Fifth-bowler gamble gives openers confidence to go for their shots from outset

Matt Roller28-Oct-2021Australia made a significant change to their strategy on the eve of the T20 World Cup, confirming their intentions to move away from picking five specialist bowlers and instead back their allrounders to cover off four overs between them.The move appeared to work well in their opening game of the tournament against South Africa: Glenn Maxwell took 1 for 24 in his four overs before Matthew Wade finished things off with an unbeaten cameo of 15 off 10 balls from No. 7. Justin Langer, their head coach, said it had been “a very, very difficult selection” and hinted the balance could change later in the competition, but they remained unchanged against Sri Lanka.In their second game, by contrast, their batting-heavy strategy came under pressure. Sri Lanka’s batters were ruthless: Charith Asalanka demonstrated their desire to take down the ‘fifth’ bowler by slog-sweeping Maxwell’s first ball for six, and all told, Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis leaked 51 runs between them in four wicketless overs.

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The flipside was that the cushion of an extra batter allowed Australia’s top order to play more aggressively, as evidenced by Aaron Finch and David Warner taking 63 runs off the six Powerplay overs; while Mitchell Marsh, Stoinis and Wade were not required with the bat, the top order could go harder as a consequence of their presence in the middle order.”It does [allow us to go harder],” Warner said in his post-match press conference. “It’s dictated by the wickets we’re playing on as well. You’re going to have to have those runners in the middle, especially when you come up against an attack with three spinners like we did today. You’ve got to have that balance so you can go hard at the top and then mix it around in the middle. We’ve got some firepower.”Warner pointed to Maxwell’s success in Australia’s opening game as evidence that their batting-heavy strategy could work. He also hinted that the pitch for their next fixture on Saturday night against England could have “more bounce and carry”, though it remains to be seen if that will lead to a shift in their balance.”If you look at Maxi last game, he obviously did a good job,” Warner said. “These are the match-ups that happen. This happens in a game of Twenty20. Either way, you’re going to have to pick one of them.”For us to have that all-round option as well with Mitch Marsh, Maxi and Stoin – we know they’re not specialist bowlers, but they do a job and they do a great one. These wickets at the moment – I think the other one we’re playing on looks like it’s going to have a bit more bounce and carry and come on nice. This wicket was a tad slow.”It’s about identifying with Finchy, when he’s out there, which bowlers you want to go with. They [Maxwell and Stoinis] did go for a little bit tonight together, but we’re not too worried at all.”

From the moment Cummins thundered a full delivery into Babar’s pad, the visitors smelled blood and did not stop

Andrew McGlashan14-Mar-2022Between lunch and tea on the third day in Karachi, Australia’s bowlers claimed six wickets – double the tally they had managed in the series until that point. There were only 20 overs in the session but more happened then than the preceding 22 combined. Barring a miracle, it was likely the moment where Australia earned just their fourth Test win in Pakistan.There had been early signs that the scoreboard pressure applied by Australia’s 556 would tell on Pakistan: an attempt at a non-existent single had brought the first wicket, then Imam-ul-Haq’s reckless strike against Nathan Lyon had given an Australia bowler a scalp for the first time in more than 600 deliveries.But the moment the day, the match and possibly the series changed came in the 21st over when Pat Cummins thundered a full delivery into Babar Azam’s pad. Squeezing it off the face of the bat saved Pakistan’s captain, but the signs were there: reverse swing was in town.Related

