Captains' knocks, and Hayden's travails

Which players have got the best batting averages for each position in Tests? asked Derek Parker from England
Pride of place here has to go to the one and only Don Bradman, who averaged 103.53 from No. 3 in Test cricket. Next at the pivotal first-drop position come Ken Barrington (77.23), Wally Hammond (74.78) and Garry Sobers (72.07). The top opener, taking Nos 1 and 2 together, is England's Herbert Sutcliffe (61.10), not far in front of Bruce Mitchell (56.00), and the English knights Len Hutton (56.47) and Jack Hobbs (56.37). At No. 4 it's Dean Jones (71.61), ahead of Sourav Ganguly (66.00) and Sobers (63.75); the top No. 5 is Douglas Jardine (67.83) ahead of the current Australians Steve Smith (66.55 after the Adelaide Test) and Michael Clarke (61.83); while the leading No. 6 is Shivnarine Chanderpaul (64.82), ahead of Imran Khan (61.86) and Ian Bell (59.92). The top No. 7 is the South African allrounder Brian McMillan (58.38); No. 8 is the old West Indian captain John Goddard (42.72); No. 9 the Australian wicketkeeper Bert Oldfield (48.50); No. 10 England's Graeme Swann (25.75); while the highest-averaging No. 11 is Australia's Nathan Lyon, with 21.81 from 31 innings, including 20 not-outs. Note that I've imposed a minimum of 15 innings batted in each position here, to keep out freak averages.

How many Indians have made a century in their first Test as captain, as Virat Kohli did? asked Anirudh Maneck from Delhi
Virat Kohli became the 27th player to score a century in his first Test as captain, in the course of his 115 against Australia in Adelaide last week. Of those, three others were Indian: Vijay Hazare hit 164 not out against England in Delhi in 1951-52, Sunil Gavaskar scored 116 against New Zealand in Auckland in 1975-76, and Dilip Vengsarkar 102 against West Indies in Delhi in 1987-88. The New Zealander Graham Dowling made the highest score on captaincy debut - 239 against India in Christchurch in 1967-68. Shivnarine Chanderpaul also made a double-century in his first Test as captain, with 203 not out against South Africa in Georgetown in 2004-05.

I noticed that during Australia's three-Test series against South Africa in 2005-06, Matthew Hayden was dismissed six times by Makhaya Ntini. Was this a record? asked Jim Retallack from Australia
It turns out that Hayden's travails against Ntini in 2005-06 was the most recent of seven instances of a batsman being dismissed by the same bowler in six successive Test innings (that's all innings, not just ones against the same country). It happened first to England's Walter Read, bagged six times running by Charlie "Terror" Turner of Australia in 1888, and after that to Dilip Vengsarkar (by Imran Khan in 1982-83), Greg Matthews (by Richard Hadlee in 1985-86), Kris Srikkanth (by Wasim Akram in 1989-90), Graeme Hick (by Curtly Ambrose, in his first Test series in 1991), and Daren Ganga (by Shaun Pollock in 1998-99).

Hyderabad made 522 in a recent match, although no one scored a century - there were three nineties. Is that a record for the Ranji Trophy? asked Ravi Kumar from Singapore
Hyderabad's 522 in their recent match against Andhra in Visakhapatnam did feature three nineties, including 95 from No. 9 Ashish Reddy, and 97 not out from Chama Milind at No. 10, both career-bests. There have been 29 higher totals in first-class cricket which did not include a century. The highest of all is Namibia's 609 against Uganda in the ICC Intercontinental Shield in Windhoek in September 2010: all 11 batsmen reached double figures, but the highest score was Ewald Steenkamp's 87. Four of those higher totals came in the Ranji Trophy: Madhya Pradesh's 605 (second on the overall list) against Haryana in Rajnandgaon in 1998-99 (the highest individual score was Jai P Yadav's 90); Holkar's 575 (highest score 95) against Bengal in the 1953-54 semi-final in Indore; Karnataka's 557 (highest score 90) against Hyderabad (for whom VVS Laxman had made 353) in Bangalore in 1999-2000; and Bengal's 525 against Maharashtra in Kolkata in 1997-98. That one included 94 from Alokendu Lahiri, 91 by Devang Gandhi, and 93 from captain Saba Karim - so Hyderabad's three nineties equalled that. The highest in Tests, by the way, is India's 524 for 9 declared against New Zealand in Kanpur in 1976-77, which included six half-centuries, although the highest was Mohinder Amarnath's 70.

Which player called his autobiography Cricket Wallah? asked Fazal Ahmed from India
I don't think this was the title of an autobiography - unless it's one I've missed! - but Cricket Wallah was the English cricket writer Scyld Berry's first book, about the 1981-82 tour of India. The six-match Test series itself wasn't a classic - India rather shut up shop after winning the first match, and ended up taking the rubber 1-0 - but Berry's book is nonetheless interesting as he doesn't confine himself to the cricket. There are chapters on Ranji, and "Other Maharajahs", as well as interesting observations on life in India.

Ross Taylor recently made his third century in as many one-day international innings. Has anyone ever scored three in a row before? asked Craig McDonald from New Zealand
Ross Taylor's 105 not out against Pakistan in Dubai last week - which followed hundreds in his last two innings against India at home earlier in the year - made him the sixth batsman (but the first from New Zealand) to score three in a row in one-day internationals. The first to do it was Zaheer Abbas, for Pakistan against India in 1982-83, and he was followed by another Pakistani, Saeed Anwar, in 1993-94. Then came a trio of South Africans: Herschelle Gibbs (2002-03), AB de Villiers (2009-10), and Quinton de Kock (in 2013-14, all against India). Gibbs came closest to making it four in a row: after scoring 116 (against Kenya) and 116 not out (v India) in the Champions Trophy in Colombo in September 2002, he hammered 153 against Bangladesh in Potchefstroom a week later, but was marooned on 97 not out when South Africa reached their target of 155 in the second match, in Benoni. For the full list, click here.