Percentage partnerships, and tall Test centurions
Fathers and sons with Test tons, lowest first-innings totals in wins, most ducks in a match, and the only Test cricketer born in Malaysia
Steven Lynch
07-Sep-2010
Stuart Broad: among the taller Test centurions • Getty Images
In the recent Test at Lord's the Trott-Broad partnership was almost 50% of the total runs scored in the match. Has there ever been a higher proportion for one partnership in a Test with a positive result? asked Tony Smith from New Zealand
Funnily enough I had spotted this possibility towards the end of the match, and was mildly miffed when Pakistan's late resistance pushed the total number of "other" runs (335) just past the Trott-Broad partnership of 332. Still, their stand represented 49.78% of the runs scored in the match, which is indeed a record. The previous mark was 48.75%, from the partnership of 429 between Jacques Rudolph and Boeta Dippenaar for South Africa against Bangladesh in Chittagong in 2002-03 - in that match the other partnerships produced 451 runs all told. In third place, with 45.92%, is the world-record stand of 624 between Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara for Sri Lanka in Colombo in 2006: the rest of the match featured 735 runs, 434 of them in South Africa's second innings.
Funnily enough I had spotted this possibility towards the end of the match, and was mildly miffed when Pakistan's late resistance pushed the total number of "other" runs (335) just past the Trott-Broad partnership of 332. Still, their stand represented 49.78% of the runs scored in the match, which is indeed a record. The previous mark was 48.75%, from the partnership of 429 between Jacques Rudolph and Boeta Dippenaar for South Africa against Bangladesh in Chittagong in 2002-03 - in that match the other partnerships produced 451 runs all told. In third place, with 45.92%, is the world-record stand of 624 between Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara for Sri Lanka in Colombo in 2006: the rest of the match featured 735 runs, 434 of them in South Africa's second innings.
Is Stuart Broad the tallest person ever to score a Test century? asked Sam Keir from London
Stuart Broad is shown in the Playfair Cricket Annual as being 6ft 5ins (195.6cm) tall. Not all heights have been accurately recorded, but I suspect the tallest Test centurion of all is Tony Greig, 6ft 7ins in his playing days (201cm). He made eight centuries for England in his 58 Tests. I wondered about Tom Moody and Jacob Oram, but both of them are shown as 6ft 6ins (198cm).
Stuart Broad is shown in the Playfair Cricket Annual as being 6ft 5ins (195.6cm) tall. Not all heights have been accurately recorded, but I suspect the tallest Test centurion of all is Tony Greig, 6ft 7ins in his playing days (201cm). He made eight centuries for England in his 58 Tests. I wondered about Tom Moody and Jacob Oram, but both of them are shown as 6ft 6ins (198cm).
Both Chris and Stuart Broad have now scored Test centuries. How many other father-and-son combinations have done this? asked Nandann Lokare from India
Pride of place here has to go to India's Amarnath family: Lala Amarnath made a Test century - India's first, as it happens, in 1933-34 - and two of his sons followed suit: Surinder also scored a century on Test debut, while Mohinder finished up with 11 Test tons. Both Nawabs of Pataudi achieved the feat - senior for England, junior for India. There are five other father-son combinations with Test centuries to their credit: Nazar Mohammad and Mudassar Nazar, and Hanif and Shoaib Mohammad for Pakistan, Vijay and Sanjay Manjrekar of India, Dave and Dudley Nourse of South Africa, and Walter and Richard Hadlee for New Zealand. In one-day internationals the only pair to do it is Geoff and Shaun Marsh of Australia.
Pride of place here has to go to India's Amarnath family: Lala Amarnath made a Test century - India's first, as it happens, in 1933-34 - and two of his sons followed suit: Surinder also scored a century on Test debut, while Mohinder finished up with 11 Test tons. Both Nawabs of Pataudi achieved the feat - senior for England, junior for India. There are five other father-son combinations with Test centuries to their credit: Nazar Mohammad and Mudassar Nazar, and Hanif and Shoaib Mohammad for Pakistan, Vijay and Sanjay Manjrekar of India, Dave and Dudley Nourse of South Africa, and Walter and Richard Hadlee for New Zealand. In one-day internationals the only pair to do it is Geoff and Shaun Marsh of Australia.
