Fourth-innings records, and Leap Year play

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

What is the highest individual score made in the fourth innings of a Test match, or any first-class match? asked Tony Britton from Ireland

The highest score in the fourth innings of a Test remains George Headley's 223 for West Indies against England at Kingston in 1929-30 - he was helped by the fact that that was a timeless Test. Nathan Astle ran him exceedingly close with 222 for New Zealand against England at Christchurch in 2001-02. There have only been three other double-centuries in the fourth innings of a Test: Sunil Gavaskar's 221 for India v England at The Oval in 1979, Bill Edrich's 219 for England v South Africa at Durban in 1938-39 (another timeless Test), and Gordon Greenidge's 214 not out to help West Indies win the 1984 Lord's Test against England. The first-class record changed hands last year, when Cameron White made 260 not out in the final innings for Somerset against Derbyshire at Derby (Somerset still lost by 80 runs, despite making 498). White broke the record previously held by Hansie Cronje (251) since 1993-94.

Inspired by the fact there's an ODI scheduled for Melbourne on February 29, 2008, how many Test matches have been in progress on Leap Year Day? asked Daniel McDonald from Australia

There have been 12 occasions when play was scheduled in a Test match for February 29, although in three of them no actual play took place because of bad weather. The first was in 1904, when the third day's play in an Ashes Test at Sydney was washed out, the fate also of the sixth scheduled day of the 1911-12 Ashes Test, again at Sydney. The first time there was any play in a Test on Feb 29 was in 1932, when New Zealand played South Africa at Christchurch: the South African opener Jim Christy completed the first Leap Year Day hundred in a Test. Since then it has happened in 1935-36, 1963-64, in two matches in 1967-68 and 1979-80, and one each in 1987-88 and 1999-2000. The most recent time play was scheduled for Feb 29 - Zimbabwe v Bangladesh at Bulawayo in 2003-04 - rain again prevented any play. There have been seven ODIs on a Leap Year Day: one in 1984, three in 1992, two in 1996 (including the famous World Cup game at Pune when Kenya beat West Indies), and two in 2004.

How many players have a Test average higher than Don Bradman's, if you include everyone? asked Mohammad Imthinal from Sri Lanka

The only person to average more than Don Bradman's 99.94 in Tests is the West Indian Andy Ganteaume, who had one Test innings, against England at Port-of-Spain in 1947-48, and scored 112. He never played again, so finished with an average of 112.00. The Sri Lankan Naveed Nawaz played one Test, against Bangladesh in Colombo in 2002, and scored 78 not out and 21, giving him a Test average of 99.00. The highest of anyone else who has had at least 15 innings is Michael Hussey's current average of 86.18.

I note that in the ODI between India and Pakistan on November 8 a total of 57 wides were bowled. Is this a record? asked Paul Clifford

Well, 57 would have been a new record - but in fact there were "only" 47 wides in that match at Mohali, 31 by Pakistan and 16 by India (actually there were only 38 deliveries signalled wide, as some of them cost more than the one-run penalty). The record for the most wides in a single ODI remains 52, sent down by Kenya (21) and India (31) in a World Cup match at Bristol in 1999. There have been three other matches in which the wide count exceeded the recent Mohali game, as this new table shows.

Looking through Glenn Turner's career I saw that in 1971-72 he averaged 96 in a series in the West Indies. What I found astounding was that that five-Test series finished 0-0. This seems inconceivable today, at least in a long series. How many times has this happened and when was the last? asked Stephen Partridge from the UK

That series in the Caribbean in 1971-72, in which Glenn Turner scored two double-centuries (and four in all on the tour) was - perhaps mercifully - the last of four five-Test series which have finished without at least one positive result. The other three all involved India: their series against Pakistan away in 1954-55 and at home in 1960-61 (the two countries played out 13 successive draws at around this time, and overall 36 of their 57 Tests have ended in draws), and the home series against England in 1963-64. There have also been two four-Test series which ended up 0-0: England v New Zealand in 1949 (a series which put an end to three-day Tests), and Pakistan v India (again) in 1989-90, which was Sachin Tendulkar's debut series.

Which cricket stadium has most floodlight towers? Is it the PCA Stadium in Mohali? asked Sumanth from India

Without going round every ground it's hard to say, but the feeling in the Cricinfo office is that it would be hard to beat the one that you mention, the Punjab CA Stadium in Mohali, which has 18 floodlight towers, as you can see in the picture above. One reason for this is that the ground is near an air-base, so the towers have to be a bit lower than is customary.