Short Ashes, and young accumulators

None of this summer's Ashes Tests reached the fifth day. Is this a record? And was the total number of overs bowled a new low too? asked Adarsh Haltore from the United States
Five-day Tests only became the norm for Ashes series in England in 1948, but this year's was the first series since then in which none of the matches reached the fifth day. In Australia, the matches were usually played to a finish; the only Ashes series there which never made it to the fifth day was in 1884-85 - the very first five-Test series anywhere. The fewest balls bowled in any five-Test Ashes series was 1090.5, in a very wet summer in England in 1902; there were 1311.2 overs in the 2001 Ashes, which was marginally shorter than this year's (1320 overs). The only shorter series anywhere that, like this summer's, featured five positive results was 1283.1 overs in West Indies' 5-0 whitewash of England at home in 1985-86.

Angelo Mathews averages over 50 with the bat in Tests. How many other Sri Lankans have managed this? asked Nyron de Silva from Sri Lanka
Before the third Test against India in Colombo, Angelo Mathews' batting average was 51.67. That has been exceeded for Sri Lanka only by the just-retired Kumar Sangakkara, who finished with 57.40 from his 134 Tests. That excludes two batsmen with short careers: Brendon Kuruppu averaged 53.33 from six completed innings, after starting with 201 not out on his debut, against New Zealand in Colombo in April 1987, while the unlucky Naveed Nawaz scored 21 and 78 not out on his debut, against Bangladesh in Colombo in July 2002… and never played again, to finish with an average of 99.00.

It's often said that South Africa have the most potent bowling attack in world cricket. Which batsmen has scored the most one-day hundreds against them? asked Leslie Mitchell from England
Sachin Tendulkar scored five hundreds in one-day internationals against South Africa, including the first ODI double-century, in Gwalior in 2009-10. Sourav Ganguly, Chris Gayle, Brian Lara and Kevin Pietersen all scored three ODI hundreds against them. Pietersen averaged 64.60, the best average against South Africa for anyone with more than 500 runs; Ganguly, with 50.50, is the only other batsman above 50. Tendulkar scored 2001 runs in ODIs against South Africa, Ricky Ponting 1879, and Kumar Sangakkara 1789. In Test matches the Australian pair of Ponting and Neil Harvey both hit eight centuries against South Africa, while Tendulkar and Denis Compton made seven. Compton's 2205 runs against them is the Test record; Wally Hammond (2188) and Ponting (2132) also exceeded 2000 runs. Don Bradman played only five Tests against South Africa (in 1931-32) but averaged 201.50 - he scored 226, 112, 2 and 167, and 299 not out.

Kane Williamson reached 3000 runs in Tests before he was 25. How many others have done this? asked Lawrence Kelly from New Zealand
Only five players have been younger than Kane Williamson (24 years 151 days) when they reached 3000 runs in Tests. Sachin Tendulkar was 23 years 228 days old when he got there, 121 days younger than Ramnaresh Sarwan. Graeme Smith, Alastair Cook and Garry Sobers were all 24 (but younger than Williamson) when they reached 3000; next on the list, 29 days older than Williamson, is Don Bradman. Javed Miandad, AB de Villiers, Chris Gayle and Mahela Jayawardene all reached 3000 Test runs before their 25th birthdays. The previous-youngest New Zealander to 3000 was Martin Crowe, who was 26 in 1988-89.

Of bowlers who have taken 100 Test wickets, has anyone got a better strike rate than R Ashwin - for India or anyone? asked Milind Gupte from India
After the second Test in Sri Lanka, R Ashwin had taken 141 wickets at a strike rate of 57.22 balls per wicket. That's the best for any of the 19 Indians with 100 Test wickets: Irfan Pathan, who took exactly 100, is next with 58.84, ahead of Zaheer Khan (60.40) and Kapil Dev (63.92). However, Ashwin is well down the overall list: he's 50th of the 172 bowlers to have reached 100 in Tests. That table is headed by the 19th-century England fast bowler George Lohmann, whose 112 wickets came at a strike rate of 34.1, helped by his playing several Tests against a very weak South African side. But a thoroughly modern South African is next on the list at the moment: Dale Steyn's 402 Test wickets have come at a strike rate of 41.5. He's just ahead of Sydney Barnes (41.6) and Waqar Younis (43.4); Steven Finn (47.2) currently lies tenth.

AB de Villiers passed 8000 runs in one-day internationals at Durban. Is he the fastest to reach this mark? asked Jamie Stewart from Canada
AB de Villiers passed 8000 runs in one-day internationals during his 64 in South Africa's victory over New Zealand in Durban last week. It was his 182nd innings, in his 190th match - both of these are records, beating Sourav Ganguly's old marks (200 innings in 208 matches). De Villiers reached the landmark in around ten and a half years, putting him sixth by time - Rahul Dravid was quickest to 8000, in nine years and six days, 33 days quicker than MS Dhoni and 64 faster than Mohammad Yousuf. At 31, de Villiers is the eighth-youngest to reach 8000 runs, a list headed by Sachin Tendulkar who, at 26, was over three years younger than anyone else (Yuvraj Singh is next).