| Series | Countries | Live Scores | Fixtures | Results | News |
Features
|
Photos | Blogs | Statistics | Archive | Video & Audio | Games | Mobile | |||||||||||||||||||||
|
No. 11 top-scoring, most wickets without a five-for, and identical scores in both innings of a Test
October 20, 2009
![]()
|
|||
|
Related Links
|
|||
A player called Mohammad Irfan, who has made his debut in domestic cricket this season, is 7ft 2in tall according to some reports (but only 6ft 8 in others). Is he the tallest first-class cricketer of all time? asked Osman Samiuddin
The precise heights of players have not always been recorded down the years, but I am aware of at least a couple who are also 6ft 10in tall: the opening batsman Will Jefferson, who has just left Nottinghamshire, and a 1970s fast bowler called Paul Dunkels, who played a few matches for Warwickshire. I believe the tallest Test players were Joel Garner and Bruce Reid, at 6ft 8in.
After all the fuss made about James Anderson's belated first duck in Tests, I wondered who had played the most ODIs without bagging a zero? asked Wade Jaskelic from Melbourne
The leader by a distance on this list is Kepler Wessels, who had 105 innings in 109 one-day internationals (54 for Australia, 55 for South Africa) without ever being out for a duck. In second place, a long way behind, are Peter Kirsten of South Africa and India's Yashpal Sharma, who both had 40 innings in ODIs without getting out for 0. For a full list, click here.
Has there ever been a Test in which a player batting at No. 11 has made the highest score in an innings? asked Akhilesh Chandra Gupta from India
This has now been achieved seven times in Tests, most recently by Steve Harmison, with 42 of England's 304 against South Africa in Cape Town in 2004-05. The first instance came in 1884-85, when Fred Spofforth made 50 not out (the first of 12 half-centuries by No. 11s in Tests) out of Australia's 163 against England in Melbourne. For a full list, click here.
What is the highest score that a batsman has scored in both innings of a Test? asked Abdul Karim from Lahore
This list is topped by the former Sri Lanka captain Duleep Mendis, who scored 105 in both innings against India in Chennai. Next comes Alvin Kallicharran, who hit 80 in both innings for West Indies against England at The Oval in 1973, just ahead of Majid Khan, who made a brace of 79s for Pakistan against New Zealand in Wellington in 1972-73.
Who has taken the most Test wickets without ever taking five wickets in an innings? asked Colin
This bittersweet list is still headed by Mike Hendrick, the England seamer of the 1970s, who took 87 wickets with a best return of 4 for 28, against India at Edgbaston in 1974. He took four wickets in an innings on four further occasions, without ever managing a five-for. But coming up on the rails is Bangladesh's Mashrafe Mortaza, who has so far taken 78 Test wickets with a best analysis of 4 for 60 against England in Chittagong in 2003-04.
I noticed in one of the recent one-dayers against Zimbabwe that Kenya's Lameck Onyango went for 91 off his 10 overs. Is this a record? asked Gary Donoghue from Australia
In that match in Harare last week Lameck Onyango actually became the 15th bowler to concede 90 or more runs in a one-day international. Three of them topped the hundred mark: two New Zealanders, in Martin Snedden (12 overs for 105 against England at The Oval in the 1983 World Cup) and Tim Southee (10 overs for 105 against India in Christchurch in 2008-09), and the overall leader Mick Lewis, whose 10 overs in the famous run-fest against South Africa in Johannesburg in 2005-06 disappeared for 113 runs. It's probably no great surprise that that was Lewis' last match for Australia. For a full list, click here.
Steven Lynch is the editor of the Cricinfo Guide to International Cricket (reviewed here). If you want to ask Steven a question, use our feedback form. The most interesting questions will be answered here each week
© ESPN EMEA Ltd.
Steven Lynch won the Wisden Cricket Monthly Christmas Quiz three years
running before the then-editor said "I can't let you win it again, but would
you like a job?" That lasted for 15 years, before he moved across to the
Wisden website when that was set up in 2000. Following the merger of the two
sites early in 2003 he was appointed as the global editor of Wisden
Cricinfo. In June 2005 he became the deputy editor of Wisden Cricketers'
Almanack. He continues to contribute the popular weekly "Ask Steven"
question-and-answer column on ESPNcricinfo, and edits the Wisden Guide to
International Cricket.

'You need to change the way the batsman plays'
Tony Greig, Mark Waugh and Brian Close on the art of fielding close in. Interviews by Dan Brettig and Nagraj Gollapudi
'England's batting has been shocking'
Bowl at Boycs: Geoff Boycott on Pakistan's resurgence, the challenges ahead for England and Sri Lanka, the Woolf report, and Yuvraj's illness
Switch Hit: England are caught in a spin again. George Dobell joins Jon Harris-Bass and the team to put doubts over his action to bed
Saad Shafqat: The clean sweep of England is surely their greatest achievement in Test cricket to date
Pak Spin: a masterclass from Pakistan's unassuming warrior
Dhoni and Sehwag share a moment
ESPNcricinfo presents the Plays of the Day from the second Twenty20 international between Australia and India, in Melbourne
Swann v Ajmal: clash of the offspinners
They're the two best spinners in Test cricket over the last 30 months, and while their overall stats are similar, the break-ups are quite different
India were on tonight. It was like it was all coming back to someone who had lost his memory in the first half of a Bollywood film. Simple things but somehow forgotten
The last we've seen of India's old middle order
Dravid and Laxman will know their time is up. And Tendulkar will go sooner than later too
Mumbai Indians strengthened; Kings XI look weak
An analysis of how franchises fared at the 2012 IPL auction
Pakistan rewarded for smart rebuilding (137)
After the events of 2010 Pakistan cricket could have withered away, but due to a combination of determination and desire they are now flourishing
The problem's not Test cricket, it's bad Test cricket (125)
It is the product that matters. If the interest in Test cricket is declining, it is because the standard is not all that high
The last we've seen of India's old middle order (123)
Dravid and Laxman will know their time is up. And Tendulkar will go sooner than later too
Pakistan show England how it's done in Asia (107)
Unlike England, Pakistan used their bats instead of their pads. Unlike England, they retained their composure during the inevitable scoreless periods and, unlike England, they played straight until they were well set
Unravelling the mystery of Ajmal (104)
The ICC have explained the science behind the offspinner's action after a TV interview caused confusion
Access your Indian Rupee earnings from anywhere in the world.
ICICI Bank Money2India brings " locked exchange rate" and a free gift
on registering and transfer of USD 250 and above.
FREE copy of Playfair with every Wisden pre-order
At Cricshop.com