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Ask Bearders #172

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Bill Frindall | 13:05 UK time, Wednesday, 11 June 2008

Welcome to Ask Bearders, where Test Match Special statistician answers your questions on all things cricket.

Below are Bill's responses to some of your questions posed at the end of his last column and if you have a question for Bill, leave it at the end of this blog entry. Please do include your country of residence - Bill loves to hear where all his correspondents are posting from.

Bill isn't able to answer all of your questions, however. Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú Sport staff will choose a selection of them and send them to Bearders for him to answer.

Q. (TMS on fourth morning at Lord's when Ryan Sidebottom came within a wicket of emulating James Anderson's seven wickets in the first innings)
Have two bowlers from the same side ever taken seven wickets in the same Test match?
Vic Marks

Bearders' answer: Charlie Wat (Melbourne) emailed the answer shortly after we went off air on that truncated morning. So far it has occurred only once in 1877 Test matches, when Richie Benaud (7-72) and Ray Lindwall (7-43) bowled Australia to their first away victory against India by an innings and five runs at the Madras Corporation Stadium in October 1956.

Q. In the wake of the Second England v New Zealand Test, I was wondering where England's 179 ranks on the all-time list of first innings deficits by a team that has gone on to win, and what larger deficits have been successfully overturned? Paul, Oxford

Bearders' answer: England's victory at Old Trafford ranks eighth in the list of wins after large deficits:

Deficit; Series; Victors; Opponents; Win margin; Venue

291; 1992; Australia ; Sri Lanka; 16 runs; Colombo (SSC)
274; 2000-01; India; Australia; 171 runs; Calcutta
261; 1894-95; England; Australia; 10 runs; Sydney
248; 1999-00; England; South Africa; 2 wickets; Pretoria
236; 1949-50; Australia; South Africa; 5 wickets; Durban
227; 1981; England; Australia; 18 runs; Leeds
182; 1980-81; India; Australia; 59 runs; Melbourne
179; 2008; England; New Zealand; 6 wickets; Manchester
177; 1961; Australia ; England; 54 runs; Manchester
171; 1955; England; South Africa; 71 runs; Lord's

Q. On 14 August 1958, in arguably one of the most astonishing days in first-class cricket history, the second day of the match between Derbyshire and Hampshire at Burton upon Trent, no fewer than 39 wickets fell. Derbyshire, resuming at 8-1 in its first innings, were dismissed for 74, before skittling Hampshire for 23. The hosts reached 107 second time round, while the visitors managed only 55. Is this the record number of wickets in a single day in a first-class match? Bob Letham (Bridgend, Wales)

Bearders' answer: That instance equalled the record of 39 wickets set on 28 May 1880 when Oxford University (53 and 75) lost to the MCC (89 and 41 for 9) by one wicket in a single day.

Q. I seem to remember that in the distant past the Warwickshire spinner, Eric Hollies, once took all 10 wickets in a county match unassisted. Is my memory playing tricks? Swanwestx

Bearders' answer: Eric Hollies did indeed take all 10 (for 49 runs off 20.4 overs) against Nottinghamshire at Edgbaston on 24 July 1946 without the aid of fielders. He bowled seven of his victims and trapped the other three leg before. His feat could not prevent Nottinghamshire from gaining an eight-wicket victory in two days. Two years later Hollies bowled Don Bradman second ball in his final Test match innings to reduce the great man's career batting average to fractionally below 100.

Q. If a team includes a bowler who can bowl in more than one style (for example, Andrew Symonds for Australia), is that bowler permitted to use different bowling styles in the same over? Is there a law in cricket which dictates this, or would it be considered unsporting behaviour to follow a gentle leg-break with a 90 mph bouncer? S.G.Kenny (Nottingham, UK)

Bearders' answer: A bowler does not have to advise the batsman (via the umpire at his end) if he is about to change his mode of delivery unless it involves using his other arm or switching to the other side of the wicket (around instead of over or vice versa). Failure to notify the umpire of such a change in mode of delivery will result in him being no-balled (Law 24).

Q. In 2001 Pakistan followed on at Lords despite only being 188 behind England on their first innings score. I thought that the follow-on could only be enforced if the team batting second were more than 200 behind. Could you explain this?

By the by, I believe that you are a fellow Old Reigatian. I would be interested to hear of any cricketing feats whilst still at Reigate Grammar School. Dave

Bearders' answer: As rain prevented play on the first day in that Lord's Test (17 May 2001), the match became a four-day one for following-on purposes and the margin was therefore reduced to 150 runs.

Yes, I was at RGS (1950-57) and my minor cricketing feats there appear in my autobiography (see my website).

