The man who denied The Don

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

In the first Test between India and Pakistan last month, the Indian team's overall Test experience amounted to nearly 100 years (Sachin Tendulkar 18 years, Anil Kumble 17 years, etc). Which team has had the most experienced line-up so far? asked Ganesh from India

That's an unusual question, and it produced an unexpected answer. The most experienced Test team, in terms of the length of the players' Test careers, was fielded by South Africa against England at Old Trafford in 1924. Their side included eight players who had made their debuts before the First World War, and the combined experience added up to more than 110 years. There were more surprises in second and third places: Pakistan's side against West Indies at Multan in 1980-81 had combined Test experience of more than 107 years, while Sri Lanka's team for the first match of their recent series against Australia, at Brisbane, had more than 105 years of Test cricket under their belts. India's line-up in the first Test at Delhi comes in 16th (this includes repeat appearances by some of the teams above them, notably four matches by that 1924 South African side) with just over 100 years' Test experience.

Twelve players made nought in a Test between Sri Lanka and England in 2000-01 - is that a record? asked Prabhakar Singh from the United States

There were only 11 scores of 0 in that match in Colombo - the other one was 0 not out, which shouldn't count - but that still equalled the Test record. It was the ninth such instance - the first was in the Ashes Test at Old Trafford in 1888 - and there has been one more case of 11 ducks in a Test since, in the match between Sri Lanka and West Indies at Kandy in 2001-02. For a full list, click here.

Someone told me that without the pressure of wicketkeeping, Kumar Sangakkara's batting average is over 90. Is this true? asked Shyam from Singapore

It is indeed: in the 21 Tests in which he was not the designated wicketkeeper, Kumar Sangakkara has scored 2648 runs at the amazing average of 94.57. That includes five of his six Test double-centuries, and three more single hundreds. In the 47 matches in which he did keep wicket, he has scored 3093 runs at 41.24, with seven centuries. That gives an overall average (before the series against England) of 55.73 from 68 matches. (These figures do not take account of any games in which the gloves were swapped mid-match.)

Who reached 100 ODI wickets quickest? My money's on Shane Bond! asked Brett Stevens from Dunedin

I'm afraid you've lost your money - Shane Bond took his 100th wicket in his 54th ODI for New Zealand - but Pakistan's Saqlain Mushtaq beat him by one, taking his 100th wicket in his 53rd match, in 1997. Saqlain is also the winner if you calculate it by time - he took only one year and 225 days to reach 100 ODI wickets. Of other bowlers, only the Indian trio of Irfan Pathan (two years 100 days), Zaheer Khan (two years 162 days) and Ajit Agarkar (two years 251 days) have managed it in less than three years. For a full list, click here.

Can you confirm that Neil Harvey hit a boundary in the fourth Test of 1948, as his first scoring stroke, to win the match? If he had just defended this ball, then Don Bradman at the other end might have been able to score the four which would have made his average 100, even with his duck in the final Test ... asked Geoff Barnes from Australia

Wisden confirms that Neil Harvey did indeed round off Australia's successful run-chase (of 404, a record at the time) at Headingley in 1948 with a four, off Ken Cranston. And Don Bradman was indeed batting at the other end, with 173 not out. But it was quite close to the end of the game - there were only around 15 minutes left - and it was the first ball of an over, so it probably never occurred to Harvey to let The Don hit the winning runs. Stats weren't as easily accessible as they are now: if they had been, I suppose Harvey might just have known that Bradman needed four runs for 7000 in Tests. But the average of 100 would probably not have crossed anyone's mind. Bradman's average at that point was 101.39 - the famous duck at The Oval pushed it down to the legendary 99.94 - and no one knew that he was only going to bat once in that final Test.

Who has conceded the most bowling centuries in Tests? asked Blair Suenick from Australia

The leader here is not unexpected - it's Muttiah Muralitharan, who has conceded 100 or more runs in an innings on 51 occasions on his way to the brink of the Test wicket-taking record. In second place is India's Anil Kumble (46, before the Kolkata Test), and then Shane Warne with 40, quite a way clear of the next man (and first non-spinner), Ian Botham (31). Danish Kaneria, who has played fewer than half the Tests of the others mentioned here, had gone for 30 bowling centuries before the Kolkata Test.

And there's an afterthought to last week's question about people with a higher Test batting average than Don Bradman: from David Ralphs, among others:

He pointed out that Albert Trott had a better average for Australia than The Don. Trott averaged 102.50 in three Tests for Australia - but also played for England, and did much less well, which dropped his overall Test average to 38.00. And Chris McQuaid of New Zealand was one of a few people who observed that there are also four women who average more than 100 in Tests (and the question did say "everyone"): Chamani Seneviratna of Sri Lanka (148.00), the New Zealand pair of Emily Drumm (144.33) and Haidee Tiffen (124.00), and Joanne Broadbent of Australia (109.25).