The regular Tuesday column in which Steven Lynch answers your questions about (almost) any aspect of cricket:
During a recent holiday in Goa a waiter asked me who the only Test cricketer to come from there was. I never saw him again, so never found out the answer! Can you help?asked Don Richardson from Leicester
Actually there are two, but the one your waiter probably meant was
Dilip Sardesai, who was born in Goa in 1940 and was the only cricketer from there to play for India. Sardesai, who sadly died earlier this year, scored 2001 runs in 30 Tests between 1961-62 and 1972-73, and was an important member of the side that won series in the West Indies and England in 1971. The other Goan-born Test cricketer was
Antao D'Souza, a fast-medium bowler who won six caps for Pakistan between 1958-59 and 1962.
Has any Test innings ever contained two triple-centuries? asked Milind Jahan from Hyderabad
No Test innings has yet contained two scores of more than 300: the nearest was in the match between Sri Lanka and South Africa
in Colombo in 2006, when
Mahela Jayawardene made 374 and
Kumar Sangakkara 287. Their stand of 624 was a world record for any wicket. In fact there has only been one first-class innings which has featured two triple-centuries - when Tamil Nadu made 912 for 6 declared against Goa
in Panaji in 1988-89, the Indian Test batsman
WV Raman made 313, and
Arjan Kripal Singh, in only his third first-class match, scored 302 not out.
Since I can remember watching cricket, Ricky Ponting has been one of the most dominant batsman in the world. However, which bowler has dismissed or troubled him the most?asked Cameron Hogg from Australia
Ricky Ponting is rapidly approaching 20,000 runs in international cricket (he's already there if you count Twenty20 games), and his Test average of 59.29 is the highest of any current international player apart from his team-mate
Michael Hussey, who has only won 16 caps so far. The bowler who has dismissed Ponting most often in Tests is England's
Darren Gough, who claimed Ponting's wicket eight times:
Anil Kumble of India is next with seven. Another Indian,
Harbhajan Singh, should get an honourable mention for dismissing Ponting five times in successive innings, for scores of 0, 6, 0, 0 and 11. In ODIs Ponting's most frequent nemesis is, rather surprisingly,
Shahid Afridi of Pakistan, who has dismissed him seven times: New Zealand's
Shane Bond lies next with six.
Which batsman has scored the most runs against Australia in ODIs? I believe it's Tendulkar. And how about Tests? asked Sachin from India (no, not that one)
What are the most expensive figures in Twenty20 internationals? asked Liam Morgan from Durban
Which player's autobiography was called Give It A Heave? asked Sam Talyard from Winchester
This unusual title was attached to the autobiography of the New Zealand allrounder
Lance Cairns, which was published by Moa in 1984. Lance, the father of Chris, won 43 Test caps, taking 130 wickets and scoring almost 1000 runs. The title referred to his habit of smashing the ball over the boundary fence as often as possible, often using a special bat with more meat, and cut-off shoulders.