Switching captains, and birthday bowling feats

The captains for India's second Test in Australia were both different from the first Test. How often has this happened in a series? asked Varun Rao from the United States
It is fairly unusual for both teams to change captains in successive Tests in mid-series: the recent instance - in which MS Dhoni returned for Virat Kohli in Brisbane, while Steve Smith replaced the injured Michael Clarke - is only the eighth occasion that it has happened. The first was back in 1888-89, when Owen Dunell captained South Africa in their inaugural TestA, and William Milton in the second; Aubrey Smith then Monty Bowden captained England. In the 1926 Ashes series Arthur Carr skippered England in the fourth Test, and Percy Chapman in the fifth at The Oval, where tour captain Herbie Collins returned for Australia, who had been led by Warren Bardsley in the fourth Test. The skippers in the first Test of the 1947-48 West Indies-England series were George Headley and Ken Cranston (both captaining for the only time), while Gerry Gomez and Gubby Allen tossed up in the second. In the 1961 Ashes Colin Cowdrey and Neil Harvey led at Lord's, with Peter May and Richie Benaud returning for the third Test. Cowdrey was involved in the next instance, too, in 1968: he and Australia's tour captain Bill Lawry skippered in the third Test, but both were injured for the next one, in which Tom Graveney and Barry Jarman both had their only taste of Test captaincy. Cowdrey and Lawry returned for the fifth Test at The Oval, in another double switch. It happened again in England's series in the West Indies in 1989-90: Desmond Haynes and Graham Gooch skippered in the third Test, but Viv Richards returned for the fourth, while Allan Lamb replaced the injured Gooch. And finally, Mike Atherton and Steve Waugh captained in the third Test of the 2001 Ashes, but Nasser Hussain and Adam Gilchrist took charge for the fourth.

Faf du Plessis was dismissed for a duck for the first time in international cricket at Centurion. Who now holds the record for the most international runs without a duck? asked Ricky Dooley from Belgium
Faf du Plessis did indeed bag his first international duck in the first Test against West Indies in Centurion, in what was, rather neatly, his 100th match in all three formats. In 107 previous innings he had scored 3707 runs with no ducks, a record previously held by his team-mate AB de Villiers, who made 2681 runs in 84 innings before falling for 0 in his 63rd international match, against Netherlands in St Kitts during the 2007 World Cup. The current player with the most international runs but no ducks is Chris Rogers, the Australian opener, with 1258 (all in Tests). But he's only just ahead of a rather more surprising name: the Afghanistan allrounder Samiullah Shenwari hasn't yet been dismissed for 0 in 55 international innings, which have brought him 1253 runs.

With the World Cup looming Down Under, who have been the most successful batsmen in Australia in ODIs, by runs scored and by average? asked Liam Parker from England
Two distinguished West Indians lead the way in aggregate terms: Desmond Haynes scored 3067 runs in one-day internationals in Australia, and Viv Richards 2769. There's a long gap after that to Javed Miandad (1913) and Brian Lara (1901). Haynes played no fewer than 94 ODIs in Australia, 20 more than any other visiting player (Richie Richardson is next, with 74). The leader on average, given a minimum of ten innings, is Geoff Boycott, with 63.37, just ahead of MS Dhoni (61.33). Peter Kirsten (52.75) and Neil Fairbrother (51.69) also averaged over 50. If you raise the bar to 25 innings, then Richards (44.66) leads the way from Clive Lloyd (43.61) and Gordon Greenidge (43.27). Only eight home players have scored more runs than Haynes in ODIs in Australia: Ricky Ponting leads the way with 5406, while Michael Bevan has the highest average (55.86).

What's the best bowling by someone in a one-day international on his birthday? asked Clive Johnstone from Australia
The best birthday figures in one-day internationals were recorded by someone who was also making his debut: South Africa's Vernon Philander took 4 for 12 against Ireland in Belfast on his 22nd birthday in June 2007. The only other man to claim an ODI four-for on his birthday is Stuart Broad, with 4 for 44 for England against Australia in Cardiff in 2010. Four men - Vinod Kambli, Sachin Tendulkar, Sanath Jayasuriya and Ross Taylor - have scored one-day international hundreds on their birthdays. Jayasuriya's, against Bangladesh in Karachi in June 2008, came on his 39th birthday.

Has anyone batted for longer in Tests than Shivnarine Chanderpaul? asked Kelvin Broadbent from Barbados
It's difficult to be exact about this, as Chanderpaul has quite a few innings for which we don't know precise batting times. The ones we do have suggest he is close to Jacques Kallis, who lies third on the overall list with around 650 hours at the crease; Chanderpaul's known innings (before the first Test against South Africa in Centurion) added up to 636 hours, so he has spent around a month taking guard in Tests. Out in front are Sachin Tendulkar (688 hours) and the overall leading crease-occupier, Rahul Dravid (735). The ESPNcricinfo database does have details of balls faced for all the leading contenders (apart from one short innings for Tendulkar and four for Allan Border): Dravid faced 31,258 balls in Test cricket, Tendulkar 29,437 (plus a 92-minute innings in 1990-91 in which he scored 11), Kallis 28,903, Border 27,002 (plus four innings that brought him 78 runs) and Chanderpaul 26,861 so far.

How many players who made their debut during the last century are still playing Test cricket? asked Guru Subramanian from India
The recent retirement of Mahela Jayawardene, who played his first Test in August 1997, has removed another name from this dwindling list. Only two current regular players made their debuts in the 20th century: the seemingly ageless Shivnarine Chanderpaul won his first cap in March 1994, and the Sri Lankan slow left-armer Rangana Herath in September 1999 (although it was about a decade before he nailed down a regular place). Daniel Vettori made his Test debut early in 1997, and played in New Zealand's most recent Test, against Pakistan in Sharjah in November - but that was his first Test for more than two years, and possibly a one-off reappearance. Harbhajan Singh made his Test debut in March 1998, but hasn't played a Test now since March 2013. Younis Khan just misses out: he made his debut (and scored a century) in February 2000.