Also: highest scores by captains and keepers in the Ashes, and making the most runs in the fourth innings
Steven Lynch14-Jul-2015I spotted from Curtly Ambrose’s recent autobiography that he dismissed Graeme Hick in six successive Test innings in 1991. Was this a record? asked Graham Matthews from England
That spell against the irresistible Sir Curtly came in Graeme Hick’s maiden Test series in 1991 – he fell to Ambrose six successive times from the second innings of his debut at Headingley. No one has ever been out more times in a row to the same bowler, but there are six other cases of six. The first was suffered by England’s Walter Read, dismissed six times out of six by Charlie “The Terror” Turner of Australia during 1888. It didn’t occur again for nearly a century till, in 1982-83, the Indian batsman Dilip Vengsarkar fell to Imran Khan six times running against Pakistan. And then it happened to Greg Matthews in 1985-86, out to Richard Hadlee in all six innings of Australia’s home series against New Zealand; to Kris Srikkanth for India in Pakistan in 1989-90 (bowler Wasim Akram); to Daren Ganga for West Indies in South Africa in 1998-99 (Shaun Pollock) and Matthew Hayden for Australia in all six innings in South Africa in 2005-06 (Makhaya Ntini).What’s the highest score by a captain in an Ashes Test? And a wicketkeeper? asked Matthew Gentleman from the USA
The only triple-century by a captain in an Ashes Test remains Bob Simpson’s 311 for Australia in a bore-draw at Old Trafford in 1964. Next comes Don Bradman’s match-turning 270 in Melbourne in 1936-37, and then Wally Hammond’s 240 for England at Lord’s in 1938. Bradman made two more double-centuries as captain (212 in Adelaide in 1936-37, and 234 in Sydney in 1946-47) and Simpson one (225 in Adelaide in 1965-66), and they are joined by David Gower (215 for England at Edgbaston in 1985), Billy Murdoch (211 for Australia at The Oval in 1884, the first Test double-century of all), and Allan Border (200 not out for Australia at Headingley in 1993). The highest score by a wicketkeeper is Adam Gilchrist’s 152 at Edgbaston in 2001; another Australian, Brad Haddin, comes next with 136 in Brisbane in 2010-11. That’s one better than England’s best, Alan Knott’s 135 at Trent Bridge in 1977. Just in case you meant the highest score by a wicketkeeper-captain, that remains Jack Blackham’s 74 for Australia in Sydney in 1894-95; next – with the only other half-century – comes Alec Stewart, with 63 not out for England in Adelaide in 1998-99.At Pallekele, Pakistan made the highest total of the match in the fourth innings to win. How often has this been done? asked Ranil Abeysekera from Sri Lanka
Pakistan’s achievement to win the third Test in Pallekele last week – they made 382 for 3 to pinch the series – was actually the 43rd time that the highest total of a Test has been made in the fourth innings. It was only the second time Pakistan had managed it; they also did it against Australia in Melbourne in 1989-90, scoring 336 but still losing. The first time it happened was in the third Ashes Test of 1884-85 in Sydney, when England made 207, the highest score of the match… but still lost by six runs. The highest score involved remains England’s 654 for 5 against South Africa in the famous drawn timeless Test in Durban in 1938-39.Taslim Arif: one of only two players to ever be padded up all Test long•Getty ImagesThe TV recently showed some highlights of Jim Laker’s 19 wickets in a Test in 1956. Ken Mackay of Australia was caught off him by Alan Oakman for 0 in both innings – has anyone else suffered an identical pair in a Test? asked John Canning from England
There have now been ten instances of an unfortunate batsman being out to the same fielder/bowler combination for 0 in both innings of a Test; Ken “Slasher” Mackay of Australia – c Oakman b Laker twice – was the fifth, at Old Trafford in 1956. The first to complete this dismal double was Bobby Peel of England – stumped Affie Jarvis bowled Charlie Turner for 0 in both innings in Sydney in 1894-95. The others were, in chronological order: Australia’s captain Joe Darling, c Len Braund b Sydney Barnes 0 twice in Sheffield’s only Test, in 1902; Percy “Plum” Lewis of South Africa, c Frank Woolley b Barnes 0 in both innings of his only Test, in Durban in 1913-14; Padmanabh “Nana” Joshi of India, c Frank Worrell b Alf Valentine 0 in both innings against West Indies in Bridgetown in 1952-53; Maninder Singh of India, c Richie Richardson b Courtney Walsh 0 twice against West Indies in Mumbai in 1987-88; England’s Gavin Hamilton, c Shaun Pollock b Allan Donald 0 in both innings of his only Test, against South Africa in Johannesburg in 1999-2000; Zaheer Khan, c Mark Boucher b Pollock 0 twice for India against South Africa in Bloemfontein in 2001-02; Christopher Mpofu of Zimbabwe, st Brendon McCullum b Daniel Vettori for 0 twice on the same day against New Zealand in Harare in 2005; and Sri Lanka’s Dilruwan Perera, c Quinton de Kock b Dale Steyn 0 in both innings against South Africa in Galle in 2014.I noticed that when Brendon Kuruppu made his Test debut, he was on the field throughout the match. Since he also kept wicket, he had his pads on throughout. Has anyone else done this? asked Praboth Wijeratne from England
Brendon Kuruppu’s remarkable Test debut came for Sri Lanka against New Zealand at the Colombo Cricket Club in April 1987. He scored a very restrained 201 not out – he batted for nearly 13 hours – and then kept wicket for 163 overs as New Zealand amassed 406 for 5. There is one other instance of a player keeping his pads on throughout a Test: in an equally boring draw in Faisalabad in 1979-80, Taslim Arif kept wicket as Australia piled up 617 in 211 overs after the loss of the first day to rain. Taslim then made 210 not out of Pakistan’s 382 for 2, latterly against some undemanding bowling, including ten overs from the other wicketkeeper, Rod Marsh, as all 11 Aussies had a trundle.Following on from last week’s question about the visiting captain who skippered most Tests in England, which tourist kept wicket in the most Tests there? Was it Ian Healy? asked Luis Campbell from Argentina
Ian Healy is a good guess, as he kept wicket throughout three six-Test series in England, in 1989, 1993 and 1997. But another Australian stumper featured in more matches: Rod Marsh kept in 21 Tests in England between 1972 and 1981. An earlier Australian, James Kelly, also kept in 18 Tests in England (between 1896 and 1905), as did the West Indian Deryck Murray between 1963 and 1980. An even earlier Australian wicketkeeper, Jack Blackham, took part in no fewer than seven different Test-playing tours of England between 1880 and 1893, playing in all the internationals – but there were only 16 matches during those visits.
