Yasir's 13 going on 100, and 42-year-old centurions

Yasir Shah has 86 wickets after 13 Tests. Has anyone ever taken more at that point, and who was the quickest to 100? asked Aslam Mohammad from Pakistan
Yasir Shah's fine performance at Lord's - the 28th ten-for there, but the first by an Asian bowler - took him to 86 wickets after only 13 Tests, more than anyone else at that stage of a career. He has eclipsed a trio of famous 19th-century bowlers: the Australian "Terror" Charles Turner had 81 wickets after 13 matches, the Surrey and England fast bowler Tom Richardson 78, and another Australian in Fred "The Demon" Spofforth 77. Arthur Mailey and R Ashwin had 75 wickets after 13 Tests, while Vernon Philander and Alf Valentine had 74.

To be the fastest to 100 in terms of matches, Yasir needs 14 wickets in the next two games. Another 19th-century name, England's George Lohmann, reached his century in 16 Tests, while Turner, Sydney Barnes and Clarrie Grimmett took 17. The quickest since the Second World War is Ashwin, who got there in 18 Tests, one quicker than Philander, Valentine, Ian Botham, Andy Roberts and Saeed Ajmal (and Colin Blythe, the England spinner who was killed in the First World War).

I was wondering how many players older than Misbah-ul-Haq have played a Test in England for the first time? asked Kenneth Harrison from England
Misbah-ul-Haq became only the 25th player aged 42 or more ever to appear in a Test in England (50-year-old WG Grace, in 1899, remains the oldest of all). Of those 25, only two before Misbah made their debut in England after their 42nd birthday - the Nottinghamshire batsman William "Dodge" Whysall in 1930, and legspinner Somachandra de Silva, in Sri Lanka's first Test in England in 1984. Whysall, who had played three previous Tests in Australia in 1924-25, was recalled for the final match of the 1930 Ashes at The Oval, and made 13 and 10 in a heavy defeat. Sadly, by the time England played their next Test (in South Africa that winter) Whysall was dead. He injured his elbow at a dance in November 1930, and passed away shortly afterwards from septicaemia.

Misbah became only the sixth 42-year-old to score a Test century, but the first since Eric Rowan for South Africa against England at Headingley in 1951 (Rowan, who was slightly younger than Misbah, made 236 and remains Test cricket's oldest double-centurion). Jack Hobbs made seven Test centuries after turning 42 (three of them when younger than Misbah), while the others were Frank Woolley (aged 42 in 1929), Dave Nourse (42 in 1921-22), Warren Bardsley (43 when he made 193 not out at Lord's in 1926), and Patsy Hendren (45 in 1934).

Have two bowlers ever taken ten wickets in the same Test at Lord's before? asked Meera Sabesan from Ghana
This double by Chris Woakes (11 for 102) and Yasir Shah (10 for 141) was the first occasion that two bowlers had taken ten or more wickets in the same Test at Lord's (for the list, see the first question). There had been only 20 previous Tests worldwide in which two bowlers took ten-fors, most recently by Ajantha Mendis (Sri Lanka) and Harbhajan Singh (India) in Galle in 2008. The first instance came in Sydney in 1891-92, when George Giffen took 10 for 160 for Australia, and George Lohmann 10 for 142 for England.

Who was the last England bowler before Chris Woakes to take ten wickets in a Test but end up on the losing side? asked Savo Ceprnich from South Africa
Chris Woakes provided the unlucky 13th instance of an England bowler taking ten of more wickets in a Test but losing. The last one before him was Ryan Sidebottom, who took ten in a 189-run defeat by New Zealand in Hamilton in 2007-08. In all there have now been 71 Tests in which a bowler ended up losing despite taking a ten-for. The best figures in defeat are Javagal Srinath's 13 for 132 for India against Pakistan in Kolkata in 1998-99; Tom Richardson (1896), Sydney Barnes (1901-02) and Merv Hughes (1988-89) also took 13 wickets in a losing cause. Wasim Akram lost three Tests in which he took ten or more wickets, while Muttiah Muralitharan, Tom Richardson, Saeed Ajmal, Hugh Trumble, Daniel Vettori and Shane Warne all did it twice.

Alastair Cook became the highest scorer from the opening spot during the Lord's Test. Who are the biggest scorers from the other positions? asked John Raju from India
During the Lord's Test against Pakistan, Alastair Cook took his total while opening the batting to 9638 runs, passing Sunil Gavaskar's 9607. Graeme Smith (9030) also made more than 9000. (These figures obviously exclude runs scored from elsewhere in the batting order.) The other leaders are: No. 3 - Kumar Sangakkara (11,679), ahead of Rahul Dravid (10,524) and Ricky Ponting (9904). No. 4 - Sachin Tendulkar (13,492), then Mahela Jayawardene (9509) and Jacques Kallis (9033). No. 5 - Shivnarine Chanderpaul (6883), Steve Waugh (6754) and Michael Clarke (5959). No. 6 - Steve Waugh (3165), Hashan Tillakaratne (2843), VVS Laxman (2760). No. 7 - Adam Gilchrist (3948), Ian Healy (3041), Brad Haddin (3010), Rod Marsh (3009). No. 8 - Daniel Vettori (2227), Shane Warne (2005), Chaminda Vaas (1913). No. 9 - Stuart Broad (1155), Vettori (1105), Brett Lee (1003). No. 10 - Waqar Younis (496), Dale Steyn (487), Bishan Bedi (470). No. 11 - Muttiah Muralitharan (623), Glenn McGrath (603) and Courtney Walsh (553).

England played successive Tests at Lord's this year, against Sri Lanka and Pakistan. How rare is this? asked Michael Browne from England
It's surprisingly unusual for England to play successive Tests at the same ground. Apart from the rather special case of 1997-98, when there were two in a row in Port-of-Spain after the early abandonment of the first Test in Kingston, it hadn't happened since 1929-30, when England met New Zealand in successive Tests in Auckland. Then you have to go back to 1913-14, when South Africa staged consecutive matches of England's tour at the old Wanderers ground in Johannesburg. The last time it happened in England was during the Triangular Tournament in 1912, with successive matches being played at Lord's then The Oval. The difficulties of travel meant it was not too uncommon before that. There were nine previous instances in Australia and South Africa, including three cases of three Tests in a row at the same place - in Johannesburg in 1905-06 (the first three matches of England's tour), in Sydney in 1886-87 and 1887-88, and in Melbourne in 1876-77 and 1878-79 (the first three Tests of all). Other countries have occasionally played two in a row as well: recent examples include Zimbabwe staging both their Tests against Bangladesh in April 2013 in Harare, and Pakistan playing Australia twice running in Sharjah in 2002. India also played two successive Tests against West Indies in Port-of-Spain, in 1975-76.

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