Stump The Bearded Wonder No 22

Bill Frindall, aka the Bearded Wonder, is poised to solve your cricket queries and teasers.

The Test Match Special statistician will be busy answering your questions throughout the English winter.

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Here's a selection of the latest answers

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G Williams, UK

To settle a bet, can you name the Norwich City footballer who played First Class county cricket in the early Fifties?

There may have been several, but W.J. (Bill) Edrich certainly did. A courageous outside-right, he appeared briefly for both the Canaries and for Tottenham Hotspur. He also played in 571 First Class cricket matches, including 39 Tests and 389 games for Middlesex (1937-58).

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Chris, UK

Did Viv Richards ever hit six sixes in a row in a competitive match (not just Test matches)?

No, he didn't. The record in Test cricket is four consecutive sixes by Kapil Dev off Eddie Hemmings for India v England at Lord's in 1990. Only two batsmen, Gary Sobers and Ravi Shastri, have hit six successive sixes (off the same over) in first-class cricket.

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Andrew Beaver, England

When was the last time Australia failed to reach the final stage of their triangular limited-overs international tournament? Was it when Gatting took England to Australia?

No, it was far more recent than that. It was just five years ago (1996-97) when Pakistan and West Indies qualified. In fact Australia did qualify in 1986-87, Mike Gatting's tour, when England beat them in the finals. The only other occasion in 23 seasons of what was originally staged as the World Series Cup that the hosts failed to qualify was in the very first year (1979-80) when West Indies beat England in the finals.

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Barry Newbery, UK

I have been told by my grandfather that my great-great grandfather - Thomas Newbery - played cricket with W. G. Grace, possibly for Oxfordshire in the late 19th Century, and was a useful underarm bowler. Is this true or is my grandfather making it up?

Fascinating question, Barry, but impossible to research without more data. Thomas Newbery's date of birth and death would help. He certainly did not appear in First Class matches, a category which the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians (ACS) has backdated to 1864.

The only Newbery to have appeared in First Class cricket was Arthur Leonard (1905-76) who made three appearances for Sussex in 1890 - your grandfather? Oxfordshire's averages were published in Wisden throughout the 1890s but without featuring a Newbery.

You could contact the Secretary of Oxfordshire CCC (Peter O'Neill, 4 Brookside, Thame, Oxon 0X9 3DE) to find if Thomas Newbery features in the club's history. He could have appeared for them against an MCC team featuring WG.

The Doctor appeared in 869 First Class matches between 1865 and 1908. He also played in many minor matches and appeared for Suffolk in 1865 and Worcestershire (pre-First Class) in 1870. Even if your great-great-grandfather was only a modest club cricketer there was every chance that he could have played in a match featuring the most famous cricketer of them all.

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Jeff Ellaway, United Kingdom

An Indian cricketer was stumped by Foster off a wide. Did the wide count on the extras?

Yes, a wide is credited to the total even if the batsman is subsequently stumped off it. Incidentally, a batsman cannot be stumped off a no-ball.

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Shivaji Sengupta, USA

Which team holds the record for scoring the highest number of runs in a fourth inning and winning?

First Class Matches: 507 for 7 by Cambridge University v MCC and Ground at Lord's in 1896. The most recent highest is 506 for 6 by South Australia v Queensland at Adelaide in 1991-92. Test Matches: 406 for 4 by India v West Indies at Port-of-Spain in 1975-76.

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Rama J., USA

If a batsman hooks a ball for a six and in the process falls on the wicket, agreed he is out, but do the six runs count?

No, the runs do not count as the ball becomes dead as soon as the wicket is broken by the batsman's bat or person in playing the ball or setting off for a run. I remember Roy Fredericks being dismissed in exactly this fashion when he hit a six off Dennis Lillee in the 1975 World Cup Final at Lord's.

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Simon, Wales

I see that Bangladesh have been bowled out for the same figure in both innings. Has this ever happened before?

Yes, but it is fairly rare. I have a very limited library with me in New Zealand but I see that my hosts were dismissed for 161 in both innings by Australia in the Second Test at Hobart in November 1993.

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Kamil, UK

No balls: I was 'corrected' by a leading coach on a coaching course recently when group-discussing the venerable Laws. I maintained that a ball had to bounce MORE than TWICE before reaching the batting crease to be called and the coach insisted MORE than ONCE. Can you publicly support me in correcting this common mistake, please? Or am I wrong, God forbid?

Kamil, you are absolutely correct and your coach needs to read Law 24 (No Ball), note 6, which refers only to balls bouncing more than twice or rolling along the ground.

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Andrew Johnston, UK

I was reading that the recent Pakistan v West Indies series was the third to be played on neutral ground. Do you know what the first two were and why they were played on neutral ground?

The first series to be played on neutral territory involved the three Australia v South Africa Tests played in England (at Old Trafford, Lord's and Trent Bridge) as part of the Triangular Tournament of 1912 which also featured England.

The only other match prior to February's series in Sharjah was the final of the first Asian Test Match Championship played between Pakistan and Sri Lanka at Dhaka in March 1999.

The Sharjah series was unique because it was the first to be played outside the current ten Test-playing territories.

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Keith Todhunter, United Kingdom

Please can you tell me the highest score off a single delivery in Test cricket.

The most runs off one ball in Test cricket without overthrows or penalties is only six! The most I have personally recorded is seven - Alan Knott off Vanburn Holder in the Fourth England v West Indies Test at Headingley in 1976.

Knott took a quick single to extra-cover where Bernard Julien fielded and overthrew the wicket-keeper. Knott and Tony Greig ran two overthrows before Andy Roberts, fielding at square-leg, retrieved the ball and threw it past the stumps at the bowler's end and over the long-off boundary for four more runs.

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Abhishek Guha, USA

How many Test matches have India and England played since India's independence in 1947 and how many matches has each side won?

Since 1947 England have played 77 Tests against India, winning 26, losing 15 and drawing 36. The overall record (including matches played in England in 1932, 1936 and 1946, plus the 1933-34 series in India) is played 87, England 32 wins, India 15 wins and 40 draws.

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