Recovering from 0 for 5, and the shortest ODIs

In their recent Ranji Trophy match against Baroda, Mumbai were 0 for 5 at one point. Is this the worst start in any first-class match? asked Shashank from India, and many others

Mumbai's embarrassing opening to their second innings in the Ranji Trophy semi-final at Vadodara last week - remarkably, they bounced back to win the game and qualify for the final - was not the worst start to any first-class innings. Back in 1872, an MCC side containing WG Grace slumped to 0 for 7 against Surrey at Lord's, before struggling to 16 all out. Pitches at Lord's then were not terribly good - scores of less than 100 were commonplace - and this one was particularly difficult, as it had been soaked by incessant rain the previous day. The 1873 Wisden says the innings took place "on dead, deceitful playing wickets, and in a queer light for batting". Surrey only managed 49, bowled MCC out again for 71, and won the match by five wickets inside a single day. The worst start in a Test match was by India, at Headingley in 1952, when Fred Trueman and Alec Bedser reduced them to 0 for 4.

England succumbed in only 59 overs in Friday's match. What is the smallest number of overs that has been required to complete a one-day international? asked Ollie Brown

I don't suppose it will cheer England up very much after their Australia Day surrender at Adelaide, but they were a long way clear of the record for the shortest one-day international. Australia needed only 354 balls to win on Friday, but the record is a paltry 120 balls - just 20 overs in total - at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo in December 2001. Sri Lanka skittled Zimbabwe for 38 - Chaminda Vaas took 8 for 19, still the best figures in ODIs - in 15.4 overs, then knocked off the runs in just 4.2 overs. The match was over by midday, with little more than two hours' actual play. For a complete list of the shortest ODIs, click here.

My father recently told me that apart from the four Mohammad brothers who played in Tests, there was a fifth brother that only went as far as being the 12th man. Is this true? asked Bilal Ali from the United Arab Emirates

Yes, it is true: Raees Mohammad was a useful batsman and legspinner, and was 12th man for Pakistan's Test against India at Dacca (now Dhaka) in 1954-55. His brother Hanif Mohammad wrote in his autobiography: "Raees Bhai, we all feel, was the unluckiest of us all to have missed out on representing his country. In my opinion, had he played, he would have proved himself to be a better allrounder than even Mushtaq." The other Mohammad brothers were Wazir and Sadiq: no other family has provided four brothers to a Test team (six families have supplied three). From their inaugural match in 1952-53, it was 25 years, and 89 matches, before Pakistan took the field in a Test without at least one of the Mohammad brothers.

Stephen Fleming took four catches against England the other day - is that a record for a non-keeper in an ODI? asked Paul Rainey from New Zealand

That instance by Stephen Fleming at Adelaide last week was the 24th time that a fielder other than the wicketkeeper has taken four catches in an ODI innings, and the third by a New Zealander, after Ken Rutherford against India at Napier in 1994-95, and Chris Harris against India in Colombo in 2001. But the overall record is five, by South Africa's ace fieldsman Jonty Rhodes, against West Indies at Mumbai in 1993-94. For a full list of fielders who have taken four or more catches in an ODI, click here.

We've read that, astonishingly, England's bowlers in the 1970-71 Ashes series were awarded no lbw decisions at all - but how many lbws did the Australian bowlers receive? And how many of the wickets England did take were bowled? asked Rene Buhler from Australia

It's true that England did manage to win that 1970-71 Ashes series 2-0 without having an lbw appeal upheld during any of the six Tests. The Australian bowlers managed to wring five lbws out of the reluctant umpires. England, meanwhile, were bowling straight enough to hit the stumps 23 times in a series in which they took 98 wickets all told.

Further to last week's question about CB Fry, I have read in many publications that "he was offered the kingdom of Albania", but have never been able to find out what that actually meant - can you clarify? asked John Lynch (no relation!) from Vanuatu

In his autobiography Life Worth Living, which was published in 1939, Fry wrote about this strange occurrence, which arose from a conversation with his great friend KS Ranjitsinhji. "At the beginning of the war of 1914 the acting king of Albania was a German prince ... but this king, scenting some discomfort in remaining, decided to go for a holiday to his ancestral castle in Germany. At the end of the war, in consequence, Albania did not possess a king. British prestige at the moment was high. With a degree of intelligence I would not have attributed to the Albanians until I saw their Bishop, they had decided that the best thing they could do for a king was to obtain the services of 'an English country gentleman with ten thousand a year'." Fry was keen on the idea, but didn't have the money himself; Ranji, who might have been able to find it, seemed to go cold on the idea, eventually reminding Fry of "the inconvenience of having to live in a lonely castle on an island, and perhaps of a bullet in the ribs". Ranji might have had a point: Essad Pasha was proclaimed King of Albania in June 1920, and was assassinated shortly afterwards when he returned from exile in France for his inauguration.

And there's an afterthought to another of last week's questions, from David Baskcomb:

"Regarding the query about Mal Loye's age, he was actually the oldest England debutant in an ODI for ... seven days, since 36-year-old Paul Nixon made his debut in the first match of the Commonwealth Bank Series, at Melbourne!"