No runs in the 50th over, and the castle that is Australia
Steven Lynch06-Nov-2007The regular Tuesday column in which Steven Lynch answers your questions about (almost) any aspect of cricket:
Andrew Hall bowled a maiden when Sri Lanka needed 11 runs off the final over in Adelaide © AFP
How many times has a maiden been bowled in the last over of a one-day international? asked Shikhar from India
This has happened a few times in ODIs – we can’t be sure quite how many as we don’t have complete ball-by-ball stats for many early matches. The most recent occurrence was in Adelaide in January 2006, when Sri Lanka began the last over, bowled by Andrew Hall, needing 11 to beat South Africa, but didn’t manage anything off the bat. The only run was a leg-bye (Muttiah Muralitharan faced the first three balls, and Tillakaratne Dilshan the last three). The most famous instance was probably in 1990-91, when Australia started the last over in Hobart needing two runs to beat New Zealand, but with their last pair at the crease. No. 11 Bruce Reid was facing Chris Pringle, needing just a single to tie the match and give his senior partner, Greg Matthews, the strike. But Reid didn’t manage a run, hitting the first five balls straight to fielders or missing them completely: he was then run out trying a suicidal single off the final ball of the match, so New Zealand squeaked home by one run.Who has the most number of sixes under his belt in ODIs and Tests? asked Sai Pogaru from Singapore
Leading the way in Test cricket is Australia’s Adam Gilchrist, who needs three more hits to reach 100 sixes in Tests. He’s a few clear of Brian Lara, who managed 88 sixes in his Test career – and a record 1559 fours. For a full list, click here. In ODIs, there’s a battle at the top between Sanath Jayasuriya, who currently has 245 sixes, and Shahid Afridi, with 235. A long way back in third place, with 188, is Sourav Ganguly. For the full one-day six list, click here.When was the last time Australia lost a Test series at home? asked Surinder Kaushal from Canada
Remarkably, it’s 15 seasons now since Australia lost a Test series at home – and that one in 1992-93, like their earlier home defeat (1988-89), was inflicted by West Indies. In 1992-93 West Indies won 2-1, but only after drawing level with a famous one-run victory in Adelaide and then clinching the series with a more comprehensive win in Perth. Between the 1932-33 Bodyline series and the 1970-71 Ashes encounter, Australia lost only one home series – the Ashes in 1954-55.With England about to tour Sri Lanka, who has been their most successful batsman and bowler in Tests there? asked James Wilson from Brighton
England have only played eight Tests in Sri Lanka, between 1981-82 and 2003-04, so the records aren’t terribly impressive ones. Their leading run-scorer is Graham Thorpe, with 452 in six Tests at an average of 45.20, ahead of Marcus Trescothick, with 415 in six. Apart from those two, the only other Englishmen to score a Test century in Sri Lanka are Nasser Hussain, Robin Smith and Michael Vaughan. The leading wicket-taker for England in Tests in Sri Lanka is Ashley Giles, with 25, well ahead of Darren Gough, with 14.
Michael Hussey receives his Baggy Green from Bill Brown, Australia’s oldest living Test cricketer © Getty Images
Who is the oldest surviving Australian Test player? asked Brad Johnson from Brisbane
If you’re lucky, you might spot him during this week’s Test at the Gabba: it’s the Queenslander Bill Brown, who is now 95. He first wore the baggy green in England in 1934, which makes him the senior surviving Test cricketer in terms of debut, although two players who started later are actually older than he is. Brown won the last of his 22 Test caps as one of Don Bradman’s Invincibles in England in 1948. For a full list of the oldest surviving Test players, click here.Sourav Ganguly currently has 96 Test caps. If he plays all three Tests against Pakistan in the coming home series, he will finish with 99, and could play his 100th Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Boxing Day. Has anyone else played his 100th Test at the MCG? asked Prasanth Naik from India
As I write 43 people have played in 100 or more Tests – but only one of them reached that landmark at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. That was Australia’s Allan Border, who won his 100th cap against West Indies at the MCG in 1988-89 – in a Test that began on Christmas Eve, rather than the traditional Boxing Day.And here’s an afterthought to last week’s question about the Test cricketers born in Goa, from Mohammad Kaushik
“I believe that the parents of Wallis Mathias, the first non-Muslim to play for Pakistan, came from Goa – although he himself was born in Karachi.”
