The oldest debutants, and high scores without hundreds

Bryce McGain - who I've played against in Melbourne! - was nearly 37 when he made his Test debut recently. Is he the oldest Aussie to pull on the baggy green for the first time? asked Kade Bishop from Williamstown, Melbourne

Bryce McGain, who was a week short of his 37th birthday when he finally made his Test debut, against South Africa in Cape Town recently, is the oldest new player for Australia since Bob Holland, another legspinner, who was 38 years 35 days old when he made his Test debut against West Indies in Brisbane in 1984-85. In all, eight players have been older than McGain on Test debut for Australia. The two oldest both started in the same season, against England at home in 1928-29 (a series that also saw the debut of the much younger Don Bradman) - Don Blackie was 46 years 253 days old when he played his first Test, in Sydney in December 1928, while Bert "Dainty" Ironmonger was just 16 days younger when he played in the first Test in Brisbane the previous month. Holland comes next, then there have been five 37-year-old Australian newcomers: Ned Gregory and Nat Thomson, in the inaugural Test in 1876-77, "Hammy" Love (1932-33), Jack Harry (1894-95) and Ron Oxenham (1928-29). McGain is the oldest Test debutant from any country since 37-year-old Andy Waller played for Zimbabwe against England in Bulawayo in 1996-97. For the full list of the oldest Test debutants, click here.

What is the highest Test innings total, and the highest-scoring match, that did not include a century? asked Paul Macdonald from New Zealand

The highest Test total not to include an individual century is India's 524 for 9 declared against New Zealand in Kanpur in 1976-77. Although no one reached 100, everyone made double figures - the highest score was Mohinder Amarnath's 70, and even Bishan Bedi made 50 not out! The highest-scoring Test that did not include an individual century was the third Test between South Africa and England in Durban in 1927-28 - a total of 1272 runs were scored overall, but the highest individual innings was Wally Hammond's 90.

I see that Daniel Vettori is closing in on the double of 3000 Test runs and 300 Test wickets. How many players have achieved this, and will Vettori be the youngest to do it? asked Emerson Wilshier from Australia

Daniel Vettori currently needs nine wickets to reach 300 in Tests (he already has 3000 runs). Assuming he gets there he will be the eighth to complete this double in Tests, following Ian Botham (who was 28 when he got there, in his 72nd Test), Richard Hadlee (38, 83rd), Imran Khan (36, 75th), Kapil Dev (28, 83rd), Shaun Pollock (31, 87th), Chaminda Vaas (34, 108th) and Shane Warne (37, 142nd). Kapil, who completed the double the day after his 28th birthday in January 1987, is the youngest to achieve it (Vettori is already 30).

I have heard that Inzamam-ul-Haq was out hit-wicket thrice in his career. Has anyone been out this way more often? asked Anand from India

Actually Inzamam-ul-Haq was out "hit wicket" only once in Tests - the time he fell onto his stumps while facing England's Monty Panesar at Headingley in 2006. He was also only once out hit-wicket in one-day internationals. The leader in Tests is actually Denis Compton of England, who managed to hit his own wicket no fewer than five times during his 131 innings. Although Compo was a legendarily bad runner, he was actually out hit-wicket more often than he was run out! He was run out only three times, although of course we don't always have the details of the partners he managed to leave stranded. The only other man to have been out hit-wicket more than twice in Tests is India's Mohinder Amarnath (three). Among the 10 batsmen who have hit their own wicket twice in Tests is Sri Lanka's Romesh Kaluwitharana, who is also one of five people to share the one-day international record of two hit-wicket dismissals.

Who is the only man to take more than 200 wickets in Tests but score fewer than 200 runs? asked Jim Archer from Coventry

The only one is the Indian legspinner Bhagwat Chandrasekhar, who finished his 58-Test career with 242 wickets but only 167 runs. In 80 attempts (39 of them not outs) Chandra reached double figures only five times, with a highest score of 22 against England at Edgbaston in 1967. Chandrasekhar was the first batsman to bag four pairs in Tests, a record since smashed by New Zealand's Chris Martin, who currently has six.

Who scored the 1000th century in one-day internationals? asked Lahiru Mampitiya from Sri Lanka

Well, that's a nice easy one to finish with, as there haven't quite been 1000 one-day international centuries yet, although the milestone is looming! As I write, the most recent ODI hundred - Andrew Strauss's 105 against West Indies in Providence - was the 985th.