Stump The Bearded Wonder No 16

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

As England's preparations get underway 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.

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Here's a selection of the latest answers

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Jonathan Parkes, UK

Who was the last bowler to take a wicket with his first ever ball in Test cricket?

  Bowlers to take a wicket with first ball in Test cricket

A Coningham, Aus v Eng, Melbourne, 1894-95

WM Bradley, Eng v Aus, Manchester, 1899

EG Arnold, Eng v Aus, Sydney, 1903-04

GG Macauley, Eng v SA, Cape Town, 1922-23

MW Tate, Eng v SA, Birmingham, 1924

M Henderson, NZ v Eng, Christchurch, 1929-30

HD Smith, NZ v Eng, Christchurch, 1932-33

TF Johnson, WI v Eng, The Oval, 1939

R Howorth, Eng v SA, The Oval, 1947

Intikhab Alam, Pak v Aus, Karachi, 1959-60

RK Illingworth, Eng v WI, Nottingham, 1991

NM Kulkarni, Ind v SL, Colombo, 1997-98

Twelve bowlers have taken a wicket with their first ball in Test matches. The most recent was Nilesh Kulkarni of India who dismissed Marvan Atapattu of Sri Lanka at the R.Premadasa Stadium, Colombo on 7 August 1997. The next wicket fell 1,103 balls later as Sanath Jayasuriya (340) and Roshan Mahanama (225) shared Test cricket's highest (576) and longest (753 minutes) partnership.

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Chand Patel, UK

Brian Lara seems to be back to his best again. Despite scores of 221 and 130 in the third Test vs Sri Lanka, he finished on the losing side. Is this a record for the most runs scored by an individual in a losing side in a Test match?

Excellent question, Chand. Yes, Lara's 351 is the highest Test match aggregate by a batsman on the losing side. It bettered the 341 by Andy Flower for Zimbabwe against South Africa at Harare in September 1999. Flower had in turn beaten a 'record' that had stood for more than 76 years when, at Melbourne in January 1925, Yorkshire's Herbert Sutcliffe scored 176 and 127 (303) but was unable to prevent Australia from winning by 81 runs. A timeless Test, it lasted seven days. Sutcliffe was the first to score hundreds in both innings against Australia.

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Steve Wedlock, England

I heard that in a recent Test match between West Indies and Sri Lanka, three bowlers were used to complete a single over. Is this a first or has there been any other recorded instance of this in first class cricket?

I am not aware of any recorded similar instance in first-class cricket but it may well have happened in a host of matches stretching back nearly 200 years. This was the first instance in Test cricket. It happened at Kandy's Asgiriya Stadium on 21 November 2001 when Mervyn Dillon contracted abdominal pains and was replaced by Colin Stuart after two balls of his third over.

Stuart was banned from bowling for the remainder of the innings by umpire John Hampshire after delivering two high, fast full-tosses (called as no-balls) in his first three balls. Chris Gayle completed the last three balls of the over with his off-breaks.

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Mark Edwards, England

A while ago I was given a cassette tape by one of my friends. It was a cricket comedy tape involving Australian commentators called '12th man'. I have been led to believe that there are a series of these tapes but I cannot find them anywhere. Can you help?

The artist who impersonates the Australian commentators is called Billy Birmingham and he was our guest on Test Match Special at The Oval a few seasons ago. He is a great favourite with the Channel Nine commentators whom he takes off. Sorry, I haven't any more details.

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Jaideep Gholkar, India

How many cricketers born in India have represented England?

Sixteen Indian-born players have played Test cricket for England (birth places in brackets): MC Cowdrey (Bangalore), KS Duleepsinhji (Sarodar), GM Emmett (Agra), ERT Holmes (Calcutta), N Hussain (Madras), RD Jackman (Simla), JA Jameson (Byculla, Bombay), DR Jardine (Malabar Hill, Bombay), NS Mitchell-Innes (Calcutta), Nawab of Pataudi, sr (Pataudi), MM Patel (Bombay), KS Ranjitsinhji (Sarodar), NC Tufnell (Simla), RA Woolmer (Kanpur), EG Wynyard (Saharanpur) and RA Young (Dharwar).

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Bill Cashin, Aust/UK

I have "The Don Declares", a series of ABC interviews with Bradman made in 1988. In one tape, he recounts how, on one tour, he just managed to score 1000 runs in May on the last possible day. I suspect that with changed schedules this is now an impossible event for a county player. However, I can't find any details of this odd record. How often was it done? How often by a tourist? Who did it in the fewest innings?

The Don did NOT score 1000 first-class runs IN MAY. Only three players have achieved that feat: WG Grace (Gloucestershire) in 1895, WR Hammond (Gloucestershire) in 1927, and C Hallows (Lancashire) in 1928.

Bradman, in company with TW Hayward (Surrey, 1900), WJ Edrich (Middlesex, 1938), GM Turner (New Zealanders, 1973) and GA Hick (Worcestershire, 1988) scored 1000 first-class runs BEFORE JUNE (i.e. in April and May). He is alone in doing so twice (1930 and 1938).

As that list shows, Glenn Turner is the only other touring player to achieve this. The Don holds the record for the fewest innings in the second category, with seven in 1938. 'WG' needed fewest innings (10) to reach 1000 runs in May alone.

