Gillespie's records, and Hussey's too

Was Gillespie's innings the highest in a Test by a nightwatchman? asked almost everyone, including Adeel Ahmed and Chris Johnson

Jason Gillespie's 201 not out at Chittagong was easily the highest score by a nightwatchman in a Test - the previous-best was 125, by Mark Boucher for South Africa v Zimbabwe at Harare in 1999-2000. Three other nightwatchmen have scored Test centuries: Nasim-ul-Ghani, with 101 against England at Lord's in 1962; Tony Mann, 105 for Australia against India at Perth in 1977-78; and Syed Kirmani, 101 not out for India against Australia at Mumbai in 1979-80. There has been some debate about whether Boucher and Nasim-ul-Ghani (who later opened in a Test) were genuine nightwatchmen - but in the matches in question they both came in at No. 6, at the end of the day, ahead of more recognised batsmen.

How many people have scored their maiden first-class hundred in a Test? And has anyone else converted that into a double? asked Martin Bowen from Australia

Rather surprisingly, perhaps, more than 30 players have scored their maiden first-class centuries in a Test: Shahriar Nafees, of Bangladesh, did it in the match before Gillespie, at Fatullah. But only one of those also passed 200: Brendon Kuruppu, the former Sri Lanka wicketkeeper, extended his score to 201 not out, just like Gillespie. That was against New Zealand at the Colombo Cricket Club in 1986-87. Kuruppu later added four more first-class hundreds (but no more in Tests). Possibly the oddest statistic in this regard is held by Gillespie's former Australian team-mate Ian Healy, who scored four centuries in his 119 Tests - but no more in 112 other first-class matches. Despite that his overall first-class batting average (30.22) was higher than his Test one (27.39).

Is the gap between Gillespie's highest score and his second-highest another Test record? asked Carl Bulliard from Australia

Gillespie's second-highest score is currently 54 not out, against New Zealand at Brisbane in 2004-05, giving him a difference of 147 between his top and next-highest scores. The record, though, is held by RE "Tip" Foster, who scored 287 on his Test debut for England against Australia at Sydney in 1903-04: his next-highest score was 51, a difference of 236. In first-class cricket I suspect the record-holder is Charles Gregory, a member of the famous Australian cricketing family: his two centuries were scores of 102 ... and 383, for New South Wales v Queensland at Brisbane in 1906-07.

Seven New Zealand bowlers took at least one wicket in the second innings at Centurion. Has this happened before in a Test? asked Alan Graham

Before last week's first Test at Centurion there had only been three previous instances of seven different bowlers taking a wicket in the same Test innings. The first was by England against Australia at Melbourne in 1897-98. It happened again in 1922-23, by South Africa against England at Durban, and most recently by Australia v South Africa at Johannesburg in 1966-67 (Australia used eight bowlers, but one of them - Tom Veivers - didn't take a wicket).

A while ago you said that Andrew Strauss had become the fastest batsman to 1000 runs in Tests. Has Michael Hussey broken that record now? asked Richard Treacy

Last year Andrew Strauss did break the record for the fastest first 1000 runs in Tests - he did it in 228 days, breaking the old mark of 244, set by another England opener, Herbert Sutcliffe, in the 1920s. But you're right, Michael Hussey has smashed that record now. Hussey made his debut against West Indies at Brisbane on November 3, 2005 - and sailed past 1000 runs on April 18, 2006, early in his innings of 182 against Bangladesh at Chittagong. That's just 166 days, and will be a tough one to beat.

I understand that Rudi Koertzen recently officiated in his 150th ODI. Is this a record? asked Ganesh Arya

The first match of the DLF Cup in Abu Dhabi between India and Pakistan was Rudi Koertzen's 150th one-day international. He also stood in the second game, so has now done 151. The only umpire ahead of him at the moment is David Shepherd, who officiated in 172 ODIs. In all, seven men have umpired in 100 or more ODIs: for a full list, click here. Koertzen is currently third on the Test list, level with the retired Srinivas Venkataraghavan on 73 matches, and behind only Shepherd (92) and Steve Bucknor (111).