Q. When a batsman ducks and get hits on the helmet, the ball can sometimes go for runs, four say, and is signalled as leg byes. But when a batsman kicks the ball away, or offers no shot, and it runs away for four off his pads, it gets signalled as a dead ball and no runs are scored. In both instances no shot is offered so, surely when runs are scored off the helmet, they should be nullified by dead ball being signalled? Is there a distinction in the rules between the two instances? Adam

Bearders' answer: Yes, there is. Law 26 covers the awarding of leg byes. Note 2 (a) decrees that 'if a ball delivered by the bowler first strikes the person of the striker, runs shall be scored only if the umpire is satisfied that the striker has either (i) attempted to play the ball with his bat, or (ii) tried to avoid being hit by the ball'.

So, when a batsman ducks and the ball deflects from his helmet, unless he has deliberately headed the ball away, any leg byes that result will be allowed.

Q. I have heard of an instance in a club game where a fast bowler bowled a conventional bouncer which cleared the batsman, the wicket-keeper and the boundary without bouncing again. The umpire awarded four wides plus one run penalty. Is this correct, or should he have awarded six plus the penalty? Mark Holmes (Carnforth CC, Northern Premier League)

Bearders' answer: Four (five with the penalty) was correct and is the maximum for any mode of extra. Six runs can only be awarded 'if the ball having been struck by the bat pitches beyond the boundary' - Law 19, note 4 (b).

Q. I love the column. I was just wandering what is the most wickets to fall on the first day of a Test match. And on any day? Josh (London)

The most wickets to fall on any day of Test cricket is 27 on the second day at Lord's in 1888. Heavy overnight rain prevented the match from starting until 3pm on 16 July, Australia being dismissed for 116 before reducing England to 18-3 by stumps. Next day, on an uncovered pitch reduced to drying mud, England lost their last seven wickets for 35, bowled out Australia for 60 and were themselves routed for 62 to lose by 61 runs at 4.25pm. The aggregate of 291 remained the lowest in a completed Test match until 1931-32.

The second highest number of wickets to fall in a single day, and the record for any first day, is 25 by Australia (112 and 48-5) against England (61 - in 68 minutes) on rain-affected pitch at Melbourne on 1 January 1902.

Q. Has Simon Jones retired from international cricket? I wondered why the selectors haven't considered him. Anne (Glasgow)

Bearders' answer: No, Anne, Simon Jones has been recovering from a succession of injuries since he contributed 18 wickets at 21 runs apiece to England's 2005 Ashes victory. He is currently making great progress with his new county, Worcestershire, and has this season so far taken 19 first-class wickets at just 11.73 runs each. Providing his body stands the strain of fast bowling, he will remain very much in the selector's minds for this winter's tours of India and West Indies prior to next summer's battle for the Ashes.

Q. The Second Test between West Indies and Sri Lanka at Port-of-Spain in April produced innings scores of 278, 294, 268 and 254 for 4. Would this be the narrowest range of innings scores in a completed match (i.e. 40 runs between the highest and lowest innings scores within the game)? Barry

Bearders' answer: No, it certainly is not. The smallest range is just 10 runs. That occurred in a match when all 40 wickets fell (and which I was fortunate enough to be scoring for the Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú), on 26-30 December 1982: England 284 and 294; Australia 287 and 288. This Test, the 250th between Australia and England, provided the first instance of sides being all out at close of play on three consecutive days.

Q. I was interested to hear (on TMS at Lord's) you immediately inform the commentator on demand that Jamie How was dropped on 42 (I believe). Was this an act of memory, a separate note or is it officially included within the scoring notes? Peter (Norfolk)

Bearders' answer: My vertical linear scoring system, has a notes column for each over. In this I can record many happenings, including dropped catches. A symbol in Jamie How's column against the sixth ball of Stuart Broad's fifth over refers to a note reading 'Dropped 1st slip (Strauss) - head-high'. From the other columns I can reveal that the chance occurred at 12.17pm on the fifth day and that How had then scored 46 of New Zealand's 75 for 2 after 30 overs.

Comments

  • Comment number 1.

    Hi Bill. I was wondering, what is the lowest score a team has achieved in a first-class innings when every batsman has contributed runs.

    Also, what is the record number of ducks in a single first-class innings.

    Eddie, West Yorkshire

  • Comment number 2.

    Hi Bill,

    As a regular reader of your column, I can't help noticing that many of the records for poor scoring, or short-lived, test matches seem to date back to early days (19th century/early 20th). The distinct impression is that batsmen were weaker then (or bowlers stronger).

    So...what was the highest aggregate score across all four innings before the first world war? How does it compare to the current record?

    Steve, Northampton

  • Comment number 3.

