The Test Match Special statistician will be busy answering your questions throughout the English summer.
Fill in the form on the right-hand side of the page to stump the Bearded Wonder.
Has there ever been a player who made a century on debut for his county but never played for that county again?
Yes, Joe. One instance springs to mind immediately and a trawl through the short list of those making hundreds either in their only first-class match or on their debut for a particular county has revealed no others.
In June 1959, Australia's celebrated all-rounder Keith Miller, then 39, made a solitary guest appearance for Nottinghamshire against Cambridge University at Trent Bridge and scored 62 and 102 not out. His hundred took 125 minutes and included two sixes and 13 fours.
After seeing Flintoff and Strauss's amazing partnership against West Indies, I would like to know the highest LOI partnerships for each ICC full member country, please.
Zimbabwe 202 (4th) S.V.Carlisle/S.M.Ervine v I, Adelaide, 2003-04
Jordan X, UK
In Test matches and LOIs, who out of Murali and Shane Warne has taken the other's wicket more times?
This must be the subject of a wager! The winner is he or she who backed Murali, the Sri Lankan winning 5-3 overall.
In Tests they have each dismissed the other on three occasions but Murali has dismissed Warne twice in limited-overs internationals while never falling victim to him.
Paul Gray, England
Who has scored the quickest treble hundred in Test cricket?
The fastest triple hundred took Walter Hammond 288 minutes for England against New Zealand in the Second Test at Auckland on 31 March and 1 April 1933. He went on to amass the then highest Test score of 336 not out in 318 minutes and out of 492 runs scored whilst he was at the crease. He hit ten sixes (the Test record until 1996-97) and 34 fours. His third hundred took just 47 minutes.
Jeremy Hucker, Wales
In their recent televised Twenty20 match against Somerset, Glamorgan's Robert Croft bowled one ball from behind the umpire. The commentator suggested that this was an illegal delivery. I can't work out why. Any ideas?
I asked a current first-class umpire about this and he confirmed that the bowler must be within the bowling umpire's vision when he delivers the ball. Otherwise he could deliver an undetected no-ball by breaking the return crease or even by bowling with his other arm without warning the batsman via that umpire.
Brian O'Mahony, Ireland
What is Law 1 in cricket?
Law 1 is entitled The Players and it comprises four sections: Number of Players, Nomination of Players, Captain and Responsibility of Captains.
Mark Boisseau, United States
I lived in Harrogate for two years and learned to thoroughly enjoy the game of cricket, due in no small part to the great team at Test Match Special. Could you tell me if there has ever been an American who played first-class cricket in England? Thanks so much, and keep up the great work on TMS!
First, many thanks from the TMS team for those very kind thoughts, Mark. Between 1884 and 1908 five Philadelphian teams toured Britain, the last three (1897, 1903 and 1908) playing a total of 39 first-class matches (11 wins, 21 defeats, 7 draws). Their outstanding cricketer was John Barton ('Bart') King (1873-1965). An outstanding right-arm fast-medium bowler with great command of late swing, he headed the first-class bowling averages in 1908 with 87 wickets at 11.01 in just ten matches.
Jonathan Ian Longley, a right-handed batsman who played for Kent (1989-93) and Durham (1994-96) was born at New Brunswick, New Jersey in 1969 but was educated at Tonbridge School and Durham University.
Three England cricketers have died in America (Thomas Armitage at Pullman, Chicago in 1922, Sir Aubrey Smith at Beverly Hills, California in 1948, and George Studd at Pasadena, California in 1945) but none has been born there.
Steve Tebb, UK
We played a 40-overs match last week and scored 201-5 in our 40 overs. Our opposition were then 201-9 with one over remaining. We proceeded to take the final wicket on the third ball of the over leaving the scores tied. The opposition claimed a tie but I thought we had won due to losing fewer wickets. Can you clarify please?
It all depends upon the rules of that particular competition, Steve. If the competition is in the form of a league then the tie usually stands regardless of the respective number of wickets lost. Knock-out competitions demand a winner and that is when various tie-breaking stratagems are introduced.
Ben Butcher, England
Heath Streak took 16 wickets on debut for Warwickshire, but who holds the record for the most wickets on debut for a county side?
Oh, no, he didn't! Streak took 13 wickets (21.5-4-80-7 and 21.5-2-78-6) on his Warwickshire debut v Northamptonshire at Edgbaston in June.
The record is 14 and is shared by James Lillywhite, who took 14-57 on his first-class debut for Sussex v MCC at Lord's in 1862, and F.G. (Fred) Roberts, who returned a match analysis of 14-171 for Gloucestershire v Yorkshire at Dewsbury, also on his f-c debut, in 1887.
K.D. (Keith) Boyce, the West Indies and Barbados all-rounder, had match figures of 13-108 for Essex v Cambridge University at Brentwood in 1966 on his first appearance in English f-c cricket.
Paul Hannaford, England
Re David Pierrie's question about being run out going for the fifth run (Stump the Bearded Wonder No. 78). In an evening 20-over match some years ago, a team-mate came in to bat with only about two overs to go. He was at the non-striker's end and his partner hit the ball into a remote part of the ground. The new batsman was run out without facing - going for the fifth run!
There's greedy for you!
Paul V, England
During a local league match, my fellow batsman played and missed at a delivery that hit the stumps. One bail was dislodged but remained stuck in the groove of the middle stump in an upright position (the other bail was still in position). He was given not out by the umpire but was that a correct decision?
Yes, absolutely correct, Paul. Law 28 (The Wicket is Down) 1 (b) confirms that only when the whole bail, whether having fallen to the ground or having been jammed between two stumps, is below the level of the top of the stumps is it regarded as having been completely removed.
Gerald Hathaway, New Zealand
Playing for Warwickshire against Middlesex at Lord's in 1948, the New Zealand batsman Martin Donnelly was given out bowled from a ball from J.A. Young that hit Donnelly's foot, bounced over his head, and landed two feet behind the stumps. Presumably it hit the bowlers' footmarks, for it bounced back and broke the stumps. Should this have been given out?
Yes, provided that the ball did not come into contact with another player or an umpire (Law 30).
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