The Dhaka-born Aussie, and Rameez's rare dismissal

Is it true that one of the players for Australia in the very first Test match was born in Dhaka (or Dacca as it would have been spelt then)? asked Mustafizur Rahman Khan from Bangladesh

Yes, it is true: Bransby Beauchamp Cooper, Australia's No. 5 in the very first Test match against England at Melbourne in 1876-77 (he scored 15 and 3), was born in Dacca, which was then part of India, in 1844. That was his only Test appearance. I imagine that his father was in the British Army, because young Cooper went to Rugby School in England, and later played for MCC and Middlesex. He went to Australia, via America, in 1869, and settled in Victoria: he never did return to England, and died in 1914. Cooper was one of six Australians in that first Test who wasn't born there: Charles Bannerman, the first Test century-maker, was born in London, as was John Hodges, while Billy Midwinter and Tom Kendall were also born in England. Tom Horan, who later captained Australia and then became a noted cricket writer, was born in Ireland.

I've heard that Rameez Raja was once given out "obstructing the field" against England. Could you describe what happened?? asked Beburg Zehri from Canada

This happened in the second ODI of the 1987-88 series in Pakistan, at Karachi. Rameez had reached 98 when the last ball of the match was bowled with Pakistan needing an impossible 25 runs to win. He hit it away and sprinted for the two runs that would give him his hundred, but was well short of the crease when the fielder's return came towards him, and he knocked the ball away with his bat. He was thus the first batsman to be given out "obstructing the field" in an ODI. A similar thing happened a couple of years later to Mohinder Amarnath, in a match between India and Sri Lanka at Ahmedabad. For a list of unusual dismissals in ODIs, click here, and click here for a similar list for Test matches.

Who has taken the most Test wickets for South Africa? asked Johan Steyn from Johannesburg

The lead in that particular table changed hands at Auckland in March 2004, when Shaun Pollock went past Allan Donald's previous record of 330 Test wickets for South Africa. Pollock currently has 377. Nine bowlers have taken 100 or more wickets in Tests for South Africa - click here for the list.

Is it true that the Australian fast bowler Stuart Clark has Indian parents? asked Sohaib Ahmad from the United Arab Emirates

Stuart Clark is the New South Wales fast bowler who was called up from county cricket with Middlesex as cover for Glenn McGrath for the Old Trafford and Oval Tests of the current Ashes series, although he didn't actually play in either match. According to our player profile his parents are Indian, and they met in England.

That's the life story of Ian Austin, the comfortably built Lancashire allrounder who played nine ODIs for England at the end of the 1990s, including a couple in the 1999 World Cup. One of Austin's nicknames was "Oscar" (it's a rather complicated story stemming from the TV series The Six Million Dollar Man, where the hero was called Austin and his boss was named Oscar). He was also sometimes known as Bully, hence the title of his book, which was produced by Mainstream Publishing in 2000.

They say Jeff Thomson was the fastest bowler some time back. How was his speed calculated? asked Usmaan Pirzada from Pakistan

Jeff Thomson was timed at 99.7mph (160.45kph) in scientific tests that took place during the Test between Australia and West Indies at Perth in 1975-76. Two high-speed cameras were set up at the bowling creases, and the fast bowlers from both sides bowled a number of balls in front of them. Thomson came out on top, ahead of Andy Roberts, Michael Holding and Dennis Lillee. It was a different measuring system to the radar speedguns used today, but was probably as accurate, if not more so. Thommo has maintained since that he wasn't trying that hard anyway ...

There's an afterthought to one of last week's questions, from Stephen Anderson in Australia:

"Regarding the question about people delivering successive overs in Tests, the New Zealand legspinner Alex Moir did this against England at Wellington in 1950-51, when he bowled the last over before tea on the fourth day and the first one afterwards. There have also presumably been myriad cases of a bowler ending one innings and then bowling the first over of a follow-on."