The fastest debut hundreds, and McGrath's bunnies

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

Matt Prior's century in the first Test against West Indies at Lord's came up in 118 minutes and 105 balls, which seems to be the record for England. I have to say "seems to be" as we don't have complete statistics for many early Tests. The previous-fastest would appear to be KS Ranjitsinhji's against Australia at Old Trafford in 1896, which took him 125 minutes - on the third day of that match he zoomed from 41 to his eventual 154 not out before lunch. The only faster debut century that I can spot from all countries looks like Dwayne Smith's for West Indies against South Africa at Cape Town in 2003-04, which came up in 103 minutes off 93 balls.

How many wicketkeepers have scored centuries on Test debut? asked Roy Friedman from Israel

Matt Prior was the first England wicketkeeper to score a century on Test debut. When I first heard that stat I thought it was wrong, as I knew that keepers Paul Gibb and Billy Griffith had both scored debut hundreds, but on closer inspection it turned out that neither of them was keeping wicket in the match in question - Gibb against South Africa at Johannesburg in 1938-39 (he actually scored 93 and 106), and Griffith against West Indies at Port-of-Spain in 1947-48. Only two wicketkeepers had previously scored a century on Test debut, and both of them were from Sri Lanka: Brendon Kuruppu, who made 201 not out against New Zealand in Colombo in 1986-87, and Romesh Kaluwitharana, who biffed 132 not out against Australia, also in Colombo, in 1992-93. For a full list of the batsmen who scored a century on Test debut, click here.

Which batsmen did Glenn McGrath dismiss most often in Tests and ODIs? asked James Moss from Balmain, Sydney

In Tests, Glenn McGrath's "bunny" was England's Mike Atherton, who was dismissed by him 19 times. Next comes Brian Lara, who fell to McGrath 15 times, then two more West Indians in Jimmy Adams (12) and Sherwin Campbell (11), and England's Alec Stewart (10). In one-day internationals, McGrath dismissed four different batsmen seven times: Herschelle Gibbs and Gary Kirsten of South Africa, Sri Lanka's Sanath Jayasuriya, and Sachin Tendulkar of India. He removed Jacques Kallis, another South African, six times, along with England's Marcus Trescothick.

Please could you tell us more about the incident in which a ball from the then Indian cricketer Jahangir Khan (father of Pakistan's Majid Khan) hit a bird in England? asked Nooruddin Tejani from Pakistan

This incident happened on the final day of the match between Cambridge University and MCC at Lord's in 1936. Jahangir Khan, who played four Tests for India, was bowling to MCC's Tom Pearce, who also captained Essex. After Jahangir bowled, Pearce played a defensive shot, and the fielders noticed the bails had been dislodged: they then spotted a dead sparrow near the stumps. The unfortunate bird was later stuffed, and remains on display in the Lord's museum. Jahangir's son Majid Khan later played 63 Tests for Pakistan, and his son Bazid Khan won his only Test cap to date in 2005, making them only the second three-generation Test family, after the Headleys - George and Ron of West Indies and Dean of England.

Who was the captain of the first West Indian team to play a Test? asked Terry Green from Canada

West Indies played their first official Tests in England in 1928 - losing all three by an innings - and their captain on that tour was Karl Nunes, a wicketkeeper/batsman from Jamaica who was educated at Dulwich College. That series was followed, in 1929-30, by West Indies' first home series, when they did something rather strange - a different captain, from the home territory, was appointed for each of the four Test matches. Thus the Barbadian Teddy Hoad captained in the first Test at Bridgetown, Trinidad's Nelson Betancourt at at Port-of-Spain (he was 42 at the time: this was his only Test, and the last first-class match of a career which had begun in 1905), and Maurice Fernandes of Guyana in the third Test at Georgetown, before Nunes returned for the high-scoring "timeless" draw at Kingston, scoring 66 and 92 in a match that ended when the England players had to catch the boat home.

How many Test cricketers have been born in Canada or the United States? asked Srinath Sriraman from Chennai

The first part is easy: no Test cricketers have yet emerged from Canada. But there are two who were, in the words of the song, born in the USA: Kenneth "Bam Bam" Weekes, who first saw the light of day in Boston, played two Tests for West Indies in England in 1939, while Jehan Mubarak, who was born in Washington in 1981, has won eight Test caps for Sri Lanka to date.