Derbyshire beat Gloucestershire recently despite being bowled out for 44 in their first innings - is this the lowest first-innings total to lead to a win? asked Lawson Dauer via Facebook
Derbyshire's 44 against Gloucestershire in Bristol was the lowest total in the first innings of a match (not either side's first innings, but the first of the game) to have led to victory since 1924, when Gloucestershire themselves were rolled over for 31 by Middlesex at a different ground in Bristol yet went on to win. The lowest winning total ever in the first innings of a match considered first-class was 27, by an England XI against Surrey in Brighton in 1827. However, the lowest total in either first innings by a side that ended up winning is just 15, in a famous match at Edgbaston in 1922. After Warwickshire made 223, Hampshire were shot out for 15 - but batted rather better in the follow-on to make 521, then bowled Warwickshire out for 158 to win by the comfortable margin of 155 runs.
Derbyshire's 44 against Gloucestershire in Bristol was the lowest total in the first innings of a match (not either side's first innings, but the first of the game) to have led to victory since 1924, when Gloucestershire themselves were rolled over for 31 by Middlesex at a different ground in Bristol yet went on to win. The lowest winning total ever in the first innings of a match considered first-class was 27, by an England XI against Surrey in Brighton in 1827. However, the lowest total in either first innings by a side that ended up winning is just 15, in a famous match at Edgbaston in 1922. After Warwickshire made 223, Hampshire were shot out for 15 - but batted rather better in the follow-on to make 521, then bowled Warwickshire out for 158 to win by the comfortable margin of 155 runs.
I recently spotted that Lall Singh, who played in India's inaugural Test match, was born and died in Kuala Lumpur. Have there been any other Test players who were born in Malaysia? asked Amit Ray from India
Lall Singh, a batsman and fine fielder who played for Southern Punjab, did indeed take part in India's first-ever Test match, against England at Lord's in 1932. He was born in Kuala Lumpur - local Indian expats apparently paid for him to go to India for trials before the tour. Lall Singh remains the only Test cricketer to have been born in what is now Malaysia. He never played another Test, although he did score 107 not out for Hindus v Parsees in the Bombay Quadrangular tournament in 1935-36. He returned to Kuala Lumpur and became a groundsman, and died there in 1985, aged 75.
Lall Singh, a batsman and fine fielder who played for Southern Punjab, did indeed take part in India's first-ever Test match, against England at Lord's in 1932. He was born in Kuala Lumpur - local Indian expats apparently paid for him to go to India for trials before the tour. Lall Singh remains the only Test cricketer to have been born in what is now Malaysia. He never played another Test, although he did score 107 not out for Hindus v Parsees in the Bombay Quadrangular tournament in 1935-36. He returned to Kuala Lumpur and became a groundsman, and died there in 1985, aged 75.
The England-Pakistan Test at Lord's last week had 10 individual scores of 0 in just three innings. Is this a Test record? asked Orlando Coelho from India
There were actually nine ducks - batsmen dismissed for 0 - in the Lord's Test, as one of the scoreless innings was Steven Finn's 0 not out, and unfinished innings aren't usually counted in this regard. The record number of ducks in a Test is 11, which has happened ten times now, most recently in the match between Sri Lanka and West Indies in Kandy in 2001-02. Most of those were spread over four innings, but the first instance - England's innings victory over Australia at Old Trafford in 1888 - also included only three innings, as did India's win over Sri Lanka in Chandigarh in 1990-91. For a full list, click here.
There were actually nine ducks - batsmen dismissed for 0 - in the Lord's Test, as one of the scoreless innings was Steven Finn's 0 not out, and unfinished innings aren't usually counted in this regard. The record number of ducks in a Test is 11, which has happened ten times now, most recently in the match between Sri Lanka and West Indies in Kandy in 2001-02. Most of those were spread over four innings, but the first instance - England's innings victory over Australia at Old Trafford in 1888 - also included only three innings, as did India's win over Sri Lanka in Chandigarh in 1990-91. For a full list, click here.
Steven Lynch is the editor of the Cricinfo Guide to International Cricket. If you want to ask Steven a question, use our feedback form. The most interesting questions will be answered here each week. Ask Steven is now on Facebook