Low bowling averages, and unproductive Test careers

	Lean and mean: McGrath got his international wickets at under 22 © Getty Images Enlarge
Related Links Ask Steven : Last week's column: The worst starts, and the best records against Australia

Is there any bowler who has taken more than 500 international wickets at an average of less than 20? asked Faisal Jaan from the Netherlands

The short answer is that there isn't: the lowest average for anyone with more than 500 international wickets is 21.76, by Australia's Glenn McGrath, who took 949 wickets all told (563 in Tests, 381 in ODIs, and five in Twenty20 internationals). Just behind him come South Africa's Allan Donald (602 at 22.04), Richard Hadlee of New Zealand (589 at 22.10), and West Indies' Curtly Ambrose (630 at 22.11). If you drop the qualification a little, another West Indian leads the way: Joel Garner took 405 international wickets at just 20.20. The most international wickets by anyone who ended with an average of less than 20 is 189, by the great English bowler Sydney Barnes, who took 189 at an average of 16.43 in just 27 Tests (no pesky one-day or Twenty20 internationals in his day!).

I spotted last week the birthday of the wonderfully named Clarence Wimble, whose only Test for South Africa brought him a pair, no wickets and no catches. Are there many players with equally inauspicious Test careers? asked Paul Molloy from Hong Kong

Rather surprisingly, Clarence Wimble is one of 22 players who failed to score a run or take a wicket or a catch in their only Test match. Not all of them bagged a pair, though (not everyone batted twice): one of those who did was Gavin Hamilton, of England (and Scotland), who collected two ducks and bowling figures of none for 63 in his only Test, against South Africa in Johannesburg in 1999-2000. For the record, pairs were also recorded by Percy Twentyman-Jones and Percy "Plum" Lewis of South Africa, and the New Zealander Len Butterfield.

Has any player ever recorded 100 first-class ducks? asked Martin Denney from Australia

There are actually 49 players who have been dismissed for nought on 100 or more occasions in first-class cricket, almost all of them long-serving English county players. The overall leader, with 156 scoreless innings, is the old Worcestershire and England fast bowler Reg Perks, whose career stretched from 1930 to 1955. In second place, with 150, is the Gloucestershire and England slow left-armer Charlie Parker (1903-35). The most recent man to complete a century of ducks is the West Indian Courtney Walsh, who finished with 103, a record 43 of them in Tests (for a list of the leading Test duck-baggers, click here).

Who has won the most Man-of-the-Match awards in Tests or ODIs in a losing cause? asked Eddy Sheppard from New Zealand

The record in one-day internationals is five, shared by Pakistan's Javed Miandad and Sachin Tendulkar of India. Four other players have won four awards in matches their side lost - Chris Gayle of West Indies, Pakistan's Inzamam-ul-Haq, and Zimbabwe's Flower brothers Andy and Grant. Tendulkar is also the co-leader in Tests with three (remember that in Test terms the Man-of-the-Match award is a fairly recent innovation), along with Pakistan's Wasim Akram and Mohammad Ashraful of Bangladesh.

This is regarding Warne and Murali: which of them averages better and has taken more wickets in Tests if you exclude Bangladesh and Zimbabwe? asked Harshvardhan from India

If you disregard performances against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe then Shane Warne has taken more wickets - 691 - but Muttiah Muralitharan has a better average, as his 594 wickets cost 24.28 to Warne's 25.41. So far Murali has taken 89 wickets (at 13.37) in 11 Tests against Bangladesh, and 87 at 16.86 in 14 matches against Zimbabwe. Warne, on the other hand, played only once against Zimbabwe and twice against Bangladesh, taking six and 11 wickets respectively.

I believe Vinoo Mankad and Wilfred Rhodes batted in every position in Test matches. Has anyone else done this? asked Harshit Shah from the United States

Vinoo Mankad of India and England's Wilfred Rhodes are indeed two of the four players who have gone in at every position in the batting order (counting opening as both No. 1 and 2, as we're not always sure who faced the first ball). The other two are the early Australian, Syd Gregory (unique among this quartet in being an out-and-out batsman), and the Pakistani allrounder Nasim-ul-Ghani.