Stuart Law scored 54 not out in his only Test innings. Does he hold the record for most runs in Tests without being dismissed? asked Keith McKenzie from Australia
Stuart Law made 54 not out in his only Test innings, against Sri Lanka in Perth in 1995-96. The unfortunate Law never won another cap, while Australia's other debutant in that match, who scored 96, went on to play 168 Tests - Ricky Ponting.
However, there is one man who made more runs in Tests than Law without being dismissed: offspinner Afaq Hussain played twice for Pakistan in the early 1960s, and scored 10, 35, 8 and 13 - all not out - for a total of 66 runs. The only man to have five innings in Tests and not be dismissed in any of them is another Pakistani, the recent seamer Aizaz Cheema, who actually won seven caps - but managed only a single run.
Aaron Finch has a highest score of 172 in T20Is, 153 not out in ODIs, and 62 in Tests. Does anyone else have this back-to-front sequence? asked Aiden Holt from Australia
My first thought was that Australia's Aaron Finch might be the only batsman with such a lopsided arrangement. He made 172 - the highest score in all T20Is - against Zimbabwe in Harare in July 2018, 153 not out in a one-day international against Pakistan in Sharjah in March 2019, and 62 on his Test debut, against Pakistan in Dubai in 2018-19.
However, there is someone else, from among the ranks of batsmen who have scored at least one international century. New Zealand's Colin Munro has a highest score of 109 not out - one of his three centuries in T20Is - against India in Rajkot in 2017-18. In ODIs he has twice scored 87 - against Bangladesh in Christchurch on Boxing Day 2016, and against Sri Lanka in Mount Maunganui in January 2019. Munro has played only one Test, against his native South Africa in Port Elizabeth in 2012-13, and scored 15 and 0.
Whose international career amounted to ten Tests and 25 one-day internationals - all in the same calendar year? asked David Howe from New Zealand
The man with this brief but busy international career was the tall Indian fast bowler Abey Kuruvilla, who played 35 separate international matches in 1997, ten of them Tests, starting on March 6 and finishing on December 14. He took 50 wickets in all, 25 in each format. However, the rise of Ajit Agarkar meant Kuruvilla was jettisoned, never to return. For a recent Cricket Monthly article which explored Kuruvilla's strange experience, click here.
Shiva Jayaraman of ESPNcricinfo's stats team has unearthed some other players with single-year careers but several international appearances: The old Australian fast bowler Ted McDonald played all his 11 Tests in 1921 (no ODIs back then). The flame-haired Kevin Wright kept wicket for Australia in ten Tests and five ODIs, all in 1979. And two England wicketkeepers had concentrated one-day careers: Ian Gould played 18 ODIs in 1983, including several in that year's World Cup, while Paul Nixon played 19 (and one T20 international), all in just four months in 2007, a spell that also included a World Cup.
With England currently playing Australia, I wondered who had scored the most runs and taken the most wickets in "Ashes" ODIs? I'm not sure such stats are regularly talked about, asked Michael Keenan from England
You're probably right that figures from bilateral series are not widely known. It was therefore a slight surprise to me to discover that the leading scorer in England-Australia one-day internationals is none other than Eoin Morgan, who had 1887 runs after the first match of the current series. He's well clear of Ricky Ponting (1598) and Michael Clarke (1430), the leading Australians. Six others, including Morgan's current opposite number, Aaron Finch (1269), have scored more than 1000 runs in ODIs between England and Australia. Finch leads the way for centuries (seven), while Morgan has hit the most sixes (48, well clear of Shane Watson with 27).
Turning to the bowlers, Brett Lee leads the way with 65 wickets, with Glenn McGrath second on 53. Next, with 40 wickets after the recent opening game, is Adil Rashid.
Which great West Indian fast bowler played first-class cricket for Queensland in Australia? asked Jamie Stewart from Canada
This was the legendary Barbadian speedster Wes Hall, one of the stars of the 1960-61 Australia-West Indies series that started with the historic tied Test in Brisbane, in which he bowled the nerve-shredding final over. Hall, who ended up with 192 wickets in 48 Tests, returned to Queensland the following season, taking 43 wickets, and added 33 in 1962-63.
Hall shook up a fair few batsmen - and Queensland's Test wicketkeeper, Wally Grout, whose jaw he broke with a wayward delivery in the match against the MCC tourists at the Gabba which preceded the first Test of the 1962-63 season. Richie Benaud wrote: "Hall bowled a head-high full-toss at tremendous pace… The batsman ducked but Grout did not pick up the flight of the ball till fairly late. He moved to it on the leg side but the ball, having passed the batsman on the full, struck the ground immediately in front of Grout and flew straight at his face. Wally's jaw was fractured in two places." The unlucky Grout missed the first three matches of that Ashes series, being replaced by South Australia's Barry Jarman.
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