The most fourth-innings hundreds, and Bradman's nineties

Ramnaresh Sarwan's 106 against England was his fourth century in the fourth innings of a Test. Where does he stand on the list of most fourth-innings hundreds? asked Vijay Kumar from Guyana

That century by Ramnaresh Sarwan last week at St John's was indeed his fourth in the fourth innings of a Test. He is only the third batsman to make as many as that, following Sunil Gavaskar of India and Australia's Ricky Ponting. Neither Ponting nor Sarwan lost any of the matches in which they scored hundreds in the final innings, but Gavaskar did make one in vain - against Australia in Brisbane in 1977-78. Eight other players have scored three fourth-innings hundreds in Tests: Geoff Boycott, Don Bradman, Graham Gooch, Gordon Greenidge, Graeme Smith, Herbert Sutcliffe, Sachin Tendulkar and Younis Khan.

Was Don Bradman ever out in the nineties in a Test? asked Rick Harris from Byron Bay

Don Bradman reached the nineties 29 times in Tests - and made it through them 29 times. The closest he got to 100 without getting there was at Lord's in 1948, when he was out for 89. The Don was not quite as clinical in first-class cricket - he was out in the nineties on six occasions in all. The first one was in a festival match at Scarborough at the end of Australia's 1930 tour of England, when he was bowled by Charlie Parker for 96; at the end of the Bodyline season of 1932-33, playing for New South Wales, he was bowled by Phil "Perker" Lee of South Australia for 97 in Sydney; for NSW against the Rest in Sydney the following summer he was bowled by Hans Ebeling for 92; in Adelaide in 1937-38, by now playing for South Australia, he was caught off Bill O'Reilly for 91; in Brisbane in 1939-40 he was caught behind by Don Tallon off Geoff Cook for 97; and finally, on that 1948 tour, he fell for 98 - the nearest he ever got to a century without making one - during the Australians' match against MCC at Lord's, giving the almost unknown Lancashire and Army fast bowler John Deighton his 15 minutes of fame.

With the recent successful opening partnership between Michael Clarke and Brad Haddin, I'm trying to remember when Australia last opened with two right-handed batsmen. Can you please shed some light on this? asked Jason Bertles from Australia

There was one instance in the Twenty20 international against South Africa in Brisbane in 2005-06, when James Hopes and Damien Martyn opened, but the last time it happened in a one-day international was in 2001-02 in Sydney, when Mark Waugh went in first with Ryan Campbell. The last pair of right-handers to open regularly for Australia in Tests were Michael Slater and Greg Blewett in 1999-2000.

How many Pakistanis have scored one-day international centuries in Australia? asked Baber Malik from Pakistan

If you point is that there haven't been very many, you're right: Pakistan have played 45 one-day internationals on Australian soil, but there have been only nine individual centuries for them in those games. Aamer Sohail, Ijaz Ahmed, Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Yousuf, Saeed Anwar and Zaheer Abbas have made one each, but the clear leader, with three - two of them in successive matches against Sri Lanka in 1989-90, and another against West Indies in the 1991-92 World Cup - is Ramiz Raja. Pakistan's highest score in an ODI in Australia is 126, by Saeed Anwar against Sri Lanka in Adelaide in 1989-90 (Ramiz made one of his hundreds in the same game, and they put on 202 for the first wicket). Only one of Pakistan's centuries Down Under was actually scored against Australia - Zaheer Abbas' 108 in Sydney in 1981-82.

In West Indies' recent victory at Kingston, Sulieman Benn conceded 31 of the 51 runs England scored. Is this is the highest percentage of the total score that a single bowler has conceded in a completed innings? asked Raghav Shankar from the UK

Sulieman Benn's 60.78% of the innings runs conceded lies 11th on this particular list, which is headed by the England fast bowler Hugh Bromley-Davenport, who took 1 for 23 in Port Elizabeth in 1895-96 as South Africa were shot out for 30 (George Lohmann took 8 for 7). Bromley-Davenport therefore conceded 76.66% of the innings total. In fourth place is Kapil Dev of India, who conceded 70 of England's 102 runs (68.62%) in Bombay in 1981-82, while Dennis Lillee lies sixth with 68 out of 106 (64.15%) for Australia against Pakistan in Sydney in 1972-73.

Ajantha Mendis took 48 wickets in one-day internationals in 2008. Is this the most by a bowler in any year, or at least in his first year of international cricket? asked Neville Silva from Colombo

Ajantha Mendis did indeed take 48 wickets - at the excellent average of 10.12 - in one-day internationals during 2008. As this list shows, that puts him some way down the overall list, which is headed by Pakistan's Saqlain Mushtaq, who took 69 wickets in 1997. The ODI record for a player's first year in international cricket is 58 wickets, by Ajit Agarkar of India in 1998.

And there's an update to last week's question about Dave "Tadpole" Mohammed of West Indies: from Vashisht from the West Indies

"About the question regarding the cricketer informally known as 'Tadpole', it indeed is Dave Mohammed of Trinidad & Tobago, but I do not think the nickname is a result of his lineage. I believe it came from an international game. When West Indies were in the field, Mohammed dived after the ball, and had to scramble to collect the ricochet: the movement was likened to the wriggling of a tadpole, hence the name ..." On the other hand, Clarence Rambharat says: "Dave got the name because of his dark complexion and small stature. The tadpole which grows into a frog is dark-coloured and scrawny. It is found in canals, especially in the countryside... like Barrackpore, where Dave grew up."