Stump The Bearded Wonder No 14

Bill Frindall, aka the Bearded Wonder, is poised to answer you cricket queries and teasers.

As England face the heat in India, Test Match Special's resident cricket guru has opted for the warmth of his own home.

Fill in the form to stump The Bearded Wonder.

---

Here's a selection of the latest answers

---

Earl W. Robinson, St. Vincent & The Grenadines W.I.

Could you confirm that Aravinda de Silva came off his mark with a six in each innings of the inaugural Test between Sri Lanka and West Indies in 1993.

If so, has anyone else achieved that feat in an inaugural series?

Hello Earl. Good to hear from you again.

According to Tyronne Fernando's match report in the Caribbean Cricket Quarterly, de Silva, who began the third day 29 not out, 'chose as his second scoring stroke a straight six off Hooper.' It was the only six he hit in that innings of 53 so he had scored at least 30 when he struck it. In the second innings he did get off the mark with a hooked six off his fourth ball. As far as I am aware no one has ever opened his account with a six in both innings of the same Test.

---

Steve Wrigley, England

You may remember my father and your predecessor Arthur Wrigley.

I still have his full library of books, including his Wisdens, which comprise reproductions of the first 15 years (given to me by Robert Hudson after my father died) and originals in a variety of conditions. You won't be surprised that some took a battering since they were very much tools of the job, and he was working before the electronic age.

I have stored this library in boxes for some 35 years and just having moved house feel that it would be a good time to sell them.

This is a long preamble to ask if you have any advice on how to sell them?

What a wonderful surprise to hear from you Steve. We met briefly at Didsbury in 1968 when I was playing in a benefit match for Ken Higgs at your old father's old club. Arthur Wrigley, as TMS devotees will know, was the first to score a Test for the BBC Radio commentary team, a role he held virtually uninterrupted from 1934 until the end of the 1965 season when, in the words of Brian Johnston, 'the Great Scorer summoned him.' I applied for the job and began the next summer on a three-match trial and was found not guilty!

All of your father's records and books would be valuable. You need to compile a catalogue of them, noting the condition of the books. You can then approach either an auction house - Christies have conducted several auctions of cricketana in recent years - or canvass the secondhand book dealers, many of whom advertise in the cricket monthlies and annuals. I would certainly be interested in seeing the list if you care to send it to me via TMS, Room 5016, BBC TV Centre, LONDON W12 7RJ.

---

Rob Livsey, England

If I can remember correctly, a while ago John Emburey hit an innings of 40+ for England that was comprised entirely of boundary scoring shots. Who holds the record for the highest Test innings, scored entirely in boundaries and what score did they achieve?

John Emburey hit all his 46 runs for an England XI v Tasmania at Hobart in 1986-87 (Mike Gatting's tour) in boundaries - a six and 10 fours. It remains the highest score in all first-class cricket to have been compiled entirely in boundaries.

The record in Test cricket is unknown but must be 42 or fewer as no instance qualifies for the list on p.149 of the fourth edition of my Wisden Book of Cricket Records, which starts at 44. John Edrich still holds the record for the most boundaries in a Test innings with five sixes and 52 fours in his 310 not out against New Zealand at Headingley in 1965.

---

J, England (brum)

A few years ago there was an experiment during one day internationals where both innings where split into two sections of 25 with each team taking it in turns to complete 25 overs before returning to field. How many games were played and why have they stopped with this idea?

There has never been such an experiment in limited-overs internationals but England were involved in such shenanigans when they played a 'quartered' day/night match against Western Australia in Perth on 27 October 1994.

Each team faced 25 overs in daylight and then resumed for another 25 overs under floodlights. This was the first match between first-class teams to be played in such a format. Critics and players were divided in their reactions to this concept and I have no record of it ever being repeated.

---

Deepak, USA

Hi there, I was reading an article about how Sachin Tendulkar is the one Indian batsman with a good Test record away from home, but I always thought that Rahul Dravid had comparable home and away records. Could you shed some light on that please?

  Home / Away record

Tests: 23/26 Total:49

Inns: 41/45 Total: 86

NO: 2/7 Total: 9

HS: 200*/190 Total: 200*

Runs: 2007/2039 Total: 4046

Av: 51.46/53.65 Total: 52.54

100s: 4/5 Total: 9

50s: 10/11 Total: 21

You are absolutely right, Deepak. In fact, even including his double failure as a makeshift opener in the first match of India's current series in South Africa, Dravid has a higher batting average outside India than he has at home.

---

Richard Greenhough, U.K.

Reading the new book "500-1" about the events of 1981, it mentions that there was resentment from Graham Yallop about being protected from the strike by Kim Hughes during the series.

I missed Headingley but was at the Edgbaston game, and my memory has Willis running in to bowl in the second innings (probably on the Saturday evening), roared on by his home crowd, and Yallop (who we thought of as his bunny) receiving very few balls during this spell, mostly because Hughes farmed the bowling. In the end Willis came off without taking a wicket.

Could you check your records and advise how many balls Willis bowled to each of the batsmen during that particular spell ?

England v Australia, Fourth Test at Edgbaston, 30 July - 2 August 1981: in Australia's first innings, when Willis returned figures of 19-3-63-0 (it would have been 0-91 if his 28 no-balls had been debited to his analysis under a law revision to be applied four years later), Hughes (47) and Yallop (30) batted together for 10.3 overs on the second afternoon (2.16 to 3.01pm). Willis bowled unchanged from the City End throughout their partnership (5 overs plus 9 no-balls), conceding 15 runs from 24 balls to Hughes and 11 from 15 balls to Yallop. They didn't bat together in Australia's second innings.

---

Fill in the page below to stump the Bearded Wonder.