Going into the T20 World Cup final, Adil Rashid had played 91 matches, scored 91 runs and taken 91 wickets. Was this the highest such coincidence? asked Michael Clayton from England
That's a good spot: before the World Cup final in Melbourne earlier this month, Adil Rashid had played 91 T20Is for England, and amassed 91 runs and 91 wickets. He rather spoiled things in the final by taking two wickets and not batting, so is now on 92-91-93.
Rashid is easily the leader when it comes to these three figures being the same: next comes the Sri Lankan spinner Maheesh Theekshana who, after his penultimate game in the year's World Cup, had played 31 matches, scored 31 runs and taken 31 wickets. He didn't bat or take a wicket in Sri Lanka's last game, so is now on 32-31-31.
The Kenyan seamer Elijah Otieno stood at 27-27-27 at one point, but has failed to register a run or a wicket in his last four T20Is, so currently stands at 31-27-27. And the Afghanistan seamer Shapoor Zadran had 25 runs and 25 wickets after 25 matches, and neatly collected a run and a wicket in his next game to make it 26-26-26. After his most recent T20I, in March 2020, Zadran stood at 36-27-37.
How many batters have scored hundreds in both innings of a first-class match against James Anderson? asked Will Gubbins from England
Four men have scored a century in each innings in a Test match with James Anderson in the opposition: Peter Fulton for New Zealand in Auckland in 2012-13, Shai Hope for West Indies at Headingley in 2017, and the Australian pair of Steve Smith (at Edgbaston in 2019) and Usman Khawaja (in Sydney in 2021-22). Smith didn't actually face Anderson in that match in 2019, as he limped off (and out of the series) after bowling only four overs.
In addition to his 175 Test matches Anderson has also played 105 other first-class games so far, most of them for Lancashire, so I expected a few more cases. But there's only one, and it happened earlier this year in Southampton, when the Hampshire left-hander Nick Gubbins scored 101 not out and 130. Anderson took three wickets in each innings, but Gubbins escaped his clutches.
There have been eight other instances of an opposition player scoring two centuries in a match against Lancashire since Anderson made his debut in 2002 - but he wasn't playing in any of those games. So that's a feather in the batter's cap… and another for our questioner, who turns out to be Nick Gubbins' brother. As I've said before, it's always nice to get a question from the horse's mouth (or a close relative's!), so if there are any other players out there who think they might have done something unique or unusual, please let me know.
Apparently two events on the European golf tour in the last couple of years were won by the sons of Test cricketers. Who were they? asked Phillip Bacon from England
The two European (DP World) Tour golf winners with illustrious cricket-playing parents were Dean Burmester, who won the Tenerife Open in May 2021, and Sean Crocker, who came out on top by one stroke in the Hero Open on the Torrance Course at Fairmont St Andrews in Scotland in July 2022. Burmester now represents South Africa, and Crocker the United States - but both of them were born in Zimbabwe, and their fathers, Mark Burmester and Gary Crocker, both appeared in Zimbabwe's inaugural Test, against India in Harare in October 1992. Actually, they were the first two bowlers to take Test wickets for Zimbabwe: Burmester had Ravi Shastri caught, and later Crocker bowled WV Raman to make it 77 for 2.
When Litton Das reached his half-century against India in the World Cup, the team score was just 54. Was this a record? asked Raquibul Ahmad from Bangladesh
During his onslaught in Adelaide, which put Bangladesh in a strong position in their T20 World Cup group game against India, Litton Das reached 51 with a six off his 21st ball, which took the team total to 54 (fellow opener Najmul Hossain Shanto had scored the other three).
Given the proviso that we don't have full details of all T20Is, the only performance that is known to shade Litton's onslaught came from Vanuatu's Patrick Matautaava, against Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur in October 2019. Coming in at No. 3 in the first over, he hurtled to 50 out of 53 in 18 balls, with his fourth six; batting partner Joshua Rasu scored two singles, and there was also a wide. These are the only known instances in T20Is of an individual and the team reaching 50 off the same delivery.
The nearest approach in a match involving Test-playing nations came when Australia's Cameron Green reached 50 (from 19 balls) out of 58 for 1 against India in Hyderabad in September 2022.
Does Bruce Reid hold the record for most Test wickets without ever taking one in England? asked Julien Benney from Australia
The beanpole left-arm seamer Bruce Reid took 113 Test wickets, but none of them came in England. The record at the time was held by his fellow Western Australian and near-contemporary Bruce Yardley (126). They have since been overtaken by another Australian, Stuart MacGill, none of whose 208 Test wickets came in England.
The other bowlers to have taken 100 or more Test wickets without any in England are Dilruwan Perera of Sri Lanka (161), the Bangladesh pair of Taijul Islam (158) and Mehidy Hasan Miraz (135), the West Indian fast bowler Merv Dillon (131), the Indian spinners Pragyan Ojha (113) and Shivlal Yadav (102), and Nicky Boje of South Africa and Irfan Pathan of India (both 100).
Looking briefly at other countries, Bangladesh's leading wicket-taker Shakib Al Hasan has so far taken 225 in Tests without any in Australia (Taijul is next with 158). Subhash Gupte of India (149 Test wickets) and Pakistan's Fazal Mahmood (139) never played a Test in Australia either. The England pair of Alec Bedser and Darren Gough took 236 and 229 Test wickets respectively without any in the West Indies; none of Pat Cummins' current haul of 199 has come in the Caribbean either. Curtly Ambrose took 405 Test wickets, but none in India, where Dennis Lillee (355) and Fred Trueman (307) never played either.
Shiva Jayaraman of ESPNcricinfo's stats team helped with some of the above answers.
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