ODI marathoners, and English prodigies

How many Test matches have been held on neutral territory? asked Hamad Ahmed from Pakistan
There have now been 29 Tests played outside the home country of both teams involved in the match. The majority of these have been matches hosted by Pakistan in the UAE since January 2002: there have been 22 such Tests now, eight in Dubai and seven each in Abu Dhabi and Sharjah. Sri Lanka also hosted one Pakistan Test - against Australia in Colombo in 2002-03 - while Pakistan played two Tests against Australia in England in 2010, at Lord's and Headingley. The only other Tests played on neutral territory were the three matches between Australia and South Africa in the 1912 Triangular Tournament in England (their games were at Old Trafford, Lord's and Trent Bridge), and the final of the Asian Test Championship in March 1999, when Pakistan and Sri Lanka met in Dhaka.

After making his debut, Tamim Iqbal played 85 successive one-day internationals. Is this a record? asked Shafqat Hossain from Bangladesh
It is a record for Bangladesh - next comes Shakib Al Hasan with 48 and Shahriar Nafees with 45 - but overall Tamim lies fourth on this list. Steve Waugh played 87 ODIs for Australia from his debut without missing one, and Marcus Trescothick 92 for England - but the leader is way out in front: Andy Flower played no fewer than 172 successive ODIs for Zimbabwe after making his debut - and scoring 115 not out against Sri Lanka in New Plymouth - during the 1992 World Cup. The Test record is held by AB de Villiers, who played 98 successive matches from his debut in 2004-05 until he was rested from the recent tour of Bangladesh. Adam Gilchrist played 96 successive Tests between his debut for Australia in 1999-2000 and his retirement in 2007-08.

Is Brian Close still England's youngest player? asked Martin Robinson from England
Brian Close, who passed away last week, remains the youngest man to represent England in a full international: he was only 18 years and 149 days old when he made his Test debut against New Zealand at Old Trafford in July 1949. That was in the middle of Close's first season, which he ended by completing the double of 1000 runs and 100 wickets. The only other teenagers to play in a Test for England - all of them 19 - were Jack Crawford (in 1905-06), Ian Peebles (1927-28), Denis Compton (1937) and Ben Hollioake (1997). Hollioake, also in 1997, is the only teenager to feature in a one-day international for England. Not long before his death, someone asked me whether Close was the oldest living ODI player (he made three appearances as captain in 1972): the answer is that he was at the time, but this mantle has now passed to Close's old Yorkshire team-mate Ray Illingworth.

Whose life story was called A Spell at the Top? asked Joe Morton from England
This was the end-of-career autobiography of the Lancashire and England fast bowler Brian Statham, which came out after he retired in 1969. Statham, who took 252 wickets for England, and briefly held the overall Test-wicket record until Fred Trueman went past him, produced two earlier autobiographical books: Cricket Merry-Go-Round in 1956, and Flying Bails in 1961.

I assume there have been more Ashes Tests than any other sort. What's the next most frequent Test meeting? asked George Robinson from England
After the recent Ashes series there have now been 341 Test matches between England and Australia since the first one in 1876-77. That's more than twice as many as any other match-up: England v West Indies comes next, with 151 Tests since 1928. England have also played 141 Tests against South Africa, 112 v India, and 101 against New Zealand. The only other countries to have played more than 100 Tests against each other are Australia and West Indies, with 113. Australia have played 91 against South Africa, and 90 against India; India have also played 90 against West Indies.

Further to last week's question about both openers being run out in an ODI innings, how often has it happened in Tests? And what's the most run-outs in a Test innings? asked Mukesh Gokal from India
There have been eight instances of both openers being run out in the same Test innings, the first one being by England (Archie MacLaren and Tom Hayward) against Australia in Adelaide in 1901-02. The most recent one was by New Zealand (Tim McIntosh and BJ Watling) against Bangladesh in Hamilton in 2009-10. The No. 3, Peter Ingram, was also run out in that innings, a unique treble. The most run-outs in any Test innings is four, which has happened twice: by India against Pakistan in Peshawar in 1954-55, and by Australia against West Indies in Adelaide in 1968-69 - Australia were chasing 360 to win, and fell just short at 339 for 9, not helped by the rash of run-outs. The first of them came when Ian Redpath was sent on his way by the bowler, Charlie Griffith, for backing up too far.