Was Australia's 511 at the Gabba the highest Test total without a century?

Nathan Lyon was left out at Brisbane after playing every home Test since 2012. Was this a record? asked Kane Lincoln from Australia
The surprise omission of offspinner Nathan Lyon for the second Ashes Test in Brisbane ended a run of 69 consecutive home Test appearances since he missed the third Test against India in Perth in 2012. That puts him third overall, but another Australian is ahead: Allan Border played 83 home Tests in a row between 1978-79 and 1993-94.

Top of the list is Alastair Cook, who played in all 89 of England's home Tests between 2006 and 2018. Hashim Amla played 67 consecutive home Tests for South Africa, and R Ashwin 65 for India.

The highest individual contribution to Australia's 511 at the Gabba was 77 - was this the highest Test total without a century? asked Deepak Krishnan from India, among others
Australia's 511 against England in Brisbane was the fifth-highest total in Tests not to include an individual century. Top of the list is Sri Lanka's 531 against Bangladesh in Chattogram in 2024, when the highest score was Kusal Mendis's 93 (Kamindu Mendis made 92 not out, and there were four other half-centuries). Mitchell Starc's 77 was the highest contribution to Australia's innings at the Gabba. The only higher total with a lower top score was India's 524 for 9 declared against New Zealand in Kanpur in 1976, when Mohinder Amarnath made 70.

Several readers pointed out that all 11 of Australia's batters reached double figures. This was the 16th such instance in Tests, but in none of the previous cases was the lowest score as high as Brendan Doggett's 13 in Brisbane.

India have lost 20 successive tosses in one-day internationals. This must be a record? asked Vikram Mahradi from India
You're right, India's current streak is easily a record: they have now lost 20 tosses in a row in ODIs since Pat Cummins guessed correctly in the World Cup final in Ahmedabad in 2023. The next-longest sequence in men's one-day internationals is 11 in a row, by Netherlands between March 2011 and August 2013. In women's ODIs, Ireland lost 12 successive tosses between May 2017 and November 2021.

The most successive lost tosses in Tests is ten, also by India, between December 2009 and October 2010. In women's Tests Australia lost 11 in a row between February 1984 and January 1990. The record for men's T20Is is ten, by Nepal and Vanuatu.

If you lump all three formats together, the men's record is 15 successive lost tosses, by India between January and July 2025, a run that included all five Tests in England. For women, it's 12 by New Zealand between July 2018 and January 2019.

Mark Wood rarely seems to play two Tests in a row, although I know he has sometimes. What's the longest Test career of anyone who never did this? asked Martin Wilkins from England
The England fast bowler Mark Wood has now played 38 Tests, and only 21 of them have come without him having missed the previous one. Among players with 30 or more caps, only five have a "consecutive percentage" lower than Wood's (21 out of 38 = 55.26%). The New Zealander Matt Henry is currently lowest of all, with only 15 consecutive Tests among his 33 caps (45.45%), although I'd expect him to play more regularly now some senior pace men have retired. Only 16 of Kumar Dharmasena's 31 Tests for Sri Lanka were consecutive (51.61%), while the England pair of Mike Hendrick and Derek Pringle both won 30 caps, of which only 16 came in successive matches (53.33%). Another Sri Lankan, Dilhara Fernando, played 40 Tests, only 22 (55%) in succession.

And to answer your question, there are five players who all won five Test caps, none of which came in successive matches for their side, four of them legspinners: England's Tommy Mitchell (1930s), the West Indians Willie Rodriguez (1960s) and Rawl Lewis (between 1997 and 2008), and Todd Astle of New Zealand (2012-2020). The fifth member of the quintet is the Pakistan left-arm seamer Ehteshamuddin (1979-1982).

Who took only six wickets in his Test career - including a hat-trick? asked Vivek Seth from the United Arab Emirates
The bowler with this peculiar record is Bangladesh's legspinning allrounder Alok Kapali, who took a hat-trick against Pakistan in Peshawar in 2003, but otherwise picked up only three wickets in 16 further Tests.

A close second is the controversial South African fast bowler Geoff Griffin, whose career was effectively ended when he was no-balled for throwing during the 1960 Lord's Test. Almost his last act in his second and last Test was to take a hat-trick, and he finished with only eight wickets.

The tall England fast bowler Maurice Allom, who took a hat-trick on his Test debut, against New Zealand in Christchurch in 1930, finished his Test career with only 14 Test wickets. "Allom sent down an over which ranks on a level with the best ever bowled in New Zealand," wrote team-mate Maurice Turnbull. "Four wickets in five balls with the score at 21 and including the hat-trick!"

Another legspinner, Jimmy Matthews of Australia, took two hat-tricks against South Africa at Old Trafford in May 1912, but he took no other wickets in that match and finished with 16 in his eight Tests. The New Zealand offspinner Peter Petherick, who began his Test career with a hat-trick against Pakistan in Lahore in 1976, also ended up with 16 wickets in a six-match career. For the full list of Test hat-tricks, click here.