    Hi Bill,

    Recently in one of our second team matches all of the wickets that we took were by the method of bowled, i was wondering how often this has occured in test match cricket and if one bowler has ever taken all 10 wickets by the method of bowled

    Richard, Ipswich

  • Comment number 4.

    Bill

    three questions this time not about stats or rules but the other achievements of cricketers

    1. When Andrew Strauss was dropped for the Sri Lanka tour I thought it would be the first time an England team was selected not containing a graduate for several years until I noticed that Monty has a degree in computer science. When was the last England team not to contain at least one graduate and how often has it happened?

    2. I can think of the following who played first class cricket - a prime minister (Sir Alec Douglas-Home), a track and field world record holder (CB Fry), an FA cup winner (Denis Compton), a Nobel Laureate (Samuel Beckett). What other famous achievers have played first class cricket? NB: I thought Sam Mendes (Oscar winner) had but I can't find him on crickinfo.

    3. I'm sure I read that there was a once a cricket match at Lords between writers and actors (including Arthur Conan Doyle) but I can't find any record of it. Did it happen or did I dream it? Was it a first class match? What other games of this type were played?

    Matthew
    West Yorkshire

  • Comment number 5.

    Bill, I was wondering about very low Test batting averages. Does Chris Martin (NZ) have the worst average ever? The other candidates I could think of (Walsh, Kaneria, Tufnell, Mullally, Bob Holland, Bert Ironmonger) all seem to have marginally better figures.

    P.S. Many thanks for the linear scoresheets that you sent me last month!

    Regards,

    Stephen G Jones
    Hampshire

  • Comment number 6.

    question 5- Stephen Jones

    Martin does indeed hold the lowest average, if taken after 30 innings

    the top (bottom) 5 are (AVE-RUNS-WKTS)

    CS Martin - 2.39 - 74 - 140
    I Manjuaral - 3.68 - 81 - 28
    M Singh - 3.81 - 99 - 88
    BS Chandrasekhar - 4.07 - 167 - 242
    FH Edwards - 4.25 - 170 - 91

    you can see from this Martin, and Chandrasekhar, actually have more wikets than runs!

    question 4 - Sir ian Blog

    the game in question, Authors vs Actors, was in 1907, featured, for Authors, amongst others
    AC.Doyle
    A Anderson
    AA Milne
    PG Wodehouse

    and for Actors, with others who have not kept their fame over the years,
    C Aubrey Smith
    BS Foster

    the Actors won scoring 253 for 4 and bowling the Authors out for 193 (actually the Authors batted first and it was going to be a 2 innings match, but the 2nd innings were abandoned)

    the turn of the century was repleat with these types of matches, one armed vs one legged, smokers vs non, right vs left handers, etc....non of these were first class

    question 3 - Tractor Boy

    as stated in previous blogs the mosts for each dismissal in test innings are

    10 - caught (52 times)
    9 - bowled (twice)
    7 - lbw (twice)
    5 - stumped (once)
    4 - run out (twice)

  • Comment number 7.

    Bill - having won the toss and insertd the opposition as Daniel Vettori did in the last test, how many instances are there in Test Cricket of losing the match by an innings?

    Peter Graham Bexley Kent

  • Comment number 8.

    Bill,

    In the recent test match where Flynn had his tooth knocked out, I believe that the tooth hit the stumps. What would have happened if the tooth had dislodged the bails?

    Would this be out "Hit wicket"?

    Thanks,

    Pete H

  • Comment number 9.

    Re: 7

    There are 25 instances of a captain putting the other side in only to lose by an innings including these where the runs margin was 100 or more:

    294 - NZ (452-9d) v Z (59, 99, T Taibu), Harare, 2005
    239 - I (610-3d) v B (118, 253, Habibul Bashar), Mirpur, 2007
    175 - A (735-6d) v Z (239, 321, HH Streak), Perth, 2003-04
    166 - SL (586-6d) v Z (184, 236, SV Carlisle), Colombo SSC, 2001-02
    154 - A (601-8d) v E (190, 257, L Hutton), Brisbane, 1954-55
    147 - A (284) v E (65, 72, AE Stoddart), Sydney, 1894-95
    117 - E (428) v P (131, 180, Javed Burki), Leeds, 1962
    112 - WI (416) v A (76, 228, KJ Hughes), Perth, 1984-85
    107 - SA (529-4d) v B (170, 252, KHaled Mashud), East London, 2002-03
    105 - NZ (518-9d) v WI (179, 234, BC Lara), Wellington, 1999-2000

  • Comment number 10.

    Re my question 7 - your response 9

    Many thanks for your reply

    Peter Graham

  • Comment number 11.

    Re question 8 - I believe under the laws of cricket only the bat, clothing or equipment used by the batsman can be counted should the wicket be "put down" in the case of a "hit wicket" dismissal

    Peter Graham

  • Comment number 12.

