Shortest T20Is, sixless T20Is, and Kiwis who played for Australia

What is the progressive list of the leading Test run scorers, and who has held the record for longest? asked Zobel al Monsor from Bangladesh
Charles Bannerman, who scored a century in the first Test of all in 1876-77, was the first table-topper in this particular list. He played in only two more Tests, and finished his short career with 239 runs. England's George Ulyett overtook that in 1881-82, and extended the record to 676, but was surpassed in 1884 by Australia's Billy Murdoch, who took it to 860. Arthur Shrewsbury reclaimed the record for England in 1886, and soon after became the first man to score 1000 runs in Tests: his eventual mark of 1277 stood until 1901-02, when first Joe Darling (1293) then Syd Gregory (1366) went past it. Then things got even more complicated - in all the record changed hands nine times in 1902! In the Ashes series in England, the lead was exchanged during the Lord's, Sheffield and Oval Tests. Archie MacLaren reclaimed the mark for the home side, and took it to 1432, but then traded blows with another Australian, Clem Hill, who became the first to pass1500, By the end of the year Hill had sole possession, and extended the mark to 3412 - which stood until 1924-25, when the great England opener Jack Hobbs took the lead. He finished with 5410 runs, a record that lasted until 1937, when Wally Hammond went past it - and held the record for a record 33 years. His eventual 7249 runs was not beaten until 1970-71, when Colin Cowdrey nipped past to 7459 - but in 14 months he was overtaken by Garfield Sobers, whose eventual tally of 8032 runs lasted eight and a half years before Geoff Boycott extended it to 8114 in 1981-82. That mark survived less than two years before Sunil Gavaskar - the first to 10,000 - took the lead, and his eventual 10,122 lasted more than nine years until Allan Border went by in 1992-93, on his way to 11,174. Brian Lara surpassed that in 2005-06, going on to 11,953 - but Sachin Tendulkar took the lead in October 2008, and has so far spent more than seven years on top, his final aggregate a commanding 15,921 runs.

Was the Six6 match between Ireland and the Netherlands the other day the shortest completed T20 international? asked Henry Davidson from England
The rain-shortened World T20 qualifier in Dharamsala at the weekend was, at 72 deliveries, the shortest T20I so far to produce a definite result. There have been three shorter games in which some play was possible - including Ireland's match against Bangladesh in Dharamsala two days previously - plus five complete washouts. The shortest completed game before this weekend was New Zealand's victory over Scotland at The Oval during the World T20 in England in 2009. That was shortened to seven overs per side, but New Zealand reached their target of 90 with six balls in hand.

The India-Pakistan Asia Cup T20 match featured no sixes. What's the highest aggregate in ODIs and T20s without any sixes at all? asked Vinay Narayanaswamy from India
The highest aggregate in a one-day international with no sixes is 549, by South Africa (274 for 6) and Pakistan (275 for 9) in Dubai in 2010-11. Next comes the 533 of the famous match in the inaugural World Cup in 1975, in which West Indies (267 for 9) just sneaked home against Pakistan (266 for 7) at Edgbaston thanks to a last-wicket stand of 64. The highest sixless aggregate in a T20I is 255 runs, in the match between England (129 for 5) and Pakistan (126 for 4) in Cardiff in 2010. The recent match between Pakistan (83) and India (85 for 5) in Mirpur, which produced just 168 runs in all, lies fifth on that list.

Have any New Zealand-born cricketers ever played for Australia? asked Pat from Australia
Only three men who were born in New Zealand have played Tests for Australia. The first one was an awfully long time ago: Tom Groube, who first saw the light of day in New Plymouth in 1857, won his only cap in the first Test ever played in England, at The Oval in 1880. He scored 11 and a first-ball duck, and never appeared again. The next Australian Kiwi was the most famous: legspinner Clarrie Grimmett, born near Dunedin on Christmas Day in 1891, played 37 times between 1924-25 and 1935-36 (when he was 44), and was the first bowler from anywhere to take 200 Test wickets. More recently, the left-arm fast bowler Brendon Julian, who was born in Hamilton, played seven Tests for Australia in the 1990s; he's now a familiar face on TV. In all 23 men not born in Australia have played Tests for them, six in the first match of all in 1876-77 (five from the British Isles and one born in India). The most recent addition to the list is the left-arm spinner Steve O'Keefe, who was born in Malaysia in 1984, while his father was serving in the Royal Australian Air Force there. Luke Ronchi, who was born in Dannevirke in New Zealand in 1981, played four one-day and three T20Is for Australia in 2008 and 2009, before returning home; he made his debut for New Zealand in 2013, and has now played nearly 90 matches for them, including one Test. Fawad Ahmed (born in Pakistan in 1982) and Ken MacLeay (born in England in 1959) have also played limited-overs matches for Australia.

In a recent World T20 warm-up game, Colin Munro hit seven sixes and no fours in his innings. What are the records in all formats for sixes when no fours were hit by the batsman? asked Craig Manuel from South Africa
Colin Munro's seven sixes in that warm-up game against Sri Lanka in Mumbai last week would have been a record had the match been an official T20l, which it wasn't. As it is, the record remains at five sixes but no fours, which has happened four times - by Abdul Razzaq for Pakistan v England in Dubai in February 2010, Albie Morkel for South Africa v New Zealand in the World T20 in Bridgetown in May 2010, Cameron White for Australia v Pakistan in St Lucia a few days later in the semi-final of that same tournament, and by Ziaur Rahman for Bangladesh against Ireland in Belfast in July 2012. Ziaur faced only 17 balls, Razzaq and Morkel 18. The one-day international record is held by England's Paul Collingwood, who hit six sixes (but no fours) in his unbeaten 54 from 30 deliveries against New Zealand in Napier in 2007-08. The Test record appears to be four, by Nixon McLean for West Indies v South Africa in Port Elizabeth in 1998-99, and Andrew Flintoff for the ICC World XI against Australia in Sydney in 2005-06 (there may be some other instances in earlier matches, for which precise details are not known).

Which batsman had the best Test average after ten matches? Was it Vinod Kambli? asked Rajat Gupta from India
Vinod Kambli actually comes in third on this particular list: his batting average after ten Tests was 93.70, behind only the Australian pair of Neil Harvey (95.00) and the inevitable Don Bradman (96.40). The Sri Lankan Thilan Samaraweera (83.00) comes next, ahead of Herbert Sutcliffe (79.77) and Everton Weekes (75.00). In all there 25 batsmen have averaged 60 or more after ten Tests, a number that drops to 12 if you raise the bar to 20 matches - Bradman still leads the way with 111.92, ahead of Mike Hussey with 84.80 and Sutcliffe on 68.82. Adam Voges currently averages 95.50 after 15 Tests, behind only Bradman's 100.71. I wonder how long he can keep that up?

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