Rapid runs, and sibling stands

What's the lowest team score at the time in which a batsman has reached his century in an international match? asked Alex Hayes via Facebook
It's difficult to answer this one definitively, as we don't have the full breakdown of scores for most matches, so the Cricinfo brains trust has had to do the best we can with the information available. The lowest we have come up with is 125, which was the score when Chris Gayle reached his century for West Indies in the third Test against South Africa in Cape Town in 2003-04. There was a near miss in Adelaide in 2007-08, when India's Virender Sehwag reached his hundred out of 128 against Australia. The best we can find in one-day internationals is 100 out of 130 (it may have actually been less than that but 130 is the maximum) by Gordon Greenidge for West Indies v New Zealand in Auckland in 1986-87.

What is the record partnership between brothers in Tests? I'm guessing the Flower brothers must have come close to it in 1995 against Pakistan? asked Sapho from South Africa
You're right, the record partnership by siblings in Tests is the 269 of Grant and Andy Flower for Zimbabwe's fourth wicket against Pakistan in Harare in 1994-95. My first thought was that it would be by the Waugh twins, but their highest partnership together was one of 231, also for the fourth wicket, for Australia against West Indies in Kingston in 1994-95. Ian and Greg Chappell had a higher one than that, putting on 264 for the third wicket against New Zealand in Wellington in 1973-74. The Waughs do hold the first-class record, though, after sharing an unbroken fourth-wicket partnership of 464 for New South Wales against Western Australia in Perth in 1990-91.

How many times has cricket been played at the Commonwealth Games? asked Luschen Moodley via Facebook
The only time cricket has featured in the Commonwealth Games was in 1998, in Kuala Lumpur. South Africa won the gold medal, beating Australia in the final, with New Zealand winning the third-place playoff against Sri Lanka to take bronze. Cricket has also featured once in the Olympic Games, in Paris in 1900, when Great Britain defeated France (the only other entrants) in the final. There has been some talk of cricket being restored to the Olympic programme - 2020 would seem to be an appropriate time for that!

Who was the first Test captain who was also the team's wicketkeeper? asked Akila Shashith via Facebook
The first instance of this came very early in Test history - in the sixth such match, between England and Australia in Sydney in 1881-82, when Billy Murdoch captained Australia and kept wicket too. Also playing in that match was Jack Blackham, who was a more usual choice as wicketkeeper and later became the first regular keeper-captain - he skippered Australia in eight Tests, including the 1893 tour of England. Overall there have been 25 wicketkeeper-captains in Tests, but the most matches any of them has captained is 18, by the West Indian Gerry Alexander between 1957-58 and 1959-60.

Which post-war English bowler took 200 wickets in his first full season, but spent most of the next season in hospital with a serious illness? asked Richard Concannon from Worcester
This was the Yorkshire and England medium-pacer Bob Appleyard, who after playing just three matches in 1950 (in which he took 11 wickets), took 200 at 14.14 in 1951. The following year, though, he was in a sanatorium from May to October, recovering from a bout of tuberculosis, which cost him most of one of his lungs. He was not really expected to play again, but after playing just one match early in 1952 and none at all in 1953 he bounced back with 154 wickets in 1954, and played the first of his nine Tests for England. He also toured Australia the following winter. Appleyard finished with 31 Test wickets at 17.87, and a reputation as one of the canniest bowlers around: I recently read someone's all-time World XI - possibly Frank Keating's, although I can't seem to track it down - which included Appleyard and rated him as one of the greatest bowlers of them all.

Who had the most unusual Test career? asked Brian Curtin from Huntingdon
I suppose that depends on your definition of "unusual"! There are a few people from the early days, like JEP McMaster and the Hon CJ Coventry (who both played for England against South Africa in 1888-89) whose entire first-class career consisted of Test matches, as they never played any other games recognised as first-class. Then there are people like Andy Ganteaume, who scored a century on his Test debut for West Indies (against England in Port-of-Spain in 1947-48) but was never selected again, and the Kent legspinner Charles "Father" Marriott, who took 5 for 37 and 6 for 39 on his debut, against West Indies at The Oval in 1933, and never played again either (no one else has ever taken two five-fors in their only Test). But my vote for the weirdest Test career of all goes to Pakistan's Younis Ahmed, who won two caps as a promising youngster against New Zealand in 1969-70 but had to wait more than 17 years before Imran Khan personally recalled him to the side against India in 1986-87 and he won two more caps. In between, Younis played with great success for three English counties, and was also banned (originally for life) by Pakistan for playing in Rhodesia.

And there's an update on last week's question about five wickets falling in an over, from Ryan from New Zealand:
"Further to the recent instance in which five wickets fell in Mohammad Aamer's final over of Pakistan's World Twenty20 match against Australia, Gloucestershire's 19-year-old left-arm fast bowler David Payne bowled a multi-wicket maiden - WWWW0W, the last delivery producing a run-out - in the final over of Essex's innings in the Clydesdale Bank 40 match at Chelmsford on May 9. He had also taken a wicket with the fifth ball of his previous over, and finished with 7 for 29. Just like Pakistan, Gloucestershire went on to lose."