Kamindu Mendis reached 1000 Test runs in just his 13th innings. Was this a record? asked Asitha Silva from Sri Lanka
The seemingly unstoppable Kamindu Mendis passed 1000 runs during his 182 not out in the first innings of the second Test against New Zealand in Galle last week. He's in good company, as Don Bradman also got there in 13 innings, but two batters were even quicker to the mark: England's Herbert Sutcliffe and Everton Weekes of West Indies both reached 1000 runs during their 12th Test innings. Bradman got there in his seventh Test, Mendis in his eighth, and Sutcliffe and Weekes in their ninth.
Mendis did break one record though: it was his eighth Test, and he has had an innings of at least 50 in all of them, beating the seven from debut set recently by Pakistan's Saud Shakeel.
There could be a similar close call coming up for bowlers: after the Galle Test, his 16th, Sri Lanka's slow left-armer Prabath Jayasuriya had 97 wickets. The only man to reach 100 in 16 Tests was the 19th century England seamer George Lohmann. Four men so far - Charles Turner, Sydney Barnes, Clarrie Grimmett and Yasir Shah - have taken their 100th wicket in their 17th Test.
Sri Lanka had a first-innings lead of more than 500 at Galle - have there been any bigger leads in Tests? asked Gordon Mitchell from England
Sri Lanka (602 for 5) led New Zealand (88) by 514 runs after the respective first innings in the recent second Test in Galle. That turns out to be the fifth-largest first-innings advantage in any Test, a list headed by England (903 for 7) with a 702-run lead over Australia (201) The Oval in 1938. Sri Lanka already lie second: in Colomboin 2006 , they bowled South Africa out for 169 after scoring 756 for 5, so led by 587. Pakistan (643) led New Zealand (73) by 570 runs in Lahorein Kingston in 1930.
There have been two other first-innings leads of more than 500 in Tests: South Africa (682 for 6) led England (173) by 509 runs at Lord's in 2003, while Australia (645) headed England (141) by 504 in Brisbane in the first postwar Ashes Test in 1946.
I noticed that Ajaz Patel has 70 Test wickets, but none of them have come at home in New Zealand. Has anyone matched this? asked Shane Worrell on Facebook
Slow left-armer Ajaz Patel had 70 Test wickets to his name after the second Test against Sri Lanka in Galle. You're right that none of them have come at home in New Zealand, where he has played three Tests without taking a wicket.
Patel currently tops the list for most wickets in a Test career without any at home: the 19th century Yorkshire allrounder Willie Bates had 50. He made three tours of Australia, but never played a Test in England. Next comes the Indian seamer RP Singh, whose 40 wickets all came away from home (he played two Tests in India without taking a wicket).
The current Indian pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah took 79 Test wickets before finally striking at home. The 1950s West Indian spinners Alf Valentine (65) and Sonny Ramadhin (52) come next on that particular list.
The answers given here exclude some Pakistan bowlers who did not have the chance to play at home: Saeed Ajmal took 178 wickets (67 in "home" Tests in the UAE), Mohammad Amir 119, Wahab Riaz 83 and Junaid Khan 71. Yasir Shah picked up 207 Test wickets before finally taking one in Pakistan.
I know there are a few players who have scored a century and taken a five-for in a Test more than once. But is Ravichandran Ashwin the only man to do it twice on the same ground? asked Pavam Mahadasu from India
This particular double has now been completed on 37 occasions in Tests. R Ashwin did it for the fourth time in the recent Test against Bangladesh in Chennai. He'd previously achieved the feat there against England in 2021. He's also done it twice against West Indies, in Mumbai in 2011 and in Antigua in 2016.
Ian Botham is the only man to have done this double more often than Ashwin: he achieved the feat on five occasions. But all of them were at different grounds, and you're right to think that Ashwin is the only man to have done it more than once at the same venue. Five others have done it twice (at different grounds): Garry Sobers (West Indies), Mushtaq Mohammad (Pakistan), Jacques Kallis (South Africa), Shakib Al Hasan (Bangladesh) and Ravindra Jadeja (India).
However, when you look at the equivalent list for women's Tests, you can see that the Australian allrounder Betty Wilson did it three times, including twice in Adelaide, against England in 1949 and again nine seasons later in 1958. England's Enid Bakewell - who is still playing club cricket in her eighties - also did it three times, but on different grounds.
Was Rashid Khan the first bowler to take five wickets in a one-day international on his birthday? asked Madhav Gokhale from India
When legspinner Rashid Khan took 5 for 19 in a thumping Afghanistan victory over South Africa in Sharjah on September 20, he was indeed the first man to collect an ODI five-for on his birthday (his 26th). The best birthday performances before this was a pair of four-fors: Vernon Philander celebrated his 22nd birthday - and his ODI debut - with 4 for 12 for South Africa against Ireland in Belfast in 2007, while Stuart Broad took 4 for 44 against Australia in Cardiff on his 24th birthday in 2010.
In T20Is, the Indian left-arm wristspinner Kuldeep Yadav collected a 29th-birthday present of 5 for 17 against South Africa in Johannesburg in December 2023. Four other men - Wanindu Hasaranga (Sri Lanka), Imran Tahir (South Africa), Kushal Malla (Nepal) and Karthik Meiyappan (UAE) - have taken four wickets in a T20I on their birthday.
Shiva Jayaraman of ESPNcricinfo's stats team helped with some of the above answers.
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