Warne's batting, and a blind date for ODIs

I know that Shane Warne has scored the most Test runs without a century, but does he have the highest average of anyone without a Test hundred? asked Stefan Hemmings from the West Indies
The highest Test batting average of anyone who has not scored a century is 99.00, by Naveed Nawaz of Sri Lanka, who scored 21 and 78 not out in his only Test, against Bangladesh in Colombo in 2002. But if you impose a sensible qualification - say 1000 runs - then the leader is the Australian opener Bruce Laird, who averaged 35.28 from 21 Tests, with a highest score of 92. Second place goes to another adhesive Aussie, Ken Mackay (1507 runs at 33.48, highest score 89). Warne (17.32) comes in a modest 30th on this list, but he does go second (well behind Chetan Chauhan's 31.57) if you raise the bar to 2000 Test runs without a century.

Am I right in thinking that the ODI between India and New Zealand last week was the first one ever played on August 10? asked Chris Cassin from Australia
That's a remarkably good spot, because last week's one-day international between India and New Zealand in Dambulla, the opening match of the triangular one-day series in Sri Lanka, was indeed the first one ever to be played anywhere on August 10. It also completes the calendar: one-day internationals have now been played on all 366 possible dates in the year. No. 365 was August 11 last year, and 364 was August 13 in 2006. The most popular date for ODIs is January 14, with 24.

Sachin Tendulkar scored a double-century in the second Test against Sri Lanka at the age of 37. Is he the oldest double-centurion in Tests? asked Anand from the United States
Rather surprisingly perhaps, Sachin Tendulkar (37 years 95 days when he completed his fifth Test double-century last month, against Sri Lanka in Colombo) comes in at a modest 14th on this list: he's not even the oldest Indian to pass 200 in Tests, as Vinoo Mankad scored two in 1955-56 when he was 38. The oldest man ever to score a Test double-century is the South African opener Eric Rowan, who was six days past his 42nd birthday when he made 236 against England at Headingley in 1951. In second place is Jack Hobbs, who was 41 years 197 days old when he made 211 for England against South Africa at Lord's in 1924. Hobbs is also the oldest Test century-maker: he scored 142 against Australia in Melbourne in 1928-29 when he was 46. Others who were older than Tendulkar when they made Test double-centuries are Patsy Hendren, Graham Gooch and Dudley Nourse (all 40), Gordon Greenidge, Andy Sandham and Don Bradman (all 39; Sandham's 325 for England v West Indies at Kingston in 1929-30 makes him the oldest triple-centurion); and Allan Border, Brian Lara, Len Hutton and Dave Houghton (all 37 but older than Sachin).

Which batsman once scored a century in each of 10 successive first-class matches? asked Derek Clarke from Norwich
The man who had this purplest of patches was the great Australian accumulator Bill Ponsford, who scored a century in 10 successive matches at home in 1926-27 and 1927-28. His sequence of scores was (for Victoria unless otherwise stated): 214 and 54 v South Australia, 151 v Queensland, 352 v New South Wales (in Victoria's world-record total of 1107), 108 and 84 v South Australia, 12 and 116 v Queensland, 131 and 7 for an Australian XI v The Rest in 1926-27; then, in 1927-28, 133 v South Australia, 437 v Queensland (a first-class record at the time), 202 and 38 v New South Wales, and 336 v South Australia. He came down to earth in his next match, managing only 6 and 2 against New South Wales. This is one of the few records of this nature that Don Bradman doesn't hold: he and England's Ernest Tyldesley are next on the list with seven centuries in successive first-class games.

Ashwell Prince has more hundreds than half-centuries in Tests. Is his the best 50-100 conversion rate for a batsman of his experience? asked Dhaval Malte from India
Now this is a list Don Bradman is top of: he made 29 Test hundreds and 13 half-centuries from just 80 innings. Of batsmen with 10 or more Test centuries, the only others with more hundreds than fifties are Matthew Hayden (30/29), Mohammad Azharuddin (22/21), Clyde Walcott (15/14), Ashwell Prince (11/10) and George Headley (10/5).

Has anyone been out for 99 in both Tests and ODIs? asked Gowtham Velusamy via Facebook
Three people have had the misfortune of being dismissed one short of a century in both Test matches and one-day internationals: Geoff Boycott (who also had a 99 not out in a Test to his name), Stephen Fleming and Matthew Hayden. If you take not-outs into consideration Richie Richardson was twice out for 99 in Tests and made 99 not out in an ODI, while Alistair Campbell of Zimbabwe and Australia's Dean Jones both made 99 in a Test and 99 not out in an ODI.

And there are some updates on last week's question about players arriving late for Test matches, from Errol Erskine, Pete Church and Abhishek Mukherjee (and several others):
The most recent instance of this involved the West Indian fast bowler Brandon Bess, who was called up for the third Test against South Africa in Bridgetown in June 2010 after Nelon Pascal was injured in the pre-match warm-up. Bess arrived at the ground shortly after the start of play. In 1994-95, with Waqar Younis injured, Pakistan chose Aamer Nazir in the final XI for a Test in South Africa even though he was still on a plane from Pakistan. Wisden reported: "He landed at Johannesburg an hour before play and entered the field 35 minutes late. Nazir broke down with cramp in his seventh over, but returned after tea, had Rhodes caught at slip to end a 157-run partnership, bowled Richardson next ball, broke down again and returned the next day." Another instance involved the big-hitting Indian batsman Sandeep Patil, who was recalled to play Pakistan in Nagpur in 1983-84 after initially being dropped. He was flown in on a special plane, arriving after play had started.