Also, fewest boundaries in a T20 innings, most runs in a Test, England’s international record-holder, and a pest named Fruitfly
Steven Lynch14-Oct-2014Who has the highest batting average in one-day internationals? asked Brian Norton from Scotland
You have to impose some sort of qualification here, otherwise the answer is Arvind Kandappah of Canada, who scored 97 runs in two innings, one of them not-out, to finish with a one-day international average of 97.00. If you insist on a minimum of 30 innings, the leader is still something of a surprise: Ryan ten Doeschate had 32 innings for Netherlands (nine of them not out) and averaged 67.00. If you increase the minimum to more than 50 innings, then the top man is Hashim Amla (54.36 from 92 innings). Five other batsmen who had more than 50 innings in ODIs also averaged over 50: Michael Bevan with 53.58, MS Dhoni is currently on 52.82, Jonathan Trott 51.25, Virat Kohli 50.80 and AB de Villiers 50.22.Sean Abbott, who made his debut for Australia the other day, was born on February 29. Do any other international players share this birthday? asked Saurav Jain from India
The New South Wales allrounder Shaun Abbott, who played his first T20 international against Pakistan in Dubai on October 5, and appeared in his first one-day international in Sharjah two days later, was born on February 29, 1992. Abbott is only the third international cricketer to have been born on Leap Year Day. The first was the Surrey and England fast bowler Alf Gover, in 1908: he won four Test caps either side of the Second World War, but was arguably more famous for his long-running stewardship of the coaching school in south London that bore his name. The other Leap Year baby was the Australian batsman Gavin Stevens, born in 1932, who won four Test caps in 1959-60.Pakistan hit only four boundaries in their recent Twenty20 international against Australia. Is this the lowest for an innings that lasted 20 overs? asked Uwaisul Karnain from Sri Lanka
When Bermuda met Canada in Belfast in the World Twenty20 Qualifier in August 2008, their opener Chris Foggo hit the fourth ball of the match for four – and Bermuda managed no other boundaries in the rest of their 20 overs, finishing with 70 all out, the last man falling to the final ball of the innings. That’s the lowest overall: the fewest boundaries by a Test-playing nation is three, by Australia in their 89 all out in 19.3 overs against Pakistan in Dubai in September 2012. David Warner hit two of those, and his fellow opener, Shane Watson, the other one. However, Australia were all out just before completing their quota of overs in that one: if you insist on a team facing the full 20 overs, then Pakistan’s four fours in their 96 for 9 in Dubai last week was the lowest by a Test team.What’s the highest aggregate of runs in a Test that ended with a positive result? asked Dhanushka Edusuriya from Sri Lanka
The most runs in a Test that had a positive result is 1753 (for 40 wickets) in the Ashes match in Adelaide in 1920-21: England were eventually set 490 to win, but Australia bowled them out for 370. It should be noted that all Tests in Australia in those days were played to a finish, and this one lasted six days. The biggest aggregate of all was 1981 runs for 35 wickets in the famously drawn ten-day Timeless Test between England and South Africa in Durban in 1938-39. There are two higher aggregates for drawn Tests: 1815 runs (34 wickets) between West Indies and England in Kingston in 1929-30 (another timeless Test left drawn by the need for the tourists to catch the boat home), and 1764 (39 wickets) between Australia and West Indies in Adelaide in 1968-69. For the full list, click here.Which Test player was nicknamed “Fruitfly”? asked Jamal Khan from Delhi
This was one of rather a lot of names applied to the big, brash Australian fast bowler Merv Hughes – this one apparently arose from the fact that the fruitfly is Australia’s most annoying pest, and Merv was a close second when in full sledging mode. Especially early in his career, Hughes was seen as a bit of a novelty act – but he eventually showed he was much more than that, finishing up with 212 Test wickets and more than 1000 runs… not bad for someone who, after three matches, hadn’t actually scored a run at all.Does Kevin Pietersen still hold the record for most runs scored for England in all international cricket? asked Michael Norton from England
Kevin Pietersen scored 13,779 runs in all internationals for England – 8181 in Tests, 4440 in ODIs and 1176 in T20s – and went past Graham Gooch (13,190) during 2013. Alec Stewart (13,140) also passed 13,000 runs for England in all formats. Two current players may usurp KP before too long: Ian Bell currently has 12,205 runs in all internationals, and Alastair Cook 11,569. David Gower (11,401), Andrew Strauss (11,315) and Marcus Trescothick (10,326) also passed 10,000.
