England reached 50 in 4.2 overs at Trent Bridge, and Ben Duckett got there from just 32 balls. Were either of these fast starts a record? asked Chris Seargent from Australia
England's rocket-powered start at Trent Bridge - they reached 50 in 4.2 overs, despite losing Zak Crawley for a duck - would appear to be the fastest any team has posted a half-century from the start of a Test. England got there in 4.3 overs in their second innings against South Africa at The Oval in 1994, thanks to Graham Gooch (29 off 16 balls) and Mike Atherton (20 off 14). Note that we don't have ball-by-ball data for all Tests.
Ben Duckett reached 50 at Trent Bridge in just 32 balls, the joint third-fastest half-century for England in Tests after Ian Botham, who got there in 28 against India in Delhi in 1981-82, and Jonny Bairstow, in 30 against New Zealand at Headingley in 2022. Botham also smacked a 32-ball fifty against New Zealand at The Oval in 1986.
Duckett's 50 came up in just 9.1 overs from the start of the match, which again seems to be a record (remember that we don't have full data for all matches though). Charles Davis, the Melbourne statistician, tells me that Australia's Justin Langer reached 50 after 9.4 overs against New Zealand in Hobart in 2001-02.
England's team at Trent Bridge had an unfamiliar look. When was the last time England took the field in a Test without Jimmy Anderson or Stuart Broad? asked Peter Huntley from England
The second Test against West Indies at Trent Bridge was only the second time in 17 years that England had gone into a home Test without either Jimmy Anderson or Stuart Broad in the side. The run started in 2007: Anderson did not play in the four-Test series against West Indies in May and June, but he was back in July for the series against India, and then Broad made his debut in December against Sri Lanka in Colombo. After that, the only home Test in which either of them appeared until last week was the rain-affected draw against West Indies at Edgbaston in 2012. The pair did miss quite a few of England's overseas Tests in this period.
Abhishek Sharma hit a century in 46 balls against Zimbabwe recently. Was that India's fastest in T20s? asked Aparna Mahendra from India
Abhishek Sharma followed a duck on his T20I debut, against Zimbabwe on July 6, with a round 100 in his second match, in Harare the following day.
There have been two quicker centuries for India in T20Is, both scored against Sri Lanka. Suryakumar Yadav got there in 45 balls in Rajkot in January 2023, but Rohit Sharma needed only 35 deliveries to hurtle to three figures in Indore in December 2017. KL Rahul also scored a 46-ball century, against West Indies in Lauderhill (USA) in August 2016. For the list of the fastest centuries in T20 internationals - a table headed by a batter from Estonia - click here.
Which current county cricketer - an Australian international - is the son of an English tennis player who appeared at Wimbledon? asked Kyle McKenzie from Australia
The answer to this little mystery is the offspinning allrounder Chris Green, who has been playing for Lancashire. He was born in South Africa, but has played one T20I for Australia, against India in Raipur in December 2023.
Green has played for various T20 franchises, and first-class cricket for New South Wales and Lancashire. He is no relation to the even taller Australian Test allrounder Cameron Green. His parents, Warren and Lisa, were both professional tennis players. Lisa Gould, as she was then, was one of five British women to reach the second round of the singles at Wimbledon in 1987, a number not matched until 2024, when five ladies made it through again.
Unsurprisingly, Green was also a good tennis player in his youth, and eventually had to choose between his two sporting loves. "It was a very tough decision - I could never decide growing up," he told the Sydney Morning Herald in 2019. "I learnt to walk on a tennis court and then cricket came as a second passion. I think the challenge of individual sports, where you are actually isolated by yourself, can become a little bit consuming. I think I'm definitely more people- and team-oriented than individual-oriented."
Further to last week's questions about the Lord's Test and Jimmy Anderson's farewell, how many people played Tests for longer than his 21 years? asked Jamie Banks from England
The Test career of Jimmy Anderson lasted from May 22, 2003 (against Zimbabwe at Lord's) to July 12, 2024 (against West Indies, also at Lord's). That's a total span of 21 years 51 days, which gives Anderson the 12th-longest Test career of all. And his 188 Tests places him second by appearances, behind only Sachin Tendulkar's 200.
Tendulkar, whose Test career lasted 24 years and one day, is one of those above Anderson for longevity: leading the way is the Yorkshire and England allrounder Wilfred Rhodes, whose 58 Tests spanned almost 31 years, between June 1899 and April 1930.
None of those with longer careers than Anderson bowled at any great pace, although Dave Nourse, whose Test career lasted almost 22 years, did occasionally take the new ball for South Africa - including in his last Test, at The Oval in 1924, when he was 45. Imran Khan, who was usually quicker than Anderson, played his first Test in June 1971 and his last in January 1992: he is one of is one of just 18 men who had Test careers longer than 20 years.
The only woman whose Test career lasted longer than 20 years is the New Zealander Vera Burt (formerly Robinson). She played against Australia in March 1948 and England a year later, then was recalled after almost 20 years to play her third and final Test, against England in Wellington in February 1969.
Shiva Jayaraman of ESPNcricinfo's stats team helped with some of the above answers.
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