How many Tests in England have not featured the England team?

In Ireland's second innings at Lord's, both the No. 8 and No. 9 reached 80. How often has this happened in the same Test innings? asked Michael McKenzie from Ireland
Ireland's fightback at Lord's last week, which at least staved off the innings defeat, owed much to Andy McBrine, who made 86 not out from No. 8, and No. 9 Mark Adair, who hit 88. This turns out to be only the sixth time both Nos. 8 and 9 have reached 80 in the same Test innings.

Neither of Ireland's batters escaped the eighties, which hadn't happened before; in all the other cases, at least one of the players made it to three figures. In the first, in the Ashes Test in Adelaide in 1907-08, debutant Roger Hartigan scored 116 from No. 8, and Clem Hill 160 from No. 9 for Australia. Hill usually went in much higher up but had been ill during the match.

The only other instance of both Nos. 8 and 9 scoring centuries in a Test innings came in Bulawayo in 2017-18, when Shane Dowrich made 103 and Jason Holder 110 for West Indies against Zimbabwe.

Against Ireland, Josh Tongue took a five-for in the second innings of his Test debut, having not taken a wicket in the first. How unusual is this? asked Kevin Matthews from England
The Worcestershire fast bowler Josh Tongue had figures of 0 for 40 and 5 for 66 on his Test debut, against Ireland at Lord's last week.

Tongue is only the tenth man to follow a wicketless first innings on debut with a five-for or better in the second. It seems to be something of an English specialty, as six of the previous nine times this happened also involved England bowlers: Christopher Heseltine (1895-96), Wally Hammond (1927-28), James Langridge (1933), Jim Smith (1934-35), Ken Shuttleworth (1970-71), and Adil Rashid (2015-16).

The three from other countries were Australia's Albert Trott (1894-95), and the South African pair of Cuan McCarthy (1948-49) and Lance Klusener (1996-97). Both Trott and Klusener took eight wickets apiece in the second innings, after failing to strike in the first. We should also give an honourable mention to Australia's Simon Katich, who took 0 for 75 and 6 for 65 in his second Test (against Zimbabwe in 2003-04), having not bowled in his first.

Chris Gayle once carried his bat in a T20 international. How many others have done this? asked Mitchell McCarron from Jamaica
Chris Gayle is the only opener to carry his bat in a T20I innings (by which I mean open and remain unbeaten in an all-out innings, not just bat through the 20 overs). Gayle scored 63 not out of West Indies' 101 against Sri Lanka in the semi-final of the T20 World Cup at The Oval in 2009.

Arthur Kyobe carried his bat for 51 of Uganda's 109 in a tie against Scotland in Nairobi in January 2010, before such matches were automatically given official international status. And there have been three further instances in other senior T20 games: by Sanjaya Rodrigo (16 not out in a total of 85) for Ragama against Bloomfield in a Sri Lanka T20 Cup match in Colombo in October 2005, Ankit Yadav (54 not out/107) for Odisha against Vidarbha in a Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy game in Indore in March 2013, and the Pakistan international Mansoor Amjad (52 not out/131, after earlier taking 4 for 18) for Galle against Badureliya in the Sri Lankan T20 tournament in Colombo in January 2020.

I spotted that a Championship match at Taunton in 2007 included eight centuries. Was this a record for a first-class match? asked Andy Morrison from England
The match you're talking about was the County Championship game between Somerset and Middlesex in Taunton in April 2007. Middlesex declared at 600 for 4, with centuries for Owais Shah, Billy Godleman and David Nash, but Somerset replied with a county-record 850 for 7, which included 315 from Justin Langer and single centuries for James Hildreth, Cameron White and Peter Trego. In the time remaining before the draw was agreed, Ed Smith reached three figures and Middlesex got to 209 for 2.

Eight centuries is a record for any English first-class match; there have been six other matches worldwide with eight each, including two Tests - West Indies vs South Africa in Antigua in 2005, and Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh in Galle in 2012-13.

But there have been two first-class matches that contained nine individual centuries, both of them in India: a Ranji Trophy semi-final between Bombay and Maharashtra in Poona in 1948-49, and the Duleep Trophy final between West Zone and South Zone in Bombay (now Mumbai) in 1986-87.

This week's World Test Championship final is being played in England, yet England are not in it. How many Tests have been played here without England in? asked George Campbell from England
The World Test Championship final between Australia and India, which is scheduled to start at The Oval on Wednesday, will be the 548th Test match played in England and Wales (three have been staged in Cardiff). This will be only the seventh not to feature England. The others were the three matches between Australia and South Africa in the 1912 Triangular Tournament, two matches between Pakistan and Australia in 2010, and the inaugural WTC final, in which New Zealand beat India, in Southampton in June 2021.