Murali loses a record, but Jayawardene gains one

I was surprised to see that Muttiah Muralitharan hadn't played a Test at Lord's before. Has anyone else played 100 Tests without appearing there? asked Barry Jameson of Doncaster

No, Muttiah Muralitharan's 103 Tests before playing one at Lord's is easily a record. He hands over this rather unwanted milestone to another doosra-delivering offspinner - Harbhajan Singh, who has played 55 Tests so far without appearing at Lord's. Saqlain Mushtaq, the man who might be said to have invented the doosra, is third with 49, level with another Sri Lankan, Romesh Kaluwitharana. Spinners seem to dominate the not-at-Lord's list: other current players on it include Nicky Boje (41 Tests), Stuart MacGill (40) and Danish Kaneria (36).

What is the most prolific fielder-bowler combination in Test history? Is it c Jayawardene b Muralitharan? asked Nuwan de Silva

It is now - at least as far as an outfielder is concerned. Mahela Jayawardene's catch to send back Andrew Strauss in the Lord's Test was the 52nd he had taken off the bowling of Muttiah Muralitharan, beating the previous Test record by a fielder off the same bowler of 51 (c Mark Taylor b Shane Warne). Jayawardene also took one more catch off Murali, as a substitute fielder in 1997-98, but that one doesn't count in the overall records. If you include wicketkeepers, the most common combination remains c Rod Marsh b Dennis Lillee, with 95, although c Adam Gilchrist b Glenn McGrath is closing with 85.

Is Jehan Mubarak the first American-born person to play in a Lord's Test? asked Neville Jayasinha from Colombo

Jehan Mubarak, who was born in Washington in 1981, is only the second Test player to have been born in the United States. The first, the Boston-born West Indian Kenneth "Bam Bam" Weekes, only played in two Test matches - but the first of those was at Lord's, in 1939.

I was wondering who was the last person to score 1000 runs in May, and was looking for the list of all who achieved this rare feat? asked Al Berry from Australia

Only three batsmen have ever scored 1000 first-class runs during May in England: WG Grace, in 1895, when he was almost 47; Wally Hammond in 1927; and Lancashire's Charlie Hallows in 1928. The feat of reaching 1000 for the season before the end of May - but including some runs in April - has been managed on a further six occasions: by Surrey's Tom Hayward in 1900; by Don Bradman, in 1930 and again in 1938; by Bill Edrich, also in 1938, when all his runs were scored at Lord's; by Glenn Turner in 1973; and most recently by Graeme Hick, in 1988.

Johnny Briggs, Wasim Akram, Abdul Razzaq and James Franklin are the only four players to have done what in Test cricket? asked Matthew Finn from New Zealand

Sounds like a quiz question! The answer is that they all scored at least one Test century, and also took a Test-hat-trick. James Franklin joined the club with his recent innings of 122 not out for New Zealand against South Africa at Cape Town: he'd previously taken a hat-trick against Bangladesh at Dhaka in 2004-05. The man who came closest to joining the list is Shane Warne, whose highest Test score remains that tantalising 99 against New Zealand at Perth in 2001-02.

Mark Ramprakash made 292 the other day, and still hasn't (yet) made a triple-century. Has anyone got nearer than Ramps yet ended his career without a 300? asked Colin Giles from Guildford

Probably the most famous near-miss in this respect is Martin Crowe's 299 for New Zealand against Sri Lanka at Wellington in 1990-91. That remained the highest of Crowe's four career double-hundreds. Others who have exceeded Mark Ramprakash's 292 yet fallen short of 300, and never did get reach that magical figure, are Les Ames, whose nine double-centuries included a highest of 295 for Kent v Gloucestershire at Folkestone in 1933; Bhupinder Singh, 297 for Punjab at Delhi in 1994-95; Ramprakash's Surrey team-mate Ally Brown, 295 not out against Leicestershire at Oakham School in 2000; John Gunn, 294 for Nottinghamshire v Leicestershire at Trent Bridge in 1903; Gursharan Singh, 298 not out for Punjab v Bengal at Calcutta in 1988-89; Arthur Jones, 296 for Nottinghamshire v Gloucestershire at Trent Bridge in 1903; Allan Lamb, 294 for Orange Free State v Eastern Province at Bloemfontein in 1987-88; Harry Moses, 297 not out for New South Wales v Victoria at Sydney in 1887-88; the former New Zealand captain John Reid, 296 for Wellington v Northern Districts at Wellington in 1962-63; Jack Ryder, who made 295 in Victoria's world-record total of 1107 against New South Wales at Melbourne in 1926-27; Shantanu Sugwekar, 299 not out for Maharashtra v Madhya Pradesh at Poona, 1988-89; Johnny Tyldesley, 295 not out for Lancashire v Kent at Old Trafford in 1906; and another Surrey player in David Ward, 294 not out v Derbyshire at The Oval in 1884. Ramprakash's 292 - the 11th double-century of his career - came for Surrey against Gloucestershire at The Oval earlier in May.

"Regarding brothers on opposite sides, a similar incident did take place in an ODI (well, technically). In the Austral-Asia Cup in Sharjah in April 1994, Arshad Laeeq represented the United Arab Emirates. His brother Athar Laeeq was also selected for the tournament, but representing their native Pakistan. Unfortunately Athar did not get a chance to play in any of the matches, but he was the 12th man in the game against the UAE. Both Arshad and Athar Laeeq were on the field representing different countries, when Arshad was batting and Athar was a substitute fielder for around ten minutes."