The regular Monday column in which Steven Lynch answers your questions about (almost) any aspect of cricket
Steven Lynch12-Jun-2006The regular Monday column in which Steven Lynch answers your questions about (almost) any aspect of cricket:
Even with Warne around, MacGill has often been the main man © AFP
Is it true that Stuart MacGill has outbowled Shane Warne in the matches they have played together? asked Aaron Thomas from Melbourne
It is true, although there isn’t an awful lot in it. The two legspinners have played together in 16 Tests – five of them at Sydney – and Stuart MacGill has taken 82 wickets at 22.11 in those matches. Shane Warne has taken 74 wickets at 29.57 in the same games. MacGill shades Warne on strike rate, too – a wicket every 41.7 balls in those matches, while Warne struck once every 56.6 balls. MacGill’s best bowling is 8 for 108 against Bangladesh at Fatullah in 2005-06, while Warne’s best return when MacGill has been on the same side is 6 for 80 against West Indies at Adelaide, also in 2005-06.Who scored two different centuries on successive days in a Test match? asked Gokul Sudhakar from Delhi
Vijay Hazare, the prolific Indian batsman, did this in the fourth Test against Australia at Adelaide in 1947-48. On the third day Hazare made 108 of his eventual 116, then, on the fourth day, moved to 108 as India followed on. He was out on the fifth day for 145. It was quite a match for Hazare – he also dismissed Don Bradman, although he had made 201 before Hazare managed to bowl him.I know that Murali holds the record for five-fors in Tests – but who holds the ODI record? asked Asela from Sri Lanka
The man with the most five-wicket hauls in one-day internationals is Pakistan’s Waqar Younis, with 13. Muttiah Muralitharan comes next with eight, ahead of Glenn McGrath (seven), Lance Klusener, Saqlain Mushtaq and Wasim Akram (all six). For a list of the leading wicket-takers in ODIs, click here. You’re right that Murali leads the way in Tests, with 53 five-wicket bags in 106 Tests – exactly one every two matches – well ahead of Richard Hadlee and Shane Warne, who have both taken five or more in an innings on 36 occasions.Who has made the highest Test score for and against Bangladesh? asked Mohammad Imran from Dhaka
The highest individual innings for Bangladesh in their 44 Tests to date is 158 not out, by Mohammad Ashraful against India at Chittagong in 2004-05. Ashraful has made three of Bangladesh’s 12 Test centuries so far, a record he shares with his captain Habibul Bashar. The highest score against them is 261 not out, by Ramnaresh Sarwan for West Indies at Kingston in June 2004.Apparently the five players who have appeared in most Sheffield Shield/Pura Cup matches have only seven Test caps between them. Who are they? asked Graham Frost from Australia
Jamie Cox of Tasmania has played in more matches in Australia’s premier domestic competition than anyone else, with 161 appearances. He went past John Inverarity’s old record of 159 Shield appearances during 2005-06. Next up at the moment come Jamie Siddons (146 matches), Stuart Law (142) and Darren Berry (139). The top five did indeed win seven Test caps between them – and Inverarity accounts for six of those. Law won the other one. Darren Lehmann has currently played 137 such matches, so is likely to move up the table during the forthcoming Australian season. For a full list, click here.Who called his autobiography Perchance to Bowl? I’m guessing it was a wicketkeeper! asked Jamie McDonald from Cardiff
You’re right, it was indeed a wicketkeeper: John Waite, the first South African to win 50 Test caps. Waite made his debut on the 1951 tour of England, and played on till 1964-65, scoring 2405 runs in addition to making 141 dismissals behind the stumps. His book was published in 1961.And there are some possible additions to last week’s item on reverse-swept sixes:
Anthony Bull writes: “I am pretty certain that Craig McMillan did it against Pakistan in New Zealand in the Test where he set the record for runs in one over. Not sure of the other details.” Gareth Kiernan, also from NZ, adds: “Craig McMillan reverse-pulled Daniel Vettori for six in the Shell Cup semi-final in 1999, having reverse-swept him for four the previous ball. He was into position so quickly for the pull shot that it went over point.” Somesh Verma from Nepal ventures: “Andy Flower, on an India tour, hit four sixes, all through reverse-sweeps, in one of the Test innings.” [These might have been fours: Flower never hit more than two sixes in a Test innings in India – SL.]Fahim Khondekhar has another Flower story: “Andy Flower was playing an ING Cup game in Australia and while in the nineties he reverse-swept the bowler for six. What was amazing was his first attempt just barely cleared the fielder at square leg, and instead of losing courage he attempted it again the very next ball. Nice way to bring up your hundred.” John van der Westhuizen writes on behalf of a fellow South African: “When West Indies toured South Africa in 1998, they lost the Test series 5-0. On his way to a second-innings century, I saw Jonty Rhodes reverse-sweep a six in the Centurion Test, the last of the series.” Shanthal Perera writes from America: “Brian McMillan reverse-swept Murali, I think for a six, in one of the group matches in the one-day tournament in Kenya in 1996-97.” Rajesh Mehta has a slightly different memory: “During the first four-nations tournament in Kenya in 1996-97, I remember Brian McMillan of South Africa reverse-sweeping Sanath Jayasuriya for a six at the Nairobi Club.” And Andrew Schwilk from Australia concludes: “I can recall Darren Gough reverse-pulling Gavin Robertson for six in a one-dayer at the MCG, which is no mean feat.”
