Doug's slow start, and the decade leaders

Doug Bollinger of Australia did not score a run until his 20th one-day international. Is this a record? asked Adrian Bozon from South Korea
Doug Bollinger did indeed play a record 19 one-day internationals before finally getting off the mark in his 20th with a single off New Zealand's Daniel Vettori in Wellington in March 2010. In his defence it should be pointed out that he had only batted twice in those previous 19 matches, making a duck against India in Mohali in November 2009 and 0 not out against West Indies in Sydney a month before finally managing a run. The previous record was held by Sreesanth, who did not score a run for India until his 16th ODI (he'd batted three times), while the West Indian fast bowler Patrick Patterson opened his batting account in his 14th match (he'd had two 0 not outs before that).

I think Alec Stewart was the leading Test run-scorer of the 1990s - but what about the 1950s, 60s, 70s, 80s and the noughties? asked Niki Allott
You're right, Alec Stewart did indeed score more Test runs (6407, in 93 matches) in the 1990s than anyone else - he just edged out Mark Waugh (6371), Mark Taylor (6306), Mike Atherton (6217) and Steve Waugh (6213). The leading run-scorers for the other decades you mention were: 1950s - Neil Harvey (Australia, 4573) then Peter May (England, 4182); 1960s - Ken Barrington (England, 6397 - well ahead of his team-mate Colin Cowdrey with 4788); 1970s - Sunil Gavaskar (India, 5647) and Gundappa Viswanath (India, 4611); 1980s - Allan Border (Australia, 7386) and David Gower (England, 6196); 2000s - Ricky Ponting (Australia, 9458) and Jacques Kallis (South Africa, 8630).

Is Mohammad Amir the youngest bowler ever to take a five-for in a Test? asked Abrar Meer
Mohammad Amir, who took 5 for 79 for Pakistan against Australia in Melbourne last December when he was 17 years 260 days old, is actually the second-youngest bowler to take five wickets in a Test innings. The youngest was also a Pakistani: Nasim-ul-Ghani, a precocious left-arm spinner, took 5 for 116 against West Indies in Georgetown in 1957-58, when he was 16 years 307 days old, and added 6 for 67 in the next Test, in Port-of-Spain a fortnight later.

I was looking at Gary Kirsten's stats and - given that he wasn't really best suited to one-day cricket - was quite surprised to see that he reached 2000 runs in ODIs in his 50th innings, in his 50th match. Has anyone got there quicker than that? asked Sriram Santosh from Chennai
The consistent South African Gary Kirsten - now India's coach - actually lies fifth on this particular list. Two people reached 2000 runs in one-day internationals in 45 innings - Zaheer Abbas of Pakistan and England's Kevin Pietersen (Pietersen had a higher average - 57 to 51 - but Zaheer did it in fewer matches, 45 to 51). Viv Richards reached 2000 runs in his 48th ODI innings, while his West Indian team-mate Gordon Greenidge took one match longer to get there.

I saw that Eric Tindill, the world's oldest Test cricketer, died recently. Who is now the oldest surviving Test player? asked Lawrence Ratcliffe from Chester
The oldest survivor currently is Norman "Mobil" Gordon, the South African fast bowler who played in all five Tests of the 1938-39 series at home against England - the one that concluded with the famous ten-day drawn Timeless Test at Durban. Gordon celebrated his 99th birthday in August, and given good health could become the first Test cricketer known to have made it to 100 - a feat which, sadly, Eric Tindill just missed out on. There are currently five other former Test players who are over 90 years old: Esmond Kentish of West Indies (93), New Zealand's Colin Snedden (92), Lindsay Tuckett of South Africa (91), and Pakistan's Mohammad Aslam and Reg Simpson of England (both 90). The oldest surviving players for the other five Test-playing countries are Madhav Mantri (India, 89), Sam Loxton (Australia, 89), Somachandra de Silva (Sri Lanka; 68); John Traicos (Zimbabwe, 63), and Enamul Haque senior (Bangladesh; 44). For an updated list of the oldest surviving Test players, click here.

How many times did Ian Botham and Steve Waugh get each other out in Tests as bowlers? asked Bijay Laha via Facebook
Ian Botham and Steve Waugh opposed each other in seven Tests, and rather surprisingly Waugh comes out on top 1-0: he had Botham caught in Brisbane in 1986-87, but Botham never got him out in a Test. Mind you, "Beefy" had scored a rollicking 138 in that match at the Gabba, to set up a thumping England victory to launch a successful bid for the Ashes, so maybe it's more accurate to say that honours were even! It's the same story in one-day internationals. They opposed each other in 11 such matches: Waugh got Botham out twice, while Botham never managed to dismiss "The Iceman".