Can you be caught behind without touching the ball?

There is a video doing the rounds of a strange dismissal in a match in England where the batsman is given out caught behind despite clearly missing the ball. Can you explain what happened? asked Suyash Joshi from India
The incident you're referring to happened during Surrey's match against Leeds/Bradford UCCE at The Oval in 2007. The batsman, Tom Merilaht, misses a ball from Surrey's Mohammad Akram, but is given out and marches smartly off. One theory has it that he had actually been out (hit-wicket) to the last ball of the previous over, but the umpire didn't notice and called "Over". However, I don't think this holds water as the fielding side could still have appealed if that was the case. Another idea floated was that it was a charity game in which you weren't allowed to leave two successive balls - but this was a proper match, played under the ECB's regulations for first-class matches*. Martin Briggs, an assiduous researcher - and umpire - found some tweets about the incident online. Rikki Clarke, who was captaining Surrey in that game, said "there was a noise and two people appealed - was given out, but clearly a shocker". Merilaht himself joked: "I was on for Lara's 501 that innings too - if it was a 20-day game…" ESPNcricinfo's own Jarrod Kimber asked Merilaht why he walked off so quickly, and he admitted, "I haven't since!"

Was Ellyse Perry the first to score a double-century in a women's Ashes Test? And is it true that she is Australia's youngest player in all three international formats? asked Martine Gray from Australia
Ellyse Perry's superb unbeaten 213 in the recent Ashes Test in Sydney was the seventh double-century in women's Test matches. It was Australia's highest score, but there had been three previous double-centuries by Australians: Karen Rolton made 209 not out at Headingley in 2001, Michelle Goszko 204 in Shenley the same year, and Joanne Broadbent 200 in Guildford in 1998. England's highest against Australia remains Rachael Heyhoe-Flint's 179 at The Oval in 1976.

Perry is the youngest player to represent Australia in a one-day international - she was only 16 years 261 days old when she made her debut, against New Zealand in Darwin in July 2007. Seven months later, in Bowral, Perry became their youngest Test player too, at 17 years 104 days. But she is just pipped in T20Is by Lauren Cheatle, who at 17 years 84 days was six days younger than Perry when she made her debut for Australia against India in Melbourne in January 2016.

Earlier this month Virat Kohli scored his 18th half-century in T20 internationals. Does he hold the record for the most fifties without a hundred? asked Ricky Dooley from the United States
Virat Kohli's 65 against New Zealand in Rajkot a couple of weeks ago was indeed his 18th half-century in T20Is - and his highest score remains 90 not out, against Australia in Adelaide in January 2016. It's easily a record: David Warner has made 12 half-centuries to date but no hundred, while AB de Villiers, Hamilton Masakadza and Marlon Samuels all have ten. Kohli's 18 scores of 50 or over is also the most. Chris Gayle and Brendon McCullum both made 15, including two centuries. Kohli is fast overhauling McCullum as the leading scorer in T20Is. As I write, he has 1956 to McCullum's 2140.

Where does Alastair Cook stand on the list for most runs in the Ashes? asked Ben Fleetwood from England
Before the start of the current series, Alastair Cook had scored 2117 runs in 30 Tests against Australia - a surprisingly modest return, really, given that he scored 766 of them in one triumphant series, in 2010-11. In his other 25 Ashes Tests so far, Cook has made 1351 runs at 28.14, with just one century - 116 in Perth on the previous tour down under, in 2006-07.

Cook lies 27th on the overall list of Ashes run scorers at the moment, although he is among a group of players with similar tallies. A decent return of, say, 400 runs in the upcoming series would put him up to 13th.

I know that Don Bradman holds the record for most runs in an Ashes series in England. But who set the record in Australia? asked Simon Patterson from England
Don Bradman scored 974 runs in 1930 in England, a record for any Test series anywhere. And he broke the overall record set less than two years previously, when England's Wally Hammond made 905 runs in the 1928-29 series in Australia, a sequence that included 251 in the second Test in Sydney, 200 in the third in Melbourne, and 119 not out and 177 in the fourth in Adelaide. For the full list of most runs in a Test series, click here.

*Nov 21, 17:05 GMT: The sentence was edited to reflect that the match didn't have first-class status.