    Hi Bill
    I have two questions that aren't related to anything in particular. First, why do the Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú refer to the rules of cricket? There are no rules, but there are 42 Laws.
    Secondly, is it true that you used to score at St Albans Road Playing Fields when you were at Reigate Grammar School? This is now our home ground (Nutley Hall Cricket Club) and it's a nice thought that you might have sat where I sit now, pencil in hand.
    Many thanks, Bill Benton

  • Comment number 13.

    Hi Bill

    Has a bowler ever doubled as a fast bowler and also a spinner?
    Is it allowed for a bowler to change bowling style within an over and if so does this require notice to the batter?

    thanks
    Simon

  • Comment number 14.

    question 11 - Rabbo2

    actually the two laws, Hit Wicket and Wicket Put Down, both refer to the strikers person/body

    however, the Law about Wkt Put Down APPEARS to make the distinction between person, permanently attached to the batter, and equipment/clothing, not permanently attached which would suggest that any part of his body this becomes detached (yikes!) would not count as a way to Hit your own wkt

    basically it all hinges on an "or" in law 28

    Is the clause after the "equipment" part of the phrase before the "OR" or only that after the "OR"?

    read the laws yourself and decide
    law 35
    1. Out Hit wicket
    (a) The striker is out Hit wicket if, after the bowler has entered his delivery stride and while the ball is in play, his wicket is put down either by the striker's bat or by his person as described in Law 28.1(a)(ii) and (iii)

    law 28 (my CAPS)
    1. Wicket put down
    (a) The wicket is put down if a bail is completely removed from the top of the stumps, or a stump is struck out of the ground by
    (i) the ball.
    (ii) the striker's bat, whether he is holding it or has let go of it.
    (iii) the striker's person OR by any part of his clothing or equipment becoming detached from his person.
    ...

  • Comment number 15.

    question 13 - SG Moore

    did you even read Bill Frindalls answers at the top of the page, the raison d'etre for the entire blog?

    if thats not enough read posts 12 in blog 171 or 33 in blog 170, or several others

  • Comment number 16.

    To take the hit wicket theme further. If a batsman's cap falls off and hits the stumps, he is out. How about false teeth (or a syrup)?

  • Comment number 17.

    Statistically, in terms of numbers of overs lost as a percentage of those scheduled to be played, which test ground in the world suffers the worst weather?
    I will assume a minimum number of tests played as 5.

    My initial thoughts are Centurion Park and Bourda, Georgetown but no doubt it will end up being Old Trafford or Headingley!

  • Comment number 18.

    While compiling statistics for Cleethorpes Cricket Club, our statistician found the instance of a Mr Lord, who collapsed and died of a heart attack whilst batting. The book recorded his departure "retired dead", and his career average had been calculated with this counted as being out. Is this correct, or should a batsman retiring injured, or indeed dead, be counted as not out for such purposes?

    Michael Shelton

  • Comment number 19.

    Re #18 - when a batsman retires hurt or ill (dead is an extreme case...) he should be recorded as not out.

  • Comment number 20.

    The first Test career bowling milestone I remember was Fred Trueman reaching 300 wickets and since then the others have been well publicized. Can you tell me who were the first bowlers to reach 100 and 200 wickets?

    Derek Leslie Romsey Hampshire

  • Comment number 21.

    Ref post 15 - I believe there have been numerous "characters" who have varied their style of bowling in the same over; names such as Keith Miller, Gary Sobers and Fred Trueman come to mind.

    Derek Leslie

  • Comment number 22.

    question 21 - DND Leslie

    Johnny Briggs was the first to 100 in 1895
    Clarrie Grimmett to 200 in 1936
    Trueman to 300 in 1964
    Richard Hadlee to 400 in 1990
    Walsh to 500 in 2001
    Warne reached 600 in 2005
    and finally Warne to 700

  • Comment number 23.

    I was listening (via the Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú website) to the commentary of Durham's opening Twenty20 match against Derbyshire on Wednesday. It was a bit of a farce by the end, and I've got four questions about it;

    1. By the time Durham came to bat it was so dark that the commentators couldn't tell what was going on. They didn't know who one of the batsmen was until after he was out, they couldn't see the electronic scoreboard and they didn't know Durham had scored the winning runs until the players shook hands. I know people try to play through bad conditions a bit more in twenty20, but are there no guidelines to say when bad light can stop play?

    2. Durham's innings was reduced to 7 overs, and the commentators kept referring to how many runs Durham needed for a win and how many for a tie. I thought there was no such thing as a tie in duckworth lewis matches. Am I right or not?

