Players whose first-class or international careers weren't quite run of the mill

Also: the last lob bowler, the last everyday hero, cricketers at Wimbledon, and more shared birthdays

England Test players who were born 4000 miles away

Also: most Tests as a captain, Blowers' near-Test debut, nine bowleds in an innings, and racquet-wielding cricketers

Players with names related to the game's terminology

Also: centuries in a collapse, lowest score to carry his bat, the longest over, and a cricketing victim of the September 11 attack

Players who troubled the scorers with their long names

Also: the youngest bowler to take a wicket, the author of Flying Stumps, and 19th century selectorial issues

The stories behind the highest individual scores in Tests

Also: five hundreds in an innings, captains' fourth-innings tons, all ten bowled, and most overs bowled in an innings

Trivia about the Almanack you may not have heard before, including factoids about Britain's canals

Also: career captains, most Test runs without a duck, most runs in a successful chase, and most runs in away matches

Also: three six-fors in one Test, most runs in a Test by a keeper, Greenidge's autobiography, and players who died young

Players who were dismissed because they thought they were, because they wanted to be, because they didn't turn up at the ground, and for other unusual reasons

Also: grounds with one Test hundred, cricket at a curling club, Tendulkar's hundreds in defeats, and Test players born in the USA

Thirty-nine players have played just one Test each for Pakistan. Here's a selection of them

Also: highest percentage of runs in ODIs, most stumpings by a bowler, oldest Ranji Trophy player, and very international debuts

Eleven recommended cricket books

Also: the Gabba's top scorers, the Don v the rest, longest wait for an ODI hundred, and single-game venues

Players who turned out for India in only one Test