Close-run things, and a question of numbers

Ireland have recently been involved in some close encounters © AFP

The regular Monday column in which Steven Lynch answers your questions about (almost) any aspect of cricket:

I was one of the few watching Ireland beat Holland by one run - how many such tight results have there been in ODIs? asked Niall Stott from Belfast

That match at Stormont last week provided the 20th instance of a one-run victory in ODIs (click here for a list), but the first involving non-Test nations. There have also been 34 wins by one wicket - two of them in the recent World Cup - and 24 tied matches, in two of which the side losing fewer wickets was declared the winner. That list includes Ireland's World Cup tie against Zimbabwe at Kingston in March.

I believe that the little numbers printed on Test players' shirts are the number at which they made their debut for their country. Michael Vaughan's number is 600, while Ricky Ponting's is 366. Why is it that so many more people have played for England? asked Nimish Thakker from India

It's a good question. One simple explanation is that England have played more Tests: 861 to Australia's 687. Another reason is that England's earliest Test tours of Australia were private ones, with players chosen by the promoter or captain rather than a central selection panel - Australia's teams, in contrast, were drawn from only two or three sides. Just as important, I suspect, is that in the first 60 years or so of international cricket England played many more Tests against teams like South Africa and New Zealand, who were much weaker at the time, and England fielded correspondingly inexperienced teams, including lots of new players, partly in an attempt to make the matches more competitive and encourage the weaker nations (no Test rankings table then!). In 1929-30, for example, England played Tests against West Indies and New Zealand at the same time. And finally England have always had more players to choose from, with 17-18 county teams compared to Australia's five or six State sides - so, especially when they are losing, there's more of a temptation and more opportunity to cast around. For example, when England lost at home to Australia in 1921, they used 30 players in the five Tests, and 29 in six Tests in 1989.

After Rajin Saleh was out for 0 after 29 minutes on the first day of the third Test between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, I had to wonder ... what's the longest duck in Test history? asked David Huggett

I'm afraid that Rajin Saleh's 29-minute duck at Kandy was a long way short of the Test record, which stands at a staggering 101 minutes without scoring - achieved by New Zealand's Geoff Allott, who was better known for his fast-medium left-arm bowling, in the first Test against South Africa at Auckland in 1998-99. I can also remember the England offspinner Peter Such being cheered off the pitch at Old Trafford after a 72-minute duck against New Zealand in 1999. For a list of some of the slower Test innings, click here.

Could you tell me which team has won most Test and ODI matches at Old Trafford in Manchester? asked Arif-uz-Zaman from Pakistan

There have been 72 Test matches at Old Trafford, with England being involved in 71 of them (there was also one between Australia and South Africa in the Triangular Tournament of 1912, the game in which Australia's Jimmy Matthews uniquely took two hat-tricks). England have won 23 Tests there, Australia eight, West Indies five, and Pakistan and South Africa one each. India, New Zealand and Sri Lanka have never won a Test there (Sri Lanka have only played one, in 2002, and lost it). The ground has also staged 36 one-day internationals, 28 of them involving England, who have won 17 (and lost 10, with one no-result against New Zealand). Australia have won five, India and Sri Lanka three, Pakistan, South Africa and West Indies two, and New Zealand one. Bangladesh, Canada and Zimbabwe have all lost their only ODI at OT. You can carry out this sort of query yourself if you like, using Statsguru or via Cricinfo's Old Trafford page.

How many players from what is now Bangladesh represented Pakistan in Tests? asked Rahul from the United States

The short answer is none: the only man to play for Pakistan while representing East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) was the fast bowler Niaz Ahmed, and he was actually born in Varanasi in India. Niaz won two Test caps in the late 1960s, but met with little success (although the first of his three Test wickets was Brian Close, the England captain). The closest native-born player was the opener Raqibul Hassan, who played for the Pakistan President's XI against the touring New Zealanders in 1969-79, when he was only 16, and was 12th man for the Dacca Test of that series. He also opened for a Pakistan Board XI in an unofficial Test against an International XI at Dacca in 1970-71, shortly before Bangladesh was created. He did finally play two official ODIs for Bangladesh in 1986. Raqibul's story was covered in full on Cricinfo a few years ago.

In the recent Test in Colombo one stand of 191 was higher than all Bangladesh's other 19 partnerships put together. Is this the first time this has happened in a Test? asked Jeremy Gilling from Australia

The match you're talking about was last week's second Test against Sri Lanka at the Sara Stadium in Colombo, when Mohammad Ashraful and Mushfiqur Rahim put on 191 for the sixth wicket in Bangladesh's second innings: the other 19 partnerships added up to 170. I didn't think it could ever have happened before, but I've learned never to say never in this job - and actually this was the fourth occasion that it has occurred. The first was in the 1896 Ashes Test at Lord's, when Syd Gregory and Australia's captain Harry Trott put on 220 in the second innings, but the other 19 partnerships mustered only 179. The second instance was probably the most remarkable: at Hamilton in 1999-2000 West Indies were sailing along at 276 for 0, with Sherwin Campbell and Adrian Griffith both scoring centuries, but lost their next 19 wickets for 186 and New Zealand won easily. The difference of 90 runs between the big stand and the others is the largest of these four instances. The last time it happened was as recently as last summer in England, when Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf put on 363 for Pakistan's third wicket at Headingley, while the other 19 partnerships amounted to only 330. This subject is covered in more detail in the most recent The List column.