    3. Was Doshi the first player in twenty20 to score a hat-trick and end up on the losing side?

    4. The commentators referred to a few shots as "a french cut". What does that mean?

    cheers
    Dave
    Newcastle

  • Comment number 24.

    Ref Post 23(4)
    A French Cut (also Chinese Cut or Surrey Cut or Harrow Drive) is an inside edge which just misses hitting the stumps.

    Mike
    Coventry

  • Comment number 25.

    Bill, love the column, keep it up! I am a budding scorer, having been injured for my final year at school and wanting to still be involved.

    I am intruiged by your reference to "linear scoring", what does this entail, and how can I learn to do it? It seems to be far more comprehensive.

    Also my question, I heard tell a few years ago of a Pakistani U19 bowler who bowled both left and right arm orthodox. Is this story true, and if so what happened to him?

    thanks again
    Duncan

  • Comment number 26.

    Hello Bill - Would you inform me how many ways a batsman can be given out, and what they are? Thanks - John Everiss - Daventry, Northamptonshire.

  • Comment number 27.

    Hello Bill,

    I imagine this will be quite a tough Q......in the last 3 year period since the 2005 Ashes England have been bowled out many times for less than 200. Is there any other 3 year period where this has ocurred more often?

    Thanks,

    Mark

  • Comment number 28.

    Re Law 26

    I remember a dispute I had with an umpire about 12 years ago in a Dorset PCB Div 1 game. I'll argue to my dying day that I was robbed and the rules didn't actually cover what happened. Perhaps you can throw some further light on the rule.

    It was a very tight finish and we only required one wicket to win the game, the opposing team 4 runs. I bowled probably the best bouncer I ever bowled at the unwitting tailend batsman who literally didn't see it. He never moved (until the ball cracked off his forehead that is!). The ball few over second slip and to the ropes. The umpire duely signalled 4 leg byes and removed the bails. I argued that the batsman had played no shot and the runs should not stand. The umpire explained that the batsman was taking evasive action and so the runs must stand. I countered that to be taking evasive action, the batsman would have had to have moved or at least appeared to be trying to get out of the way of the ball. The umpire had no answer to this but let the runs stand anyway.

    The batsman was duely carried away having unwittingly won the game for his team. Had the runs not stood and he had retired hurt, we would have won. I still feel robbed to this day!

  • Comment number 29.

    I was recently playing in a match where the wickets had been set too far apart and the ball managed to go through the stumps while being bowled. The umpires simply reset the stumps and continued with the game, i was wondering whether this was the correct decision.

  • Comment number 30.

    re 26, there are 10 ways of being out;
    1. bowled
    2. lbw
    3. caught
    4. run out
    5. stumped
    6. hit wicked
    7. double hit
    8. timed out
    9. obstructing the wicket
    10. handling the ball

  • Comment number 31.

    Bill, Bill, Bill!

    Even you make mistakes.

    You state that 2 bowlers taking 7 wickets each in the same Test has occured only once; Benaud and Lindwall in Madras 56.

    How about the Oval 97 when Kasper and McGrath did it?

    Rajiv Radhakrishnan

  • Comment number 32.

    Re 31.

    in that same match Tuffers also took a 7 for (as well as a 4 for in the second innings)

  • Comment number 33.

    Re. 30
    I love the idea that you can be out "Hit wicked"!

    The perfect dismissal for Ali G? Or is this just a clever ploy for re-introducing "6 and out" that we used to play when I was little.

    Also to correct method 9 it's "obstructing the field", i.e. doing something that prevents the fielding side from otherwise taking a wicket or preventing runs (such as barging a player over as they're preparing to catch the ball).

  • Comment number 34.

    Hi Bill,

    Has there ever been a situation where the four main bowlers were all left handed batsmen, and what is the greatest number of left handed batsmen to appear in a test side

    Tim Sussex

  • Comment number 35.

    Re 33

    Fair enough, I consider myself humbled.

    Actually, I think a couple of columns ago someone was talking about an 11th way. Although it's not listed as one of the 10 ways of being out, you can be "retired out" if you retire for a reason other than injury and don't return

  • Comment number 36.

    Bill,

    At my local cricket club there is a bowler who is 6ft 4 and another who is 6ft 3. In the penultimate game of the rain affected 2004 season both these giants took 3 wickets each. This is not extraordinary but on further inspection I noted that
    the first initial of each of their chronological 'victims' was the same. (E.g. bowler ones first wickets name started with J as did bowler 2, bowlers ones second wicket started with P as did bowler twos etc) .

    Moreover, the luckless batsmen were knocked over in height order (smallest first) ending ironically with the 6ft 3 and half (height exactly between aforementioned bowlers) number 11.

    This immediately got me thinking.

