Is Ben Stokes the highest run-getter among Ashes players who were born outside England or Australia?

England had two batters score 150 in Sydney, but still lost. How often has this happened in Tests? asked Ed Riley from Australia
England went down to defeat in Sydney last week despite Joe Root scoring 160 in the first innings, and Jacob Bethell a superb 154 in the second. This was only the eighth time a team had lost a Test in which two of their batters reached 150. England also did it last July at Edgbaston, when 158 from Harry Brook and an undefeated 184 from Jamie Smith couldn't prevent India winning by 336 runs, and in Wellington in February 2023, when New Zealand squeaked home by one run despite Root making 153 not out and Brook 186.

There were only two such instances before 2006: by Australia in Sydney in 1894, when 201 by Syd Gregory and 161 from George Giffen was not enough to prevent England winning by ten runs after following on, and in Melbourne in 1925, when Australia won by 81 runs despite Jack Hobbs (154) and Herbert Sutcliffe (176) sharing an opening partnership of 283 in England's first innings.

Jacob Bethell was only the sixth England batter to score his maiden first-class century in a Test. Bethell also made his maiden List A century in a one-day international - 110 against South Africa in Southampton in September. It was his only other century in professional cricket before his Sydney heroics.

There were seven fifty partnerships in Australia's first innings in Sydney. Was this a record? asked Declan Morrison from England
Australia's first innings of 567 in the final Ashes Test in Sydney did indeed contain seven partnerships of 50 or more, the highest being 107 for the eighth wicket between Steven Smith and Beau Webster (Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne put on 105). This turns out to be one short of the Test record: there were eight 50-plus partnerships in India's 664 at The Oval in 2007, when Anil Kumble scored his only Test century. There have been 33 instances of six 50-plus stands in a Test innings.

Travis Head has scored 12 Test centuries, 11 of them in Australia. Is this the highest percentage? asked Lewis James from Australia
The only one of Travis Head's dozen Test centuries that was not in Australia was his match-winning 163 in the World Test Championship final against India at The Oval (technically a neutral ground) in 2023.

Nobody has scored as many Test centuries with only one away from home: Mominul Haque currently has 13 Test tons, with only two of them outside Bangladesh. His first nine were at home before he made 127 against Sri Lanka in Pallekele in 2021. John Wright and Rohit Sharma both hit a dozen Test centuries, with only two of them away from home; Marnus Labuschagne currently has 11, only two outside Australia.

The most Test centuries without any away from home is five, by India's Chandu Borde and the old England captain Stanley Jackson, whose 20 Tests between 1893 and 1905 all came in England.

There were quite a few players in this Ashes series who were not born in England or Australia. Who are the leading Ashes run-scorers and wicket-takers who were born in other countries? asked Rhett Macdonald from Zimbabwe
The leading run-scorer in England-Australia Tests who was not born in either country is Colin Cowdrey - who was born in India - with 2433. Next come Kevin Pietersen (South Africa) with 2158, Ben Stokes (New Zealand) 1746, and Nasser Hussain (India) 1581, not far ahead of the leading Australian, Usman Khawaja (Pakistan) with 1554.

It's a different story for the bowlers, with an Australian player leading the way: Clarrie Grimmett, who was born in New Zealand, took 106 wickets in Ashes Tests. Next comes England's Andy Caddick (also born in New Zealand) with 64 wickets; Stokes has so far taken 56.

I noticed that Will Jacks's initials are WG. Apart from Dr Grace, how many other WGs have played for England? asked Lionel Harris from England
Surrey's William George Jacks is only the third WG to play for England, following the rather more famous WG Grace, who won 22 caps in the 19th century, and the Warwickshire batter Willie Quaife (another William George). Quaife played seven Tests for England during a long county career - he scored 115 in his final first-class innings for Warwickshire, against Derbyshire at Edgbaston in 1928, when he was 56. Quaife is probably best remembered for another match against Derbyshire, at Derby in June 1922, when he and his son Bernard shared a partnership of 49 during which they faced the bowling of Bill Bestwick and his son Robert.

And there are some updates to the recent question about Test cricketers who became ambassadors and similar:
"You can add the West Indian wicketkeeper Deryck Murray to your list of cricketing diplomats," writes David Harris. "He worked in Trinidad and Tobago's Foreign Service for several years. He was his country's Permanent Representative (ambassador) to the United Nations, and was High Commissioner to Jamaica from 2019 to 2023." In addition, "Haseeb Ahsan was the honorary Counsel General of Ireland in Pakistan," writes Tux from the UAE.