Also: players with the lengthiest runs without facing defeat, and a host of Ashes trivia
Steven Lynch21-Jul-2015How many players have made their overall Test debut in an Ashes match at Lord’s? I can only think of Kevin Pietersen. asked Shivani Vaghela
Well, you’ve thought of the most recent one before Australia’s Peter Nevill: Kevin Pietersen made his Test debut against Australia at Lord’s in 2005, top scoring in both innings with 57 and 64. The most recent one before that was Bill Athey for England in 1980, in what was not strictly speaking an Ashes match (it was the one-off Centenary Test). Three Australians – Len Pascoe, Richie Robinson and Craig Serjeant – made their Test debuts at Lord’s in 1977, in what was, rather unusually, the first Test of the Ashes series. Two years previously, David Steele and Bob Woolmer made their debuts at Lord’s, while in 1972 Bob Massie famously played his first match for Australia there (taking 16 wickets) as did Ross Edwards. The only other post-war instances are by Norman Gifford (England 1964), Graham McKenzie (Australia 1961), Pat Crawford and Ken Mackay (Australia 1956) and Alec Coxon (Australia 1948). In all, 47 players (including Nevill) have made their Test debut in a match between England and Australia at Lord’s, dating back to Kent’s Stanley Christopherson in 1884. The only wicketkeepers to do it before Nevill were Dick Lilley (England) and Jim Kelly in 1896, and Gregor MacGregor (England) in 1890.Who has the most runs, most wickets, and most catches in Ashes Tests at Lord’s? asked Tina Chavda from India
The leading scorer in England-Australia matches at Lord’s is – surprise, surprise – Don Bradman, who made 551 runs in four appearances there, at an average of 78.71. He rated his 254 in his first match there, in 1930, as the best he ever played. Next comes another Australian, Allan Border, with 503 runs in four matches, ahead of David Gower (467 in four). The leading current player is Michael Clarke, with 318 runs in his three appearances prior to 2015. Bradman, Bill Brown, John Edrich, Jack Hobbs and Arthur Shrewsbury are the only batsmen to score two Ashes centuries at Lord’s. The leading wicket-taker is Glenn McGrath, with 26 in three matches, ahead of Hedley Verity, who took 21 in two – 15 of them in 1934 alone. Fred Trueman, Charlie Turner and Shane Warne all took 19 wickets. Rod Marsh leads the way for the wicketkeepers with 14 dismissals in five matches, ahead of the England pair of Godfrey Evans and Dick Lilley with 13, and Australia’s Gil Langley with 12 from just two matches. The leading outfield catcher is Allan Border, with nine, ahead of WG Grace (eight) and Herbert Sutcliffe (seven). Graham Gooch played six times for England against Australia at Lord’s, including the non-Ashes Centenary Test of 1980. Only the Australian Syd Gregory, with eight appearances at Lord’s between 1890 and 1912, heads him on this list. Gregory also played a Test against South Africa at Lord’s in 1912.Joe Root took just 43 innings to reach 2000 Test runs. Was this a record for England? asked Shane Cunningham from England
Joe Root reached 2000 Test runs during his undefeated 182 against West Indies in Grenada in April. That was indeed his 43rd innings, rather surprisingly only the ninth-fastest for England after Herbert Sutcliffe (33 innings), Denis Compton (37), Wally Hammond (39), Jonathan Trott (40), Ken Barrington, Jack Hobbs and Kevin Pietersen (all 41), and Len Hutton (42). The fastest from any country – and in all there are 28 who got there quicker than Root – is Don Bradman with just 22 innings, ten quicker than the next-best, George Headley of West Indies. At 24 years, 115 days Root was the second-youngest Englishman to reach 2000, after Alastair Cook (23 years, 79 days in 2008) but six days faster than David Gower.Malcolm Marshall: unbeaten in his first 35 Tests for West Indies•Adrian Murrell/Getty ImagesPakistan’s Imran Khan faced his first ball as a batsman in his fifth Test match. Is this a record? asked Hemant Kher from the USA
That batting record by Pakistan’s new fast bowler Imran Khan is indeed unique. He did get to the crease on his debut, against Australia in Dubai last October, but didn’t face a ball – and then wasn’t required to go in again until his fifth Test, against Sri Lanka in Pallekele earlier this month, when he bowled for 0 by the eighth ball he faced. No one else has gone through their first four Tests without facing a ball. The record for the fewest runs after five Tests, before Imran set this unbeatable mark of none, was held by another recent Pakistan seamer: Aizaz Cheema made 1 not out in his fourth Test, against Bangladesh in Mirpur in December 2011. That was the only run Cheema managed in five innings spread over seven Tests – but he wasn’t out.I was looking at the career of the great Keith Miller, and noticed that of his first 25 Tests, Australia won 20 and didn’t lose any. Is that the longest anyone went without losing from the start of their career? asked Barry Aldridge from England
That record by the charismatic Australian allrounder Keith Miller, who made his Test debut in 1945-46 but didn’t lose one until 1950-51 (when England snatched the final Test of the 1950-51 Ashes series in Melbourne), puts him second on the overall list. Miller sits just ahead of three other members of the 1948 Aussie Invincibles, Ray Lindwall and Arthur Morris (both 23) and Ian Johnson 22). The only man ahead of Miller is Malcolm Marshall, who was unbeaten in his first 35 Tests for West Indies – his maiden defeat after his 1978-79 debut was inflicted by Australia on a turning track in Sydney in 1984-85. The record for going through an entire career undefeated is 21 Tests, by the Indian offspinner Rajesh Chauhan between 1992-93 and 1997-98.England’s team for the one-day internationals against New Zealand had an average age of about 26 – was this their lowest ever? asked Julian Clarke from Scotland
The average age of England’s team in the third match against New Zealand, in Southampton on June 14, was 25 years, 218 days. That turns out to be the fourth-youngest England ODI team to date, behind the ones against India in Mumbai in 2011-12 (average 25 years, 214 days), v India in Edgbaston in 2007 (25 years, 189 days), and England’s youngest – 24 years, 14 days against Ireland in Dublin in 2011. That’s still a fair bit more experienced than the youngest average age of any team in an official one-day international, 20 years, 290 days by Zimbabwe against Bangladesh in Dhaka in January 2005. Zimbabwean teams from around this time hold the next seven positions on this list too.
