Bowled by a bird, and retiring on 99

I once read that a batsman was given out in Australia after the ball hit a bird mid-pitch. Do you know when this was? asked Hang Zhang from Australia

I think the incident you're referring to occurred in a Sheffield Shield match between South Australia and Western Australia at Adelaide in 1969-70. WA's John Inverarity was facing the bowling of Greg Chappell when he was bemused to be bowled by a ball which changed direction alarmingly in mid-air. "Invers" walked off, with a duck to his name, then found a different kind of bird has been responsible: the fielders discovered the body of a swallow behind the wicket, stone-dead after being hit by the ball. The umpires called dead ball, and Inverarity was recalled to the crease, and made 89. For more information about this dismissal, and some other freakish ones, click here for an article from the Wisden Cricketer archive.

Is Nathan Astle the only player to retire with a tally of 99 wickets in one-day internationals? asked Herman Basra from the United States

Well, I don't suppose that's why he suddenly retired, but it is true: Nathan Astle is currently the only player to be stuck on 99 wickets in one-day internationals. Next-nearest is the Australian offspinner Peter Taylor, who ended his career with 97 wickets in ODIs. The Zimbabwean legspinner Paul Strang finished with 96, while the South African pair of Nicky Boje and Fanie de Villiers both ended up with 95. I'm sure Nathan Astle is rather more proud of his batting record in ODIs: he made 16 centuries, ten more than any other New Zealander (Stephen Fleming is next with six, then come Chris Cairns and Martin Crowe with four).

I have heard of batsmen scoring a century on their Test debut. Is there any instance where a bowler has taken a five-wicket haul in their debut Test? asked Abhijith from India

The best innings analysis by a bowler on Test debut is 8 for 43, by Albert Trott for Australia against England at Adelaide in 1894-95. Four other players have taken eight in an innings on debut: two of them - Bob Massie of Australia and India's Narendra Hirwani - did it in both innings of their debut (Hirwani's match figures of 16 for 136 are the record for a bowler on debut, just pipping Massie's 16 for 137). The other two eight-wicket starters are Alf Valentine, who uniquely took the first eight wickets to fall in his debut match, for West Indies against England at Old Trafford in 1950, and Lance Klusener, with 8 for 64 for South Africa against India at Calcutta in 1996-97. For a full list of bowlers who took six or more wickets in an innings on Test debut, click here.

What is Pakistan's lowest total in a one-day international? asked Abdul Sattar Butt from Pakistan

Pakistan's lowest total in ODIs is a meagre 43, made against West Indies at Cape Town in 1992-93. They never recovered from losing Rameez Raja first ball, and were soon 26 for 9, before the largest stand of the innings, between Zahid Fazal (whose 21 was the only double-figure score) and Aqib Javed. West Indies also lost a wicket first ball - Desmond Haynes - but still won easily. About six weeks before, West Indies had also bowled Pakistan out for 71 - still their second-lowest ODI total - at Brisbane. For a full list of the lowest totals in all ODIs, click here.

Your column last week included a link to the scorecard when MCC were 0 for 7 in 1872. Their top-scorer that day was a Captain AW Beecher, with 8. Was he the same man who gave his name to the famous fence at Aintree? asked Steve Howe

It's not the same man, although I suppose it's possible that they were related. Captain Arthur Becher (the name is spelt wrong on our scorecard), who scored half MCC's runs at Lord's that day was born in 1842, while Becher's Brook, the formidable fence on the Grand National course at Aintree, acquired its name after the first official running of the race, in 1839. The horse Conrad unseated his rider - Captain Martin Becher - and catapulted him into the brook which now bears Becher's name. He dived into the deepest part of the water while the rest of the field jumped the fence above him. The gallant captain remounted, only to fall into another water hazard later on.

Regarding last week's answer about people taking four catches in a one-day international, didn't John Bracewell do it once as well? asked Mark O'Connell from Hamilton

You're right, John Bracewell did take four catches in a one-day international innings, against Australia at Perth in 1980-81. This instance doesn't appear on our main list of such occurrences, because Bracewell was only a substitute in this match (in fact, he didn't make his one-day international debut until more than two years after this Perth match).