And how many players have made their first-class debut in their first Test?
Steven Lynch19-Jun-2018West Indies made 414 in the first Test against Sri Lanka, but only one man passed 50. Was this the highest Test total with only one score of 50-plus? asked Abhishek Srivastav from England
West Indies’ 414 for 8 declared in the first Test against Sri Lanka in Port-of-Spain recently owed much to Shane Dowrich, who made 125 not out: the next-highest was Shai Hope’s 44. There have been six higher Test totals that included only one score of 50 or more, the highest of all being South Africa’s 491 against Australia in Johannesburg in 1935-36, when Dudley Nourse made the little matter of 231, and the next best score was 45.The biggest with only one score between 50 and 99 is England’s 363 against Pakistan at Headingley earlier this month, in which the highest individual score was Jos Buttler’s 80 not out. That beat the old record, India’s 358 against West Indies in Kolkata in 2002-03, when Sanjay Bangar made 77. And the highest with no half-centuries at all is South Africa’s 313 against England in Johannesburg in 2015-16, when Dean Elgar top-scored with 46: everyone else made double figures, with eight of them reaching 20.Mujeeb Ur Rahman made his first-class debut in Afghanistan’s inaugural Test. How many others have done this? asked Daniel King from England
During that rather brief inaugural Test against India in Bengaluru last week, Afghanistan’s youthful spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman became only the sixth player since 1900 to make his first-class debut in a Test match.The most recent one was Nazmul Hossain, for Bangladesh against India in Chittagong in 2004-05. Before that, Yasir Ali (Pakistan v Bangladesh in Multan in 2003), Mashrafe Mortaza (Bangladesh v Zimbabwe in Dhaka in 2001-02), Ujesh Ranchod (Zimbabwe v India in Delhi in 1992-93) and Graham Vivian (New Zealand v India in Calcutta in 1964-65) all made their maiden first-class appearances in a Test.Before the turn of the 20th century, some 28 players made their first-class debuts in a Test, including South Africa’s entire team in their inaugural match, against England in Port Elizabeth in 1888-89, which was also considered the country’s first official first-class game. Most of the others featured in privately raised tours that included matches eventually given Test status.At 17 years 78 days, Mujeeb was the youngest Test player since Nazmul Hossain, who was five days younger when he made his debut in the 2004-05 match in Chittagong mentioned above. Only 14 players younger than Mujeeb have ever appeared in a Test: for the full list, click here.Has anyone – man or woman – ever scored a double-century and taken five wickets in the same one-day game before Amelia Kerr last week? asked Derrick Paul via Facebook
That amazing performance by New Zealand’s Amelia Kerr against Ireland in Dublin last week, when she followed 232 not out with 5 for 17, was a first for international cricket. Only three men have scored a hundred and taken a five-for in the same ODI: for the list, click here. But there has been one similar instance in men’s List A games: in the NatWest Trophy in 1984, Alvin Kallicharran hit 206 for Warwickshire against Oxfordshire at Edgbaston, then took 6 for 32 with his rarely seen offbreaks.Kerr’s score was the highest in women’s one-day internationals, eclipsing Belinda Clark’s unbeaten 229 for Australia against Denmark in Mumbai during the World Cup in December 1997 – nearly three years before 17-year-old Kerr was born.The male cricketer to come closest to Amelia Kerr’s 232 not out and five-for in an ODI is Alvin Kallicharran, who made 206 and took six wickets in a List A game in England in 1984•Getty ImagesHas Calum MacLeod now scored more ODI centuries than any other non-Test player? asked Graham Browne from Scotland
Calum MacLeod’s unbeaten 140 in Scotland’s stunning win over England in Edinburgh last week was his seventh century in one-day internationals. Only 64 batsmen have scored more (for the list, click here). The only one above MacLeod who has not played a Test match is Australia’s Aaron Finch, who now has ten ODI hundreds (and one in a T20 international). But William Porterfield’s 11 ODI hundreds all came before he captained Ireland in their inaugural Test last month.How many brothers and sisters have played Test cricket? asked Jamie Palmer from Ireland
I answered this one in a recent column, after Ed Joyce joined his sister Isobel as a Test player, during Ireland’s inaugural Test at Malahide last month.At the time I thought there was only one other brother/sister combination (Terry and Denise Alderman of Australia), but since then I’ve been told of another. Kent’s Bryan Valentine played seven Tests for England, scoring 136 on his debut, in Bombay in India’s first home Test, in 1933-34. And his sister, Carol Valentine, toured Australia in 1934-35, playing in the inaugural women’s Test match, in Brisbane.The fact that they were related doesn’t seem to have been generally known: it’s not mentioned in three books about women’s cricket that I consulted. Until recently, we didn’t even know Carol’s date of birth – but, thanks to some diligent digging from researcher Michael Jones, we now know it was November 26, 1906, and that her married name was Thorp.Leave your questions in the comments or use our feedback form