Also: the most extras, the longest waits for hundreds, and the fastest Test centuries
Steven Lynch02-Jun-2015Is it right that the Lord’s Test produced more runs than any other one in which all 40 wickets fell? asked Keith Sandeman from England
Last week’s aggregate of 1610 runs was a new record for any Lord’s Test, beating the 1603 scored by England and India in 1990, a match which featured Graham Gooch’s double of 333 and 123. That in turn pipped the 1930 Ashes Test (1601 runs). There are actually four higher aggregates in Tests in which all 40 wickets fell: Australia v England in Adelaide in 1920-21 (1753 runs), Australia v South Africa in Adelaide 1910-11 (1646), and the Ashes Tests in Melbourne (1619) and Sydney (1611) in 1924-25. But those were all timeless matches – all Tests in Australia were played to a finish between 1882-83 and 1936-37 – so last week’s Lord’s game did produce the highest aggregate for a time-limited Test in which all 40 wickets fell. The overall record is the 1981 runs (for 35 wickets) amassed in the ten-day drawn Test between South Africa and England in Durban in 1938-39. For a full list of the highest Test aggregates, click here.Does Ben Stokes now hold the record for the fastest hundred in a Test at Lord’s? asked Jamie Stewart from Canada
He does: Ben Stokes reached his hundred at Lord’s from 85 balls, two faster than India’s captain Mohammad Azharuddin in 1990. The Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal comes next (94 balls in 2010). Only the famed hitter Gilbert Jessop, with a 76-ball ton against Australia at The Oval in 1902, has scored a faster century in any Test for England: Stokes shaded Ian Botham’s famous 1981 hundreds – from 86 balls at Old Trafford, and 87 at Headingley – to move into second place. We don’t have balls-faced information for many early Tests, but I don’t think there are any quicker ones lurking for England. For the list of fastest Test hundreds, click here.BJ Watling scored fifties in both innings at Lord’s. How many wicketkeepers have achieved this in Tests? asked Paul Davison from New Zealand
BJ Watling at Lord’s provided the 46th instance of the designated wicketkeeper reaching 50 twice in the same Test. It was the second time he had done it – he scored 63 in each innings against South Africa in Port Elizabeth in 2012-13. I suppose he’s a bit lucky to make the list again on this occasion, as he didn’t actually keep wicket for much of the time at Lord’s because of injury. Andy Flower made two fifties in a Test on no fewer than seven occasions; Alan Knott is next with five, ahead of MS Dhoni (four), and Matt Prior and Tatenda Taibu (three each). For the full list, click here.Gordon Greenidge: the only man to be out in the nineties in both innings of a Test on two occasions•Getty ImagesIn New Zealand’s first innings at Lord’s there were 26 byes and 34 leg byes, and 67 extras in all. Were any of those figures records? asked Vikas Vadgama from India
All those marks were high on their respective lists, without quite being records. The nearest was the leg-bye count: the record remains 35, conceded by England against South Africa at Edgbaston in 2008. There is another instance of 34, also at Edgbaston, by India against England in 2011. The previous-highest at Lord’s was 29 leg byes, conceded by Zimbabwe in 2000. For the full list, >click here.There have been 18 instances of more than 26 byes in a Test innings, the record being 37, conceded by England against Australia at The Oval in 1934. They did have an excuse: after an injury to the regular wicketkeeper Les Ames, the stand-in was Frank Woolley, who was 47. The Lord’s record remains 29 byes, by England against India in 1952. For that list, click here.And finally, 67 extras in an innings is a new record for any Test in England (previously 64, which had happened twice), but there have been four higher amounts overseas: the most anywhere is 76 extras (including 35 byes and 26 leg byes) in Pakistan’s total of 537 against India in Bangalore in 2007-08. For the overall list, click here.Elton Chigumbura scored his first hundred in his 174th one-day international. Has anyone taken longer to get to three figures? And does Anil Kumble hold the record for Tests? asked Azweer from India
Elton Chigumbura’s 117 for Zimbabwe against Pakistan in Lahore last week was his first century, in his 161st innings in his 174th one-day international. Two players took more innings to register their first ODI hundred: rather surprisingly, Steve Waugh did not make one until his 167th knock, while Shaun Pollock got there in his 190th innings. Three people needed more matches than Chigumbura: Waugh (187), Mark Boucher (220 matches but only 160 innings) and Pollock (285). Anil Kumble scored his one and only Test century in his 151st innings, in his 118th match, against England at The Oval in 2007; Chaminda Vaas needed 141 innings (97 Tests), and Harbhajan Singh 122 (88).I’ve seen a list of people who scored two centuries in a match. But has anyone ever made two nineties in the same Test? asked Nirmal Mendis from Sri Lanka
There have been five instances of a batsman being dismissed twice in the nineties in the same Test – and one man features on the list twice. The great West Indian opener Gordon Greenidge made 91 and 96 against Pakistan in Georgetown in 1976-77, and three seasons later made 91 and 97 against New Zealand in Christchurch. The first to do it was Clem Hill, with 98 and 97 for Australia against England in Adelaide in 1901-02; in his previous innings, in Melbourne, Hill had been out for 99. Frank Woolley made 95 and 93 for England against Australia at Lord’s in 1921, while Mahela Jayawardene scored 92 and 96 for Sri Lanka against New Zealand in Colombo in 2009. For the list of batsmen who have scored two centuries in the same Test, click here.
