Also: what was the first Test series that didn’t involve either England or Australia?
Steven Lynch24-Nov-2020Of people who achieved the highest score and best bowling in the same Test, who played the most matches? asked Rajiv Radhakrishnan from England
That’s an interesting one, and it turns out the answer is an England captain: Michael Vaughan played in 82 Tests, but recorded his highest score (197) and his best bowling figures (two for 71) in the same one, against India at Trent Bridge in 2002. Those wickets included a much-replayed classic offbreak to bowl Sachin Tendulkar between bat and pad for 92.Two others, both from Pakistan, won more than 50 caps yet achieved their personal bests in the same match: Majid Khan (63 Tests) made 167 and took 4 for 45 against West Indies in Georgetown in 1976-77, while his frequent team-mate Wasim Raja (57 Tests) had 125 and 4 for 50 against India in Jalandhar in 1983-84.Another Pakistani from that same era leads the way in one-day internationals. Offspinner Tauseef Ahmed played 70 ODIs, yet recorded his highest score (27 not out) and best bowling figures (4 for 38) in the same one, against New Zealand in Sialkot in 1984-85. Once again there are two others who played more than 50 matches yet saved their bests for the same game: India’s Yusuf Pathan (57 ODIs), who scored 123 not out and took 3 for 49 against New Zealand in Bangalore in 2010-11, and the current South African seamer Andile Phehlukwayo, who has so far played 58 matches but scored 69 not out and took 4 for 22 against Pakistan in Durban in 2018-19.Worth a mention is England’s John Lever, who occupies 12th place on both lists: his best performances in 22 Tests were 53 and 7 for 46 against India in Delhi in 1976-77, on his debut – while his personal bests in 21 ODIs, 27 not out and 4 for 29, both came against Australia at Edgbaston in 1977. Thanks to Shiva Jayaraman from the ESPNcricinfo stats team for help with this one.Aaron Finch played for his eighth IPL team in 2020. Is this a record? asked Jared Harrison from Australia
Australia’s white-ball captain Aaron Finch moved to the Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2020, and made 12 appearances for them. This followed one match for the Rajasthan Royals in 2010, eight for the Delhi Daredevils (2011-12), 14 for the Pune Warriors (2013), 13 for the Sunrisers Hyderabad (2014), three for the Mumbai Indians (2015), 26 for the Gujarat Lions (2016-17), and ten for the Kings XI Punjab in 2018.In fact Finch already held this record, as no one else has played for more than six IPL teams, a feat shared by overseas players Moises Henriques and Thisara Perera, and the Indians Dinesh Karthik, Parthiv Patel, Irfan Pathan, Ishant Sharma and Yuvraj Singh.There were 1262 runs in the Ashes Test at Nottingham in 1997, but the highest individual score was Alec Stewart’s 87. Is this the highest aggregate without an individual century? asked Allan Draycott from England
That Test at Trent Bridge in 1997, which featured ten half-centuries but no individual hundred, turns out to be second on this particular list. On top is another England Test, against South Africa in Durban in 1927-28, which had a total of 1272 runs – and 13 half-centuries – but a highest individual score of 90, by Wally Hammond.Two other Tests had more than 1200 runs but no centuries: Australia vs West Indies in Melbourne in 1960-61 (1227 runs, highest score 92 by Bob Simpson), and England vs Australia at The Oval in 1993 (1225, highest 83 not out by Ian Healy).Ishan Kishan, who is yet to play an international match, made 516 runs this IPL for the Mumbai Indians•BCCIIshan Kishan scored more than 500 runs in the 2020 IPL. Is he the only player to reach this milestone without having played international cricket? asked Steve Rafferty from New Zealand
Ishan Kishan’s 516 runs for champions Mumbai Indians is a new record for an never-capped player in an IPL season. He also topped the 2020 six-hitters’ list, with 30. But there is one other man who managed more than 500: Kishan’s team-mate Suryakumar Yadav hit 512 runs for Mumbai in 2018, and he hasn’t been capped yet either.What was the first Test series that didn’t involve either England or Australia? asked Martin Chapman from England
Test cricket was over half a century old before there was a match that didn’t involve England or Australia. It came in 1931-32, when South Africa travelled to New Zealand after being hammered 5-0 in Australia. The 217th Test match of all started on February 27, 1932, in Christchurch: the South Africans cheered themselves up by winning it by an innings, and won the second Test in Wellington as well, to take the series 2-0. The next Tests not involving England or Australia were not until after the Second World War – in 1948-49, when West Indies toured India.Use our feedback form or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions
