Eleven wicket-takers, and the oldest first-time captains

The regular Tuesday column in which Steven Lynch answers your questions about (almost) any aspect of cricket:

In one of the recent one-day internationals between Zimbabwe and West Indies, 11 different bowlers claimed a wicket. Is this a record? asked Michael Podbury from Zambia

That match at Harare last week is one of a surprisingly long list of 35 ODIs in which 11 different bowlers claimed a wicket. But the record is 12, which has happened three times - oddly, two them on the same ground within nine days in July 2001. The first instance came in the match between West Indies and Sri Lanka at Port-of-Spain in 1995-96. It happened again at the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo in 2001, when Sri Lanka played New Zealand - and again the following week when New Zealand played India at the Premadasa. For a full list, click here.

Who is the oldest player to become a Test captain for the first time? My guess is Anil Kumble, who is 37? asked Vivekanand from India, among others

Actually Anil Kumble is well down this list - 23 players have been older when they first captained in a Test. Two of them are Indians - Hemu Adhikari, who was 39 when he took charge for the first time, against West Indies at Delhi in 1958-59, and Vinoo Mankad (37 years 264 days to Kumble's 37/36), against Pakistan at Dacca in 1954-55. The oldest first-time Test captain of them all is Australia's Warren Bardsley, who was 43 years 216 days old when he stepped in for the unfit Herbie Collins against England at Headingley in 1926. For a full list, click here.

How many players have been involved in a Test hat-trick, both as a bowler and as a batsman? asked Chris Higginbottom

Three people have been on both ends of a Test hat-trick. The first was England's Darren Gough - after being part of Shane Warne's triple at Melbourne in 1994-95, he turned the tables with a hat-trick of his own at Sydney on the next Ashes tour in 1998-99. Warne wasn't part of that one, but he was the third victim in Harbhajan Singh's hat-trick for India against Australia at Kolkata in 2000-01. The third man to complete this odd double is Sri Lanka's Nuwan Zoysa. He took wickets with the first three balls of his first over (the second of the match) against Zimbabwe at Harare in 1999-2000, and was then the middle victim in Mohammad Sami's hat-trick for Pakistan at Lahore in 2001-02. For a full list of Test hat-tricks, click here.

Besides Mohammad Azharuddin and Bill Ponsford, is there any other player who started and ended his Test career with a century? asked AK Srivastava from India

Two batsmen, apart from Azharuddin and Ponsford, have scored a century in their first and last Test matches. Both of them are Australians: Reggie Duff, who made 104 (from No. 10) in his first Test in 1901-02 and 146 in his last, in 1905, and Greg Chappell, who started with 108 against England in 1970-71 and signed off with 182 against Pakistan in 1983-84. This excludes any current players, and the two men - Andy Ganteaume and Rodney Redmond - who scored a century in their only Test.

Who has taken the most wickets on one particular ground in one-day internationals? asked Raymond Spice from Surrey

Two men have taken more than 100 one-day wickets at a single ground - and it's the same one, the Sharjah CA Stadium, which has hosted more ODIs (198) than any other ground. Wasim Akram took 122 wickets there, eight more than his long-time new-ball partner Waqar Younis managed, although Waqar played in fewer matches (61 to Wasim's 77). Muttiah Muralitharan comes next, with 82 wickets at Sharjah, and he has also taken 64 at the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. For a full list, click here.

Is it true that Sir Don Bradman was once dropped from the Australian team, and a batsman named Otto Nothing took his place? asked PSK Balaji from India

It is true - well, almost. This happened during the 1928-29 Ashes series. Don Bradman had made his debut in the first Test at Brisbane, but scored only 18 and 1 as England clocked up a massive victory, by a record 675 runs. Bradman retained his place in the squad for the next Test, at Sydney, but was eventually made 12th man - the only time in his whole career that he was ever dropped from any side. The man who replaced him was a Queensland-born doctor called Otto Nothling (note the L). Nothling actually did better than Bradman had - he scored 8 and 44, but Australia lost again and he was dropped. Bradman returned for the third Test, at Melbourne, scored 79 and 112 ... and the rest, as they say, is history.