    Is there a case in Test cricket where two bowlers only an inch apart in height, but both over 6ft, have taken 3 wickets each in the same innings, with each of their individual subsequent wicket's first names starting with the same letter as that of their teammates first names, and the 6 wickets were taken in ascending height order, with the final one standing the exact height placing him precisely half an inch smaller than one of the bowlers and half an inch taller than another.

    My friend tells me there have been two such cases, both post war. Can you help me find them?

  • Comment number 37.

    Hi Bill,

    Consider the following situation. The side batting first in a one day match gets bowled out relatively cheaply (e.g. for 150). The side batting second gets off to a flier and are 100/0 in the tenth over. The bowler then notices some dark clouds looming and proceeds to deliberately bowl a series of wides in the hope that rain arrives before 10 overs are bowled and the DL sytem can determine a result.

    Is there anything in the laws of the game for an umpire to intervene i.e. deliberatley not call a wide?

    Tony

  • Comment number 38.

    Hi Bill,

    Not sure if you have had this one before, who was the last England batsman to retire with an average of 50+,
    Colin

  • Comment number 39.

    question 38 - Hawkeye1963

    well taking 10 innings as a minimum there have only been 11 Englishmen to average more than 50 in tests;

    Compton 50.06
    Walters 52.27
    Tyldesley 55.00
    Hutton 56.67
    Russell 56.88
    Hobbs 56.95
    Hammond 58.46
    Duleepsinhji 58.53
    Barrington 58.67
    Paynter 59.23
    Sutcliffe 60.73

    the last of these to play in a test was barrington in 1968

    the closest a current player comes is Pietersen with an average of 49.56

    in fact in all world cricket only 35 players have retired with averages greater than 50 (after at least 10 inns) and there are 12 current players with an average higher than 50


    regarding questions 26/30/33/35

    there are 11 ways to be out, but the 11th way is not appealed for (and so not "given out" as the question)

    as question 35 correctly states you can be RETIRED OUT (different from retired hurt), which was covered in blog 168, but here it is again
    from LAW 2. Point 9 (my CAPS)

    A batsman may retire at any time during his innings. The umpires... shall be informed of the reason for a batsman retiring.
    (a) If a batsman retires because of ... unavoidable cause, he is entitled to resume his innings ... If for any reason he does not do so, his innings is to be recorded as -Retired 'not out'.
    (b) If a batsman retires for any reason other than as in (a) above, he may only resume his innings with the consent of the opposing captain. IF FOR ANY REASON HE DOES NOT RESUME HIS INNINGS IT IS TO BE RECORDED AS RETIRED "OUT"

    this has in fact happened twice in Tests, well twice in the same test, both Attapattu and Jayawardene were out like this vs Bangladesh in 2001

  • Comment number 40.

    Hi Bill,
    i know that one bowler is not allowed to bowl consecutive overs but does this still apply if he/she wants to bowl one over left handed and one over right handed assuming the umpire is informed.
    Dan, Surrey

  • Comment number 41.

    Hi Bill.

    Love the column. Just finished watching the twenty20 international where England comprehensively beat New Zealand at Old Trafford and have a question in regards to the numbers beneath the England badge on the front of the players shirts. Kevin Pietersens was 7 - what does this relate to ?

    I know in the Test Match Team it relates to the order in which you made your debut, ie Michael Vaughan was the 600th player to play Test cricket for England. But KP played in the 1st ever twenty20 game for England v Australia at the Rose Bowl in 2005 and he came into bat at number 4 so where does 7 come from ? The only thing I can think of he may have been the 7th last player to play in that game for England to make his ODI debut ?

    I would love you to clarify the situation.

    Thanks,

    Ross Marshall
    Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, England

  • Comment number 42.

    Re 7 - You're welcome!

    Re 1 -

    The lowest completed first-class innings not containing a single duck is 37 by A Shaw's XI v Australians, Holbeck, 1882. The lowest with one duck, 27 by Lancashire v Surrey, Manchester, 1958, and the lowest with two, 23 by Sussex v MCC, Lord's, 1838.

    In tests the lowest with no ducks is 75 by Australia v South Africa, Durban, 1949-50. In ODIs, 54 by India v Sri Lanka, Sharjah, 2000-01, In Int2020, 123-9 by Zimbabwe v Bangladesh, Khulna, 2006-07.

  • Comment number 43.

    Following on (kind of) from a question in Number 172 about different Bowling styles from a bowler in the same over, is it recorded anywhere which style was used to take wickets? For example how many of Gary Sobers' 235 wickets were taken with Spin Bowling or Fast Bowling?

  • Comment number 44.

