Stump The Bearded Wonder No 85

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 autumn action.

Fill in the form on the right-hand side of the page to stump the Bearded Wonder.

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Ankur, India

Between Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan, who has sent more top and middle-order batsmen to the pavilion (excluding the tailenders) in Test matches? I am not sure if there is a line dividing the tail from the rest, but you are free to choose your own.

There is no arbitrary line dividing the tail from the rest of the batting order. Some teams have boasted 11 players who have each scored a first-class hundred while others have fielded up to six batting rabbits. Let's compare their victims according to two groupings, the first six in the order and the first seven.

Including his six wickets in the recent Madras Test, Warne has taken 537 Test wickets, while Murali has 532. Their comparative distributions amongst the batting order are as follows (Murali first): openers - 91/76; 3 - 49/48; 4 - 51/52; 5 - 51/61; 6 - 57/56; 7 - 70/50; 8 - 41/59; 9 - 50/49; 10 - 46/57; 11 - 26/29.

Murali has a higher percentage in both groupings with 299 (56.20%) of his victims in the first six and 369 (69.36%) in the first seven. Warne's comparable breakdowns are 293 (54.56%) and 343 (63.87%).

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Vatsal Bajpai, USA

Is it legal for a pace bowler to bowl spin during the course of a match? Say he bowls a couple of pace overs to start off but in the middle overs he bowls a couple of spin overs then he bowls pace to finish off. Also, if legal, has this ever been done?

It's absolutely legal, Vatsal. A bowler has to advise the batsman (via the umpire) if he is going to change from right to left arm and from over to around the wicket. Provided he sticks to his original mode of delivery he can bowl whatever he likes, apart from operating underarm.

Australia's magnificent all-rounder Keith Miller, who passed away recently, was the greatest exponent of run-up variations. His standard approach was about nine paces but he interspersed this with searing bouncers off a four-pace amble and slow leg-breaks from a 20-yard sprint.

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Andy Broadley, England

A lot has been said about England's long run of Test match wins, but what and when was England's longest run of unbeaten Test matches. Are we close to it yet?

Not remotely adjacent, Andy. England's current run of matches since they lost by an innings to Sri Lanka in Colombo last December stands at 11. Their longest unbeaten run is 26 between 1968 and 1971 - just one short of the world record set by West Indies from 1981-82 until 1984-85.

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Joel Hockley, UK

Will Andrew Symonds's century for Australia in September's ODI against Pakistan at Lord's be put on an honours board?

No, Joel. The MCC has confirmed that their honours boards commemorate hundreds and innings analyses of five or more wickets only in Test matches at Lord's. Performances in limited-overs internationals do not qualify.

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Christopher Croft, UK

During the last Australia v India series in Australia, I recall it being said that Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman were only the fourth pairing to have enjoyed more than one 300+ run partnership in Test cricket. Who were the other three?

I can find only two others. Don Bradman and Bill Ponsford registered stands of 451 and 388 for Australia in England in 1934. Herschelle Gibbs and Graeme Smith have shared a record three triple-century partnerships for South Africa: 368 v Pakistan in 2002-03, 338 v England in 2003, and 301 v West Indies in 2003-04. Against Australia, Dravid and Laxman notched 376 for India in 2000-01 and 303 in 2002-04.

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Kathy Edge, UK

I have an eight-year-old niece who, wonderfully, is taking a very keen interest in cricket and has attended several games with me. Obviously, she has many questions about the rules and history of the game, some of which stump me! Can you recommend a good 'starter' book for her that covers the rules and traditions of the game in a way a child will understand?

May I recommend Rob Eastaway's 152-page paperback entitled 'What is a Googly? The Mysteries of Cricket Explained'.

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Sanj, England

What is the highest number of hundreds scored by one player in a calendar year, at both Test and ODI levels?

The most hundreds in a calendar year of Test cricket is seven set by Viv Richards for West Indies when he amassed the record aggregate for that period (1710 runs) in 1976. His tally of centuries was equalled by Aravinda de Silva for Sri Lanka when he scored 1220 runs in 1997.

Sachin Tendulkar heads the similar list for ODIs with nine in 1998 when he registered the record tally of 1894 runs. Sourav Ganguly (seven in 2000) is the only other batsman to score more than six.

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Nigel Instone, Wales

Essex scored 642 in the first innings of their match against Glamorgan but still went on to lose by four wickets. Is this the highest score made by a side batting first who then went on to lose the match?

Yes, it is. Glamorgan replied with 587, bowled Essex out for 165 in their second innings and scored 223 for six to complete an astonishing victory. Skipper Robert Croft contributed 125 and 28 not out having collected an unwelcome Glamorgan record by conceding 203 runs in that monumental first innings.

The previous highest first innings losing score was 632 by Northamptonshire at Northampton in 2002. In well over 47000 first-class matches there have been only four instances of a side losing after amassing 600 or more in its first innings.

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Mahendra Mapagunaratne, Sri Lanka

When the 1960 Lord's Test (v South Africa) ended before lunch on the fourth day, the teams played a 20-over exhibition match until the Queen's visit. What are the brief scores of this match and could this not only be the first unofficial ODI but also the first unofficial Twenty20 International?

The scores were: England 142 (19 overs); South Africa 145-7 (15 overs). The teams were presented to the Queen during the interval between the two innings.

I doubt if this was the first such match but it is often recalled because during it, Geoff Griffin, South Africa's fast bowler who had taken a hat-trick in that Test, was no-balled out of international cricket for throwing. Beer matches had long been commonplace at club level when a match ended prematurely.

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Glenn Allen, UK

A group of us at our cricket club were discussing various oddities in the laws of cricket and our captain suggested that it is not possible for six byes to be awarded. He believed that a six must be hit off the bat? Is he correct?

He is very correct. Law 19 (Boundaries), note 4 (b) states that 'the allowances for boundaries shall be six runs if the ball having been struck by the bat pitches beyond the boundary, but otherwise four runs.' You would need a third arm to signal six byes!

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Dave Mitchell, UK

Who now holds the copyright to your Wisden Book of Test Cricket 1876-77 to 1977-78 originally published by Macdonald and Jane's in 1979?

The most recent of four subsequent editions of that title was published in three volumes by Headline in 2000. A sixth edition is in preparation but only the third volume, which includes full scores from September 1996, the records section and an index of players, will be drastically changed and extended. As author I hold the copyright in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, while John Wisden and Co Ltd own the copyright to the title.

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Emma Jolley, England

Being a huge sport (and especially cricket) fan with a maths degree, what would be the best way for me to break into sports statistics? Can you give me any advice?

How huge are you, Emma? Sorry, my sense of humour was drastically influenced by the Goon Show!

A university sports statistics course might have been your answer but I haven't been able to discover one. Another way forward would be to apply to county clubs, media outlets, and even cricket statisticians, for work experience. If you would like to send your CV to me at this website address I will see if I can help. Experience suggests that you would have to specialise in one sport to command a living from such work.

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Shall Thompson, London

In Stump Bearders 84 you stated that Steve Waugh was one of only seven batsmen to be out handled ball. I feel sure that it was in fact Mark Waugh who was given out handled ball and not Steve.

It was most definitely Steve. When he had scored 47 in Australia's first innings against India at Madras in March 2001, he missed a sweep at a ball from Harbhajan Singh and palmed it away as it rebounded towards his stumps.

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