombay (now Mumbai) in 1979-80 he claimed 7 for 48 (and 6 for 58) to add to an innings of 114. The only other instance was by the old Australian allrounder Jack Gregory, with 100 and 7 for 69 against England in Melbourne in 1920-21. There have been several further instances of a bowler scoring a century and taking five wickets in an innings: Ashwin had done this before, against West Indies in Mumbai in 2011-12, and followed Vinoo Mankad (against England at Lord’s in 1952) and Polly Umrigar (v West Indies in Port-of-Spain in 1961-62) in achieving the feat for India.All ten Pakistan wickets in the first innings at Old Trafford were out caught. How often has this happened in Tests? asked Chris Goodwin from Italy
This isn’t terribly rare: as this list shows, there had been 68 previous occasions when all ten batsmen in a Test innings were caught. The first time it happened was in Australia’s second innings against England in Melbourne in 1903-04. The record number of catches in a single Test (both sides) is 33, by Australia (18) and India (15) in Perth in 1991-92.Sachin Tendulkar has scored 29 Test centuries away from home•Getty ImagesHas anyone been stumped in both innings of a Test? asked James Bourne from England
There have now been 19 instances of a batsman being stumped in both innings of a Test match. The most recent case was Kemar Roach of West Indies, stumped twice by Kusal Perera off Rangana Herath in Galle in October 2015. The one before that saw Zimbabwe’s Chris Mpofu collect a pair, also against Sri Lanka, in Harare in 2005. Those last two were at least tailenders: rather surprisingly, there have been two opening batsmen who were stumped in both innings as well! They were England’s Tom Hayward (against South Africa at Headingley in 1907) and Bert Sutcliffe of New Zealand (against West Indies in Christchurch in 1955-56).Who has scored the most centuries in Tests away from home? asked Mubbashir Hassan from Pakistan
Not surprisingly perhaps, the leader here is Test cricket’s overall leading run (and century) scorer, Sachin Tendulkar, who made 29 of his 51 Test hundreds outside India. Next come Rahul Dravid with 21, Jacques Kallis with 20, and Sunil Gavaskar with 18. Of current players Alastair Cook has scored 15 hundreds away from home, and Younis Khan 14 (this counts the UAE as home territory for Pakistan). Don Bradman made 11 centuries in just 19 overseas Tests, all of them in England, putting him ahead on percentage (just to compare, Tendulkar played 106 overseas Tests and Dravid 94). Given a qualification of 20 innings, Bradman averaged 102.84 in away Tests; Ken Barrington comes next with 69.18, then Wally Hammond with 66.32. After the first Test in Sri Lanka, Steve Smith averaged 59.78.Yasir Shah conceded 266 runs in the second Test at Old Trafford. Was this any kind of record? asked Stewart Allan from England
Yasir Shah comes in well down this particular table, the 266 runs he conceded at Old Trafford putting him equal 24th overall on a list headed by another legspinner, the West Indian Tommy Scott, who finished with match figures of 9 for 374 (5 for 266 and 4 for 108) against England in a timeless Test in Kingston in 1929-30. Only two Pakistanis have conceded more runs than Yasir’s 266 – Saqlain Mushtaq took 5 for 286 against Sri Lanka in Colombo in 1996-97, while Haseeb Ahsan, another offspinner, claimed 3 for 275 against West Indies in Georgetown in 1957-58. Only two bowlers have conceded more runs while taking only one wicket: slow left-armer Chuck Fleetwood-Smith took 1 for 298 (the record for one innings) as England ran up 903 for 7 against Australia at The Oval in 1938, while India’s Rajesh Chauhan finished with 1 for 276 in Colombo in 1997-98, as Sri Lanka broke that 1938 Test record by scoring 952 for 6.Send in your questions using our feedback form.