    Re 1

    9 players were dismissed without scoring in the first innings (and the not out batsman was also on 0) for Muslims v Europeans at Pune, 1915/16. The only two batsmen who scored (Feroze Khan 8 and M Yusuf Baig 4) put on 18 for the 4th wicket. There were also 9 extras for a total of 21. For the Europeans, FA Tarrant had bowling figures of 7-6-6-5 so something like a third of the total came in just one over. Khan and Baig were dismissed in consecutive balls by HL Simms who then completed his hat trick before taking another wicket two balls later to make 4 in 5, There were also 6 ducks in their second innings, making 15 in the match which must be somewhere in the reckoning for the match record too. Only four of the Muslims team scored at all, and extras top-scored in both innings. No, they didn't win! The Europeans' openers scored 96 before being parted - more than both Muslim's innings!

  • Comment number 45.

    question 41 - Ross E Marshall

    well if its the same as ODIs and Tests, and i believe it is, the shirt numbering is alphabetical in the first game, Pietersen was 7th alphabetically

    Collingwood
    Flintoff
    Gough
    Harmison
    Jones
    Lewis
    Pietersen
    Solanki
    Stauss
    Trescothick
    Vaughan

  • Comment number 46.

    Hi Bill and all,

    With Anthony Ireland being removed from the attack in Gloucestershire's tie with Warwickshire is his bowling figures of 0.1-0-12-0 the most expensive single delivery over in all cricket?

  • Comment number 47.

    Regarding the ffirst question about 2 bowlers getting seven wickets - the last match of ashes 1997 - McGrath, Tuffnell and Kasprowitz each got 7 wickets in 3 cosecutive innings - I am sure that is unique

  • Comment number 48.

    36 - Can anyone help me out with this question?

    I have a bet riding on this.

  • Comment number 49.

    With all the talk of reducing first class cricket to 3 days it got me wondering.....

    How many overs does the average test match last?

    Thanks,
    Mark

  • Comment number 50.

    Hi Bill:

    I have to tell something about the answer for the first question of this column. There are more than one (1) ocation of two bowlers of the same side taken 7 wickets of the same test match. Refer :Test # 1377 The Ashes, 1997, 6th Test Kennington Oval, London 21,22,23 August 1997. In this match there were three (3) 7 wickets holds (2 from Australia - McGrath and Kasprovicz, 1 from England - Tufnel)

    Thanks!

  • Comment number 51.

    BILL

    I'm sure there's a whole load of cricketers who've never gone on to play Tests, but did manage to be official 12th man for one, as per my old Playfair annuals.

    Can you confirm my suspicions that this includes the 5th of the Mohammed brethren, Raees (1950's?) and the wonderfully-named Anwar Zeb (c.1978-1981) amongst Pakistani nearly-men?

    Thanks

    Steve

  • Comment number 52.

    Hi Bill,

    Re. first question of 2 players taking 7 wickets for the same team in a test match. What about England Vs Australia at The Oval in 1997 - McGrath 7/76 + Kasprowicz 7/36? Interestingly Tufnell also took 7/66 for England in this match!

  • Comment number 53.

    Hi Bill, just looking through a few old cricket scorecards. In 1932/33 in the first test at Christchurch between New Zealand and England, both English openers, Herbert Sutcliffe and Eddie Paynter, were dismissed first ball.
    Is that unique in test match history ?

    Shaun, UK.

  • Comment number 54.

    Cheers David.

    Re 34 - The recent England v New Zealand series saw Broad, Sidebottom, Anderson and Panesar as England's main 4 bowlers. All left handed batsman even though Broad and Anderson are right handed bowlers.

  • Comment number 55.

    Hi Bill,

    I have just been watching the first one day game between England and New Zealand at the Riverside.

    Ian Bell has just been run out again and this seems a regular mode of dismissal for him.

    Can you tell me who has experienced the most run outs in their career, either one day or tests?

    Many Thanks

    Rob, Oxford

  • Comment number 56.

    Hi Bill,

    Recently Ponting completed 10000 test runs which I think was the 3rd quickest amonst the lot. Is this measured with respect to tests or innings played? Can you tell me which batsman got to the mark the quickest as per balls faced?....and which batsman has the best strike rate with minimum 5000 runs?

    Thanks and cheers!

    Shammi, Mumbai, India.

  • Comment number 57.

    Hello Bill
    Why is it that a declared right hand batsman is allowed to play a shot as a left hander when a bowler would be noballed for even bowling underarm if he had not previously informed the umpire of his intention so to do?
    This is not a genuine reverse sweep in which the batsman is hampered by having his hands in an awkward position to play the shot but is, in my opinion, plain cheating.

