What's the highest T20 score by a batter without any fours?

Shimron Hetmyer hit 91 without a four in one innings in this year's Caribbean Premier League. Is that the highest in T20s without a four? asked Chris Dowden from Grenada
You're right that Shimron Hetmyer's 91 for Guyana Amazon Warriors in their CPL match against St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in Basseterre a couple of weeks ago contained no fours. We should perhaps mention that he did manage no fewer than 11 sixes, though!

It is the highest score in any T20 match without a four, beating Shashrika Pussegolla's 78 for Sebastianites against Police in Colombo in June 2022.

The highest individual score in any T20 match with no fours or sixes appears to be 38 not out, by Navdeep Poonia for Scotland against Bermuda in Belfast during the World T20 Qualifier in August 2008.

What's the highest opening partnership in an international in which neither player scored a hundred? asked Nandra de Silva from Sri Lanka
A performance in a T20I leads the way here. Playing for Gibraltar against Bulgaria in Valletta (Malta) in 2022, Avinash Pai (86 not out) and Louis Bruce (99 not out) batted through the innings for an unbroken opening partnership of 213.

In ODIs, Chris Gayle (99) and Wavell Hinds (82) put on 192 for West Indies' first wicket against Bangladesh in Southampton during the 2004 Champions Trophy in England. Shikhar Dhawan (81 not out) and Shubman Gill (82 not out) also shared an opening stand of 192 - without being parted - for India against Zimbabwe in Harare in 2022.

The men's Test record is also 192, by Sunil Gavaskar (97) and Chetan Chauhan (93) for India against Pakistan in Lahore in 1978. However, Caroline Atkins (90) and Arran Brindle (85) put on exactly 200 for England's first wicket in a women's Test against India in Lucknow in 2002.

I was going through scorecards of the good old days of Pakistan cricket, and spotted that in a Test against India in 2005-06, seven batters made 50-plus in the second innings. Was this a record? asked M Usman Sharif from Pakistan
You're right that Pakistan's second innings against India in Karachi in 2006 contained seven scores of 50 or more. Actually, it was the top seven in the order: Salman Butt 53, Imran Farhat 57, Younis Khan 77, Mohammad Yousuf 97, Faisal Iqbal 139, Shahid Afridi 60 and Abdul Razzaq 90. The total was enough for Pakistan to win by 341 runs - quite a comeback considering they had been 0 for 3 in the first over of the match, after a hat-trick from Irfan Pathan.

That was actually the second Test innings to contain seven individual scores of 50 or more, after England against Australia at Old Trafford in 1934. It happened again at Lord's in 2006, when seven Sri Lankans reached 50 after they followed on against England. Here's the full list of seven or more batters making 50 or more.

Had England won at The Oval, Ollie Pope would have started with three wins in his first three matches as captain. Which captain won the most Tests from the start of their career? asked Mark Annear via Facebook
England's stand-in captain Ollie Pope won his first two Tests in charge, before coming a cropper in the third, at The Oval last week. Over the years, 23 captains won their first three matches in charge: six of them are from England, the most recent being Brian Close in the mid-1960s. The most recent from any country is Pope's opposite number, Dhananjaya de Silva, earlier this year.

The best start is by England's Percy Chapman, who won his first nine Tests as captain in the late 1920s. Earlier that decade, Warwick Armstrong won his first eight Tests in charge of Australia. There's a big gap then to seven others who won their first four Tests as captain.

Regarding last week's question about the tallest men to play for England, what about Boyd Rankin? asked Michael O'Hara from Ireland
Thanks for pointing that out: it's not the first time I'd forgotten that fast bowler Boyd Rankin, who played county cricket for Derbyshire and Warwickshire, played a Test for England (against Australia in Sydney in 2014), as well as two for his native Ireland.

Rankin is also in the region of 6ft 8in (203cm), and thus shares the distinction of being England's tallest Test cricketer with Steven Finn. Current squad member Reece Topley is also 6ft 8in, but although he has played more than 50 white-ball internationals, he hasn't appeared in a Test match.

The tallest Test player from any country remains Mohammad Irfan of Pakistan - another left-arm quick - who extends the tape to 7ft 1in (216cm). Irfan is believed to be the tallest first-class cricketer too.