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Is Kyle Jamieson the tallest man ever to play for New Zealand?

Also: were Eoin Morgan's seven sixes with no fours against South Africa a record in T20Is?

Steven Lynch
Steven Lynch
25-Feb-2020
Kyle Jamieson is a centimetre taller than "Two-Metre Peter" Fulton  •  Getty Images

Kyle Jamieson is a centimetre taller than "Two-Metre Peter" Fulton  •  Getty Images

In the last T20I against South Africa, Eoin Morgan hit seven sixes but no fours. Was this a record? asked Richard Hall from England
Eoin Morgan's match-winning burst against South Africa in Centurion earlier this month was actually the third innings in all men's internationals (note that the number of fours hit by Jimmy Sinclair in the Cape Town Test of 1902 is not known) - but the first for a Test-playing country - to contain seven sixes but no fours.
The other two instances both came in T20 matches between Associate member teams last year. In July, Norman Vanua of Papua New Guinea thrashed 47 from 12 balls, including seven sixes, against Vanuatu in Apia (Samoa), then the following month Razmal Shigiwal of Austria belted seven sixes (but no fours) in his 53 against Luxembourg in Ilfov (Romania).
The Test record was also set in 2019: Umesh Yadav's 31 for India against South Africa in Ranchi in October contained five sixes but no fours.
Is Kyle Jamieson the tallest man ever to play for New Zealand? asked Greg Willis from New Zealand
The Auckland fast bowler Kyle Jamieson, who made a stunning debut in Wellington, dismissing Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli in his first four overs, does seem to be the tallest man to play a Test for New Zealand. He is reportedly 203cm tall - that's six foot eight inches - which is a centimetre more than Peter Fulton, a batsman who rejoiced in the nickname "Two-Metre Peter". Fulton's finest hour was scoring 136 and 101 - his only two Test centuries - against England in Auckland in 2012-13. Some sources, however, suggest that fast bowler Kerry Walmsley, who played three Tests for New Zealand between 1995 and 2000, is also 6ft 8in.
As well as taking a wicket with his first ball in international cricket, Khizar Hayat of Malaysia took a second wicket before conceding his first run. Was this unique? asked Derek Rouse from England
The Peshawar-born seamer Khizar Hayat had a dream start to his representative career: in an official T20I for Malaysia against Hong Kong in Kuala Lumpur last week, he dismissed Kinchit Shah with his first ball, and Scott McKechnie with his fourth, before conceding a run: he finished with 5 for 4 in his two overs as Malaysia won a rain-affected match.
Eight other men are known to have started by taking two international wickets before conceding a run - including Hayat's Malaysian team-mate, slow left-armer Anwar Rahman, who actually struck with his first two deliveries, against the Maldives in Kuala Lumpur in June 2019. One which I happened to see was the England seamer Richard Johnson, in his first over in a Test, against Zimbabwe in Chester-Le-Street in 2003. The others are the Australians Tom Horan (the only other one in a Test) and Trevor Laughlin, Martin van Jaarsveld of South Africa, Sri Lanka's Dhammika Prasad, and the Dutchmen Bernard Loots and Daan van Bunge (thanks to Andrew Samson for his help with this one). But pride of place has to go to the Nepal offspinner Anjali Chand, who marked her official T20 international debut last December with 6 for 0, including a hat-trick, against the Maldives in Pokhara (Nepal).
Pakistan have played eight Tests in Wellington and have never lost one. Is this the most at any foreign venue by a visiting team? asked Harshit Goyal from the United States
Pakistan's eight Tests without defeat at the Basin Reserve - they have won three times there - comes in second on this particular list: Sri Lanka have played nine Tests at the Harare Sports Club in Zimbabwe without defeat, winning five. South Africa have also played seven Tests in Wellington without ever losing, while England are undefeated in seven in Delhi. England have also never lost in six Tests in Kanpur, while India have drawn all six of their Tests in Georgetown; New Zealand have won five out of six at Bulawayo's Queens Club, with one draw.
Have any cricketers born in the USA played for England? asked Divyesh Patel from England
Only two players born in the USA have appeared in Tests so far, and neither of them did so for England. The first was Kenneth "Bam Bam" Weekes, who was born in Boston, Massachusetts: he played only twice for West Indies, but did score 137 in his second match, against England at The Oval in 1939, in the last Test before WWII. The other was Jehan Mubarak, who played 13 Tests for Sri Lanka between 2002 and 2015: he was born in Washington DC in 1981, while his father was working there as a scientist.
There might soon be an addition to the list: the West Indian legspinner Hayden Walsh was born in the US Virgin Islands. He played nine white-ball internationals for the USA last year, before making his West Indies debut against Afghanistan in Lucknow in November.
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Steven Lynch is the editor of the updated edition of Wisden on the Ashes