Fleming's world record and a Max oddity

Stephen Fleming goes into the Test series against South Africa with a world record which, by definition, he must extend before he can relinquish it. Fleming has now scored more runs than any other player in the history of Test cricket with the aid of only two centuries.

Fleming took over the record during the recent series in Zimbabwe. In a most curious twist, the record was previously held by Sir Richard Hadlee, Fleming thus taking the record from his own convenor of selectors - perhaps a record in itself.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul is the only other current batsman who has totalled over 2000 Test runs with just two centuries.

The batsmen with most runs in Test cricket with only two hundreds are:

Mat    I  NO  Runs   HS     Ave 100  50
SP Fleming           53   93   6  3153  174*  36.24   2  24
RJ Hadlee            86  134  19  3124  151*  27.16   2  15
Rameez Raja          57   94   5  2833  122   31.83   2  22
SMH Kirmani          88  124  22  2759  102   27.04   2  12
FM Engineer          46   87   3  2611  121   31.08   2  16
S Chanderpaul        44   73   8  2602  137*  40.03   2  20
AL Logie             52   78   9  2470  130   35.79   2  16
TG Evans             91  133  14  2439  104   20.49   2   8
W Rhodes             58   98  21  2325  179   30.19   2  11
K Srikkanth          43   72   3  2062  123   29.88   2  12
BA Young             35   68   4  2034  267*  31.78   2  12

Rod Marsh (3633) is the only player to have scored over 3000 runs with the aid of only three centuries while Arjuna Ranatunga scored 5105 runs with only four hundreds.

Craig McMillan became the 52nd player to captain New Zealand in a first-class game when he led the side against Boland at Paarl. He became the first new captain since Dion Nash took over from the injured Stephen Fleming during the 1998/99 season.

The full list is:

1. Len Cuff             1893/94-1896/97
2. Alfred Holdship      1895/96
3. Thomas Cobcroft      1898/99
4. Charles Richardson   1902/03
5. Arthur Sims          1904/05
6. Dan Reese            1906/07-1913/14
7. Arnold Williams      1906/07
8. Lance Hemus          1913/14
9. Stan Brice           1920/21
10. Nessie Snedden       1922/23
11. Dave Collins         1922/23-1923/24
12. Syd Smith            1923/24
13. Billy Patrick        1924/25-1925/26
14. Tom Lowry            1927-1937/38
15. Ces Dacre            1927
16. Curly Page           1931-1937/38
17. Ian Cromb            1935/36
18. Giff Vivian          1937-1937-38
19. Denis Moloney        1938/39
20. Walter Hadlee        1945/46-1950/51
21. Merv Wallace         1949-1952/53
22. Bert Sutcliffe       1951/52-1953/54
23. Geoff Rabone         1953/54-1954/55
24. Harry Cave           1955/56-1958
25. John Reid            1955/56-1965
26. Murray Chapple       1961/62-1965/66
27. Graham Dowling       1965-1971/72
28. Barry Sinclair       1965/66-1967/68
29. Vic Pollard          1969-1969/70
30. Bevan Congdon        1969/70-1974/75
31. Glenn Turner         1971/72-1976/77
32. Bruce Taylor         1973
33. John Parker          1976/77-1978
34. Mark Burgess         1977/78-1980/81
35. Geoff Howarth        1979/80-1984/85
36. Richard Hadlee       1983
37. John Wright          1983-1990
38. Jeremy Coney         1984/85-1986/87
39. Jeff Crowe           1986/87-1987/88
40. Martin Snedden       1988/89
41. Martin Crowe         1990-1995/96
42. Ian Smith            1990-1990/91
43. Andrew Jones         1992/93
44. Ken Rutherford       1992/93-1994/95
45. Gavin Larsen         1994
46. Lee Germon           1995/96-1996/97
47. Justin Vaughan       1995/96
48. Mark Greatbatch      1996/97
49. Stephen Fleming      1996/97-2000/01
50. Chris Cairns         1997/98
51. Dion Nash            1998/99-1999
52. Craig McMillan       2000/01

Looking back to New Zealand's recent string of one-dayers, Roger Twose became the first New Zealand batsman to score 1000 ODI runs in a calendar year during the course of his maiden century at Cape Town.

The best January to December efforts by New Zealand batsmen are:

Year   Runs     Ave
RG Twose     2000   1068   56.21
NJ Astle     1998    891   42.42
NJ Astle     2000    845   38.40
GM Turner    1983    834   36.26
RG Twose     1999    823   48.41
MD Crowe     1990    810   42.63
AH Jones     1988    806   44.77
SP Fleming   1998    806   42.42
MD Crowe     1992    789   71.72
JG Wright    1988    742   35.33
AC Parore    1994    728   52.00
SP Fleming   1996    708   37.26

Speaking of Twose yet again, another of his recent achievements was to gain a place on a list almost exclusively reserved for members of the Cairns family - most sixes in a One-Day International for New Zealand. Needless to say, Cairns junior has also managed another entry on the table recently.

The players with four or more sixes in an ODI innings are:

Sixes
7     CL Cairns (115)       v India          Christchurch   1998/99
6     BL Cairns (52)        v Australia      Melbourne      1982/83
6     CL Cairns (75)        v West Indies    Auckland       1999/00
5*    CD McMillan (66)      v Zimbabwe       Harare         1997/98
4     BL Cairns (60)        v England        Manchester     1978
4     MJ Greatbatch (111)   v England        The Oval       1990
4     MJ Greatbatch (73)    v India          Dunedin        1991/92
4*    CL Cairns (42)        v Sri Lanka      Hamilton       1994/95
4     CL Cairns (103)       v India          Pune           1995/96
4     CZ Harris (130)       v Australia      Madras         1995/96
4     CL Cairns (71)        v Sri Lanka      Sharjah        1996/97
4     CL Cairns (64)        v South Africa   Brisbane       1997/98
4*    CL Cairns (43)        v Zimbabwe       Hamilton       1997/98
4     RG Twose (63)         v Zimbabwe       Bulawayo       2000/01
4     CL Cairns (84)        v South Africa   Cape Town      2000/01

* no fours

An unusual situation arose in a recent Super Max League match at Cornwall Park when the official scorers incorrectly scored no-balls as one extra. Under Max rules, no run is credited for a no-ball (apart from any other scoring action which might place) but the next delivery becomes a free hit for the batsman.

The official scores read:
Auckland 127-5 & 154-5 (including one run for a no-ball)
Northern Districts 152-7 & 130-2 (including four runs from no-balls)

The amended scores with the no-balls deducted would read:
Auckland 127-5 & 153-5
Northern Districts 152-7 & (requiring 129 to win) 126-2

Although Northern were, with correct application of the rules, three runs short of their target, the Laws of Cricket state that once a match has been "signed off" by umpires and captains, the result will stand.

(Northern, incidentally, still had 1.3 overs remaining in their second innings).

A similar situation occurred several seasons ago in a Shell Trophy match when the official scorers failed to correctly apply the penalty runs for a no-ball. Fortunately, the error was pointed out prior to the final day and the scores adjusted by the umpires overnight. Had nothing been done at that stage, the team which successfully chased a target the following day would actually have found they had scored less runs in the match than their opponents based on the correct method of scoring.