What's the highest Test partnership between people who were born on the same day?

There have been two two-day finishes in the current Ashes. Has any other series had two Tests which were over inside two days? asked Tim Pearce from Australia
The fast-forward Boxing Day Test in Melbourne over Christmas followed the first Test in Perth in being done and dusted on the second day.

They were the 26th and 27th Tests to be over in two days. There were none at all between March 1946 and 2000, but there have now been 12 this century.

Back in the 19th century, in the days of uncovered pitches, all three Tests in the 1888 Ashes series in England were over inside two days, as were England's matches against weak South African teams in 1888-89 (both Tests) and 1895-96 (two of the three matches). Two of the nine Tests in the 1912 Triangular Tournament were over in two days, but the current Ashes series is the first since then to have more than one.

It didn't happen, but when Scott Boland opened in the second innings in Melbourne there was a chance he could have featured twice in a Josh Tongue hat-trick. Has this ever happened? asked Chris McDonald from Australia
I was among those who thought Ben Stokes missed a trick by not giving the ball to Josh Tongue for the final over of the first day on Boxing Day in Melbourne. Scott Boland was on strike as a nightwatcher, having been out first ball to end Australia's first innings earlier in the day, which left Tongue on a hat-trick for the second innings.

There has never been a Test hat-trick that featured the same batter twice. Indeed, it has happened only once in first-class cricket, a long time ago: playing for Kent against "England" in Canterbury in 1844, John Fagge went in at No. 11 in the first innings and was bowled by William Clarke for a duck. Clarke dismissed Ned Wenman with the first ball of Kent's second innings, whereupon Fagge came in again - and departed for another golden duck. This is the only confirmed case in first-class cricket: there were suggestions it also happened in a Ranji Trophy match in India in 1988, but this seems to be incorrect.

No one made a fifty in the Boxing Day Test. How rare is this for a completed match? asked Tim Burrows from England
The highest individual score in the whistle-stop fourth Ashes Test in Melbourne was Travis Head's 46 in Australia's second innings: Harry Brook and Jacob Bethell reached 40 for England. This was only the 16th case of no individual half-century in a completed Test match. Apart from three times in the 1880s, it was the first such instance in Australia except for the 1932 Melbourne Test, which took place on a spiteful "sticky" wicket. Australia's unorthodox slow left-armer Bert "Dainty" Ironmonger, who was two months short of his 50th birthday, had figures of 5 for 6 and 6 for 18 as South Africa were skittled for 36 and 45.

What's the highest partnership in Tests between people who were born on the same day? asked Tim Hall from England
The highest Test partnership between two batters born on the same day was 231 for the fourth wicket, by Mark and Steve Waugh for Australia against West Indies in Kingston in 1995. The Waughs, who were born on June 2, 1965, also put on 197 against England at The Oval in 2001, and 190 against England in Sydney in 1999. Another pair of twins, James and Hamish Marshall, put on 107 for New Zealand's second wicket against Sri Lanka in Napier in 2005.

The highest Test partnership between unrelated players who were born on exactly the same day is a modest 77 (unbroken), by Yashpal Sharma and Bobjee Narasimha Rao for India's fifth wicket against Australia in Kolkata in 1979. They were both born on August 11, 1954.

If we widen the search to those who share a birthday but were born in different years, the highest partnership between two unrelated players is 163 for the fifth wicket by Vic Stollmeyer and Kenneth "Bam Bam" Weekes - both born on January 24 - for West Indies against England at The Oval in 1939. And in December 2020, Jermaine Blackwood and Alzarri Joseph - both born on November 20 - put on 155 for West Indies' seventh wicket against New Zealand in Hamilton.

Which country has the most Test wins at a single venue as a visiting team? asked Karan Singh Rathod from India
In terms of numbers England lead the way here, having won 22 Tests in Sydney and 21 in Melbourne. Australia come next with 16 wins at Lord's, while both England and Australia have won ten in Cape Town. The long history of the Ashes means these countries have met each other more often than most - and Sydney and Melbourne often hosted two Tests in a series: England have played 58 Tests at the MCG, while this week's encounter will be the 58th at the SCG.

New Zealand have won seven of the eight Test matches they have played in Bulawayo, while Pakistan have won six out of eight in Harare. West Indies won five out of seven at the WACA in Perth, as have South Africa at the Basin Reserve in Wellington.