  • Comment number 58.

    question 55 - Jobba

    the top players for runs outs are (runouts/innings):

    in tests
    Border (12/265)
    Sobers (10/160)
    Hayden (10/167)
    Hooper (10/173)
    Taylor (9/186)
    Ponting (9/210)
    Dravid (9/210)

    in ODIs
    Atapattu (41/259)
    ul-Haq (40/350)
    Akram (38/280)
    Dravid (37/308)
    Yousuf (36/250)

    Bell has 3 from 70 test innings and 10 from 63 ODI innings, which for ODIs would be 15.9% compared to Atupattus 18.1% (Healy managed 25% of 120 ODI innings run out)

    question 56 - Slowerball

    generally First to is calculated on innings, so Lara was the quickest to 10,000 taking 195, ponting was 3rd taking 196

    if you calculated the time taken then Dravid was the fastest, taking 11years 280 days and Ponting 2nd (12y174d)

    of the seven players to have scored 10,000+ runs 2 didn't have all the balls they faced recorded (Gavaskar and Tendulkar) for the others strike rates are:

    Lara 60.52
    Ponting 59.04
    Waugh 48.65
    Dravid 41.95
    Border 40.98

    of all players over 5000 runs the one with the highest strike rate is Gilchrist (81.96 for 5570 runs), only 5 others have rates over 60 (Hayden, Lara, Botham, Smith, Jayasuriya)

    question 57 - Rollestonian

    i think you'll find that underarm bowling is illegal, even if you inform the umpire!

    see law 24 part 1

    (b) Underarm bowling shall not be permitted except by special agreement before the match.

    as regarding changing batting hands, why is that cheating? the umpire takes the leg stump as the leg stump when the bowler began his run up, anything the batsman does after that is his business, if he wants to complicate his life, be more prone to lbw, and risk his non-protected thumb, and thigh, and fore-arm, as a bowler i say let him

  • Comment number 59.

    question 58 - Portolan

    Changing hands is not allowed by the bowler and is cheating by the batsman because it denies the bowler the opportunity to set an appropiate field.

  • Comment number 60.

    question 59 - Rollstonian

    yes, changing hands is, if as you stated in the original question, the umpire and batsman is informed, but "even bowling underarm" certainly isn't

    as i said the disadvantages probably out-weigh the advantages, its for the batsman to decide, the same as setting a 6-3 or 5-4 or other field

    i wouldn't call it cheating, but i suppose each to his own

  • Comment number 61.

    In reference to the question about two bowlers taking 7 in the same match, Glenn McGrath and Mike Kasprowicz took 7 in the first and second innings respectively at the Oval in 1997.

  • Comment number 62.

    Here's a bit of a geeky question. In the latest ICC Women's World Cup Qualifying Tournament (2007/2008), the Scottish team appeared young to say the very least. The oldest in the team was 29 years old and the youngest, 15. A number of players were in the age range of 15-17 and the captain was 20. In all international cricket (men's as well as women's), is this the youngest team ever in terms of average age?

    Prashant from New York

  • Comment number 63.

    Re 35

    Yes you can be out retired out, but I don't think it's really a mode of dismissal as such. Its happened twice in Test cricket, both in the same innings of the same match (the second match of the Asian Test Championship in 2001 between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka).

    Bangladesh batted first and were all out for 90.

    In reply Sri Lanka put on 144 for the first wicket (Atapattu and Jayasuriya) before Jayasuria was out LBW and replaced by Sanggakkara who was caught with the score on 269-2.

    Jayawardene came in and joined Atapattu, but as soon as Atapattu reached his double century at 201, and with the score at 440, he walked off (retired out) because the Sri Lankans wanted to give as many of their batsmen a chance as possible, and the Bangladeshis weren't looking like getting him out.

    Jayawardene put on another 90 with the new batsman (Vandort), but as soon as Jayawardene got to 150, he also walked off, with the score now on 530-4. When Vandort was out, Sir Lanka declared at 555-5

    Bangladesh put on a much more spirited display in their second innings, but were all out for 328, losing by an innings and 127 runs before tea on day 3

    Presumably retiring out is seen as more sportsmanlike than deliberately giving a dolly catch back to the bowler?

  • Comment number 64.

    Hi Bill,

    Seeing KP's change of stance in the recent ODI stirred my aging memory. I have a vague memory of someone "turning round" and taking stance with the wrong hand in a test match about 20-25 years ago. Could it have been Sir Ian winding up Denis Lillee or is my memory playing tricks?

    charlie - essex

  • Comment number 65.

    Hi Bill

    Can you supply the answer to this question please.

    In our Saturady league game, the umpire made a mistake counting overs bowled by a bowler. Retrictions limit bowlers to 12 overs.
    He started to bowl a 13th over, and took a wicket with the first ball.
    Should we have gone back and restarted the over with a new bowler, or having been brought to his attention should the bowler have been replaced ?

    I would be very grateful for your input.

    Thanks

    Keith Atkinson, Gloucestershire.

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