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Cameron, Australia

Bill, can you offer some comment on bat technology? Through the 70s and 80s there have been a plethora of bat types, such as the scoop, double scoop, flat back, super short steel spring, perimeter weighted and of course the aluminium skinned bat.

I haven't been able to identify any current international batsman using anything other than the stock standard design (certainly bat weights vary). Were these all flash in the pan gimmicks and is the standard design simply superior?

A very interesting question, Cameron, but not really related to my statistical domain. If a bat manufacturer files some comments we will reveal them.

Apart from Dennis Lillee's aluminium bat being used for four balls against England at Perth on 14 December 1979, I don't recall many of these oddities being used at Test level. Bob Willis used a bat with several holes drilled through its blade but it did not noticably improve his performance with the willow. I wouldn't have noticed it if he hadn't walked out to bat without it in one Test match!

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Chinny, Cornwall

Two years ago in a 48 over league match for my club, we recorded victory by 375 runs. We batted first and made 399 then bowled the opposition out for 24. Are there any circumstances in professional limited overs cricket where a team has recorded a victory of this size?

My records of domestic limited-overs cricket are not exhaustive beyond the international and UK arenas. The closest I can find is the 346-run margin by which Somerset beat Devon at Torquay in the 1990 NatWest Trophy. The record runs margin at international level is a mere 245.

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Ben, UK

Will the performances of the Indian and South African players count in their Test averages for the most recent "unofficial" Test played at Centurion Park?

No, they most certainly will not - unless the ICC ruling is overturned at their next general meeting in March. This is unlikely as the SABC president, along with Shaun Pollock, South Africa's captain in that bizarre match, have already confirmed that they did not consider it to be a Test match.

It will go on record as a first-class match between the Indians and a South African XI and will be included in the participating players' first-class career records only.

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Barry Dyke, UK

A couple of years ago, one county had three sets of brothers and the father to one of these pair of brothers on their books. Which county was it and had any other county done it before?

In 1999, Surrey's staff included the brothers Bicknell (Darren and Martin), Butcher (Gary and Mark) and Hollioake (Adam and Ben). The Butcher's father, Alan, was the 2nd XI Coach and had played a County Championship match in an emergency the previous season.

In 1938, three sets of brothers represented Sussex in the County Championship: James and John Langridge, Charlie and John Oakes, and Harry and Jim (sr) Parks. A brace of unrelated Cornfords (Jim and Walter) also featured. No fewer than seven Foster brethren represented Worcestershire during the period 1899-1934, with six appearing during the seasons 1908-11. The full list, with Worcestershire careers in brackets is: BS (1902-11), GN (1903-14), HK (1899-1925), MK (1908-34), NJA (1914-23), RE (1899-1912) and WL (1899-1911). Not surprisingly the county became known as 'Fostershire'.

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Mark Twemlow, The Netherlands

Referring to Michael Lovelady's query in Stump the Bearded Wonder #10: "Last season I took five wickets in five balls. We called Wisden to see if anybody else had done this at any level of cricket, and apparently somebody in Yorkshire has. My question is, has this ever been achieved in the First Class echelons?"

This season 2001 I was fortunate to take five in five. I play for Hilversum Kampong Veterens in the Dutch cricket league. In a league game against Ajax Leiden on 18th August I took the last four Ajax wickets to fall to win the game. The first and last were caught and the middle two by LBW. What a wonderful evening both teams had after that!

In the following game against CCG on August 25th, I came on as second change and unbelievably took a wicket with my first delivery! Unfortunately my offspin got clobbered for a further 41 without taking another wicket that game!

There was a short write up in the KNCB (Dutch Cricket Assoc.) weekly journal and was one of the highlights of Utrecht-based Kampong Cricket Club's first season using their new A standard grass wicket.

Well bowled Mark! Sounds as though you ruined a good game of cricket. And thank you for being the first to set me a question which doesn't require an answer! For those who missed my answer to Michael Lovelady's question, here it is:

No bowler has taken more than four wickets with successive balls in first-class cricket. The nearest is the feat of CWL (Charlie) Parker who hit the stumps five times in consecutive balls in his benefit match for for Gloucestershire v Yorkshire at Bristol in 1922 but the second was a no-ball.

There are two instances in school/college cricket of bowlers taking nine wickets with successive balls: Paul Hugo for Smithfield School v Aliwal North in South Africa in February 1931 and Stephen Fleming (not the NZ captain) for Marlborough College 'A' XI v Bohally Intermediate at Blenheim, New Zealand in December 1967.

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Sam, England

a) I am very interested in sport statistics and would like to find a career in this field. What is the best way to go about it, Bill? Your comments would be very useful.

b)Of the Test batsmen who have played more than 50 Tests, who has the lowest average?

a) Build up a sports library of reference books, join some sports statistics associations (i.e. The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians), involve yourself with your local sports clubs, contribute features to your local newspaper and radio station - and read the obituaries carefully!

b) Bhagwat Chandrasekhar, the leg-break and googly bowler who took 242 wickets for India between 1963-64 and 1979, holds that record. In 80 innings during 58 Tests he scored 167 runs at an average of 4.07.

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