Are Rehan Ahmed and Shoaib Bashir England's youngest ever bowler-fielder combination?

Yashasvi Jaiswal scored 209 in the second Test, while no one else made more than 34. Was this a record? asked Amrit Apte from India
That superb knock by Yashasvi Jaiswal against England in Visakhapatnam turns out to be part of only the seventh Test innings to contain a double-century but no other individual score of more than 50.

The next-highest score in Vizag was Shubman Gill's 34: when Brian Lara made 226 against Australia in Adelaide in 2005-06, the next-best was also 34, by Dwayne Bravo. The highest score in a Test innings which didn't contain any other fifties remains 262 not out, by Dennis Amiss for England vs West Indies in Kingston in 1973-74, when the next-highest was John Jameson's 38.

Kane Williamson has converted his last seven 50-plus scores in Tests into centuries. Has anyone had a better streak? asked Saleem Siddiqui from the United States
Kane Williamson's twin tons against South Africa in Mount Maunganui last week did extend his run of converted half-centuries to seven. Actually, he couldn't do much about the innings that preceded his seven centuries - he had 52 not out when New Zealand completed victory over India in the inaugural World Test Championship final in Southampton in 2021: Williamson has now scored ten Test centuries since being dismissed between 50 and 99.

His seventh century put him clear of a distinguished band who turned six successive half-centuries into three-figures scores: Asif Iqbal, Alastair Cook, George Headley, Javed Miandad, Mahela Jayawardene, Virat Kohli, Garry Sobers, Andrew Strauss, Marcus Trescothick and Steve Waugh. But it's no great surprise to find one man well clear of the field: between 1928-29 and 1932-33, Don Bradman reached 50 on 12 occasions and went on to his hundred every time.

Rehan Ahmed and Shoaib Bashir combined for two wickets in Vizag. Were they the youngest bowler-fielder combination for England? asked Geoffrey Browne from England
Rehan Ahmed, who's 19, caught Axar Patel off the bowling of the 20-year-old debutant Shoaib Bashir in India's first innings in Visakhapatnam: shortly afterwards Bashir returned the favour by catching Srikar Bharat off Rehan's bowling. The combined 39 years (less than Jimmy Anderson - see below!) was indeed the lowest for England: the previous record was 41 years, when Harry Brook (23) caught Pakistan's Agha Salman off the bowling off Rehan (who was then 18) in Karachi in December 2022.

Before Rehan Ahmed's debut, the England record had been set in 2006, when Sri Lanka's Chamara Kapugedera was caught by Alastair Cook off fellow 21-year-old Liam Plunkett at Trent Bridge. The previous combination (20 days older) was a famous one: at The Oval in 1938, Australia's Lindsay Hassett was caught by Denis Compton (20) off the bowling of his Middlesex team-mate Bill Edrich (22).

The record for all countries is a combined total of just 33 years, when Craig Wishart of Zimbabwe was caught by Bangladesh's Mohammad Sharif (a month short of his 16th birthday) off the bowling of Mohammad Ashraful (17) in Chittagong in November 2001.

Jimmy Anderson made his Test debut before two of his team-mates in Vizag were born. Was this a record? asked Keith Anderson from England
England's seemingly ageless opening bowler Jimmy Anderson (actually he's 41) made his Test debut against Zimbabwe at Lord's in 2003. It's true that that was before two of his team-mates in the second Test against India in Visakhapatnam were born - Rehan Ahmedwas born in August 2004 and Shoaib Bashir in October 2003.

This is impressive - but there are two players who appeared in Tests with no fewer than four players who were born after they made their debuts. The England allrounder Wilfred Rhodes made his Test debut in 1899, and against West Indies in Georgetown in 1929-30 lined up alongside Les Ames (born 1905), Leslie Townsend (1903), Bill Voce (1909) and Bob Wyatt (1901). Many years later, Imran Khan won his first cap in June 1971, and in two Tests in 1991-92 appeared alongside Aaqib Javed (born 1972), Moin Khan (September 1971), Waqar Younis (November 1971) and Zahid Fazal (1973).

Mohammad Nabi scored an ODI century the other day at the age of 39 - how many people older than him have done this? asked Zaim Ghaznavi from Pakistan
The durable Afghanistan allrounder Mohammad Nabi scored 136 against Sri Lanka in Pallekele last week. He was aged 39 years 39 days, and became the sixth-oldest man to score a century in a one-day international.

Top of the list is the UAE's Khurram Khan, who was 43 when he made 132 not out against Afghanistan in Dubai in 2014-15. The oldest for a Test-playing country Sanath Jayasuriya, who was 39 when he hit 107 for Sri Lanka against India in Dambulla in January 2009.

In women's ODIs, New Zealand's Barb Bevege was 39 when she made 101 against an International XI in Auckland during the 1981-82 World Cup. here.