Test cricket's lack of centurions, and the most ODI runs without a hundred

	Eric Tindill is a year short of becoming the first Test cricketer to live to be a hundred © Getty Images Enlarge
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Is it true that no Test cricketer has made a century in real life - that is, none of them has reached 100 years of age? asked Raghunath from India
It is true that no Test cricketer is known to have reached 100 years of age (there are one or two whose death details are not known, but I think it's safe to assume that none of them reached three figures). The record for the oldest-lived Test cricketer changed hands recently: the New Zealander Eric Tindill, who was born on December 18, 1910, overtook England's Francis MacKinnon, who was 98 years 324 days old when he died in 1947. The MacKinnon of MacKinnon played one Test for England, in Melbourne in 1878-79. This recent article on Cricinfo celebrated the achievement of Tindill - who, apart from winning five Test caps, also played rugby union for New Zealand: he later umpired a Test and refereed rugby internationals too.

I know Shane Warne has scored the most runs in Tests without a century, but who holds the equivalent record in one-day internationals? asked Mohammad Miran from Karachi
The leader in ODIs is Pakistan's Wasim Akram, who made 3717 runs in 356 matches with a highest score of 86. Second is another Pakistani, Moin Khan, with 3266 runs, not far ahead of Zimbabwe's Heath Streak (2943). In fourth place is the first out-and-out batsman, Andrew Jones of New Zealand, who passed 50 no fewer than 25 times on his way to making 2784 runs in ODIs - but never made it to three figures. You're right about the Test leader: Shane Warne made 3154 runs with a highest score of 99, and is more than 1000 runs clear of the second-placed man, India's Chetan Chauhan (2084).

How many people have captained their country on their Test debut? asked Sarandeep Nayyar from Amritsar
In total there have now been 32 players who have captained in their first Test match. That list includes the first-time captains of all the Test-playing nations (except Pakistan, whose first skipper, Abdul Hafeez Kardar, had already played for India), and there are also a lot of early England captains, dating from the days when an amateur player was often plucked out of relative obscurity to lead a touring side. Since the Second World War, however, there have only been seven such occurrences, and three of those came in the inaugural Tests for Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. The other instances involved a trio of Englishmen: George Mann, who captained on his debut in South Africa in 1948-49 (his father, Frank Mann, had done likewise in 1922-23); Nigel Howard, in India in 1951-52; and Tony Lewis, also in India, in 1972-73. The other one is New Zealand's Lee Germon, who captained on his Test debut against India in Bangalore in 1995-96. For the full list, click here.

When India made 347 against Australia recently, they were all out inside their 50 overs. Is this the highest score when all 10 batsmen were all out before the 50 overs were up? asked Hredai from India
India's 347 in 49.4 overs in Hyderabad last week turns out to be the second-highest all-out total in one-day internationals "inside the distance" of 50 overs. The only higher total is Pakistan's 349 all out in 49.5 overs against Zimbabwe in Kingston in the 2006-07 World Cup.

What is the most lbws in an international innings, and a match? asked Konrad Kachel from Poland
The most lbws in any Test innings is seven, which has happened twice: first by Zimbabwe against England at Chester-le-Street in 2003, and then again by New Zealand against Australia in Christchurch in 2004-05. For a full list, click here. The record in a Test match is 17 lbws (out of 40 wickets), in the match between West Indies and Pakistan in Port-of-Spain in 1992-93. For that list, click here. The record for a one-day international innings is six lbws, which has also happened twice, both of them with Sri Lanka the bowling side: by New Zealand in Auckland in 2006-07, and by Zimbabwe in Harare in 2008-09. And the record for both sides in an ODI is eight lbws, which again has occurred twice: in the World Cup semi-final between England and Australia at Headingley in 1975, and in the match between New Zealand and Pakistan in Sharjah in 1996-97.

I know that five players have made double-centuries on Test debut, but did any of them make another double-hundred in a Test? asked Annie Mathew from the United Arab Emirates
You're right - five players have made a double-century in their first Test. Two of them made another double-century later in their career: Lawrence Rowe of West Indies scored 302 against England in Bridgetown in 1973-74 (and five further hundreds), while New Zealand's Mathew Sinclair added 204 not out against Pakistan in Christchurch in 2000-01 to his debut double in December 1999 (and his third and last Test century was a score of 150). Of the others, Reginald "Tip" Foster and Sri Lanka's Brendon Kuruppu never made another Test century, while Jacques Rudolph made four more for South Africa before becoming a Yorkshireman, but the highest of them was 154 not out against New Zealand in Auckland in 2003-04.