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It was not the first time the ball had tailed in the match – Shaheen Shah Afridi was probing with it through Australia’s long innings and Faheem Ashraf also threatened – but for the first time it would have a telling impact. Cummins, who had an excellent day as captain, sensed the moment. Lyon had just claimed the wicket of Imam but he was whipped out of the attack in favour of Mitchell Starc. There would only be one more over of spin in the session.Australia had been planning for this moment since before the tour during their pre-series camp in Melbourne where they put considerable time into the bowling of reverse swing. “A lot of time the ball reverse swings so we didn’t really experience it this summer with grassy wickets, short games, whereas over there it can be a real weapon so trying to upskill that,” Cummins had said before flying out to Pakistan. “We haven’t bowled a lot of reverse swing in the last year or so but it’s a huge factor going into the subcontinent.”It had not really transpired in Rawalpindi on a lifeless surface and a slightly more verdant outfield, whereas at the National Stadium there is a wide square of barren pitches ready-made to scuff up the ball. Before the match, the likely role of reverse swing was front and centre in Australia’s selection with the retention of Starc (the current Allan Border Medalist as Australia’s men’s player of the year) ahead of Josh Hazlewood. It’s not that the latter cannot be effective with the reverse, but Starc’s left-arm angle and few extra kph brings an added dynamic and both were on show in the over that truly began Australia’s surge.From round the wicket – an angle that allows him to push the ball into the right-handers then have the movement either slant it back further or take it away – he lured Azhar Ali into poking at a full delivery outside off stump which sent a catch whistling to second slip where Cameron Green snaffled it with deceptive ease given how close he was standing.Next ball, to the left-handed Fawad Alam, Starc was back over the wicket and produced a trademark full delivery which curled into Alam’s pads in front of the stumps. On the eighth day of the series it was Fawad’s first opportunity to bat (he has not bowled and also dropped a catch in Rawalpindi, although held on to remove David Warner in the final session) and it was over before there could be the usual freeze frames and analysis of his unorthodox stance.On a hat-trick, Starc saved his best for Mohammad Rizwan, and it was too good. A length delivery that jagged away off the surface from round the wicket to beat the edge. It was not a million miles away from matching the famous delivery he sent down to James Vince at the WACA during the 2017-18 Ashes. The over was on a par with the one he bowled against England on that heady second evening at the MCG just a few months ago when Australia’s quicks produced one of the more unplayable passages in recent memory.Pat Cummins celebrates the wicket of Mohammad Rizwan•AFP/Getty ImagesThere was no reprieve, though, for Rizwan. After the drinks break Starc was replaced by Cummins who gave Rizwan a torrid time. He was dropped at slip by Steven Smith who went for a catch that was probably Alex Carey’s for the taking. Next ball he padded up to a delivery which jagged back and was given lbw when it was nowhere in the vicinity of the stumps – DRS providing the perfect example of why it was first introduced.The relief was momentary, however. Just two balls, in fact, until the start of Cummins’ next over when he found Rizwan’s outside edge with another perfect delivery in the channel. This time the edge was finer and there was no doubt where it was heading as it nestled in Carey’s gloves.Through all this you had Green showing, again, the value he will bring to this Australia side as he enabled Cummins to keep going with pace from both ends and removed Faheem Ashraf for good measure during a six-over spell. Such was the impact Australia were having with the quicks, that when Green had to briefly leave the field after a blow on the hand, Marnus Labuschagne had an over of medium pace.There was time for Starc to strike again before tea, although his third wicket owed much to the excellent hearing of Carey who was convinced Sajid Khan had got a thin edge which was proved correct. Throughout this, Starc maintained an average pace over 140kph, the only bowler to achieve that in the match. When the ball did move, either off the pitch, in the air, or both, that extra speed hurried all the batters.The final session of the day was a touch anticlimactic after all that as the lower order was wrapped up by another direct hit run out from Labuschagne – do not discount the value of Australia’s fielding – and the first two wickets of Mitchell Swepson’s career. This was the perfect day. Australia’s bowlers will need to do it again tomorrow, but on the latest evidence they have all the tools available. After reaching until almost the mid-point of the series, this may just have been the moment it took the decisive (reverse) swing.

“No one knows that for the last seven to eight months I have been working hard on my bowling”

Sidharth Monga29-Apr-2022You’d expect Sunil Narine to top economy charts in an IPL season eyes closed, but here is a surprise. Among those who have bowled a minimum of 10 overs this IPL, only Narine has a better economy than Krunal Pandya’s 6.18 per over.During Mumbai Indians’ glory days of 2019 and 2020, Krunal played virtually as the fifth specialist bowler with Kieron Pollard used as back-up should things go wrong. In the last year or so, his bowling has dipped, which led him to work hard on his skills for “seven to eight months”. The reward came in the form of his first Player-of-the-Match award in the IPL since 2017, as his spell of 2 for 11 in four overs – including a maiden over – led Lucknow Super Giants’ defence of just 153.Related

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The opposition, Punjab Kings, were a good match-up for Krunal: among the 10 teams this year, Kings have the worst run-rate and worst average against left-arm spin. However, Krunal has been impressive through the season, bowling in eight matches out of nine so far, and going for less than eight an over in six of them. In four of them, he has gone at a run a ball or better.”Throughout the tournament I have been bowling well,” Krunal told host broadcaster Star Sports. “No one knows that for the last seven to eight months I have been working hard on my bowling. Trying to get tall.”I just want to mention Rahul Sanghvi, who has been a big, big help for me. I had a chat with him seven-eight months back, and I told him I want to develop my skill. I felt I was always good with my mindset. I just felt if I could develop my skills, it would really help. The results everyone can see, but the effort has been there from the last eight months, trying to get better as a bowler, especially skill wise.”The one skill Krunal said he was missing was the ability to turn the ball. Bad habits had crept in unknown to him.”Because I am playing a lot of short-form games, you don’t realise what’s happening,” Krunal said. “So I didn’t realise I was getting too low and my stride was too long, and in the end I just had to fire the ball in. So I was just playing with the batsman’s mind. So I just realised if I get tall and if I impart more spin… I have always varied my pace but in that if I am able to impart spin or get the ball to grip [then] that would create a lot of doubt in the batters’ mind. Again had a word with Rahul Sanghvi. He was kind enough to help me.”Let Daniel Vettori, one of the greatest left-arm spinners to play the game, break it down for you. “He is one of the few spinners who can bowl at that pace and still impart topspin on it,” Vettori said on ESPNcricinfo’s post-match analysis show T20 Time Out. “Most spinners who bowl that quickly have to undercut the ball. And therefore all that is happening is that the ball is skidding on unless it is a really bad surface. What he is doing is he is challenging batsmen with that pace but also getting dip.”It’s not like batsmen can get down to him, it’s not like batsmen can go back to him. It is incredibly difficult to read the length. That’s why he is so successful against left-hand batters and right-hand batters because he has actually got something on the ball. It is a real skill, and it’s impressive to watch.”To his credit, Krunal also has the self-awareness to realise when the skill needed to get something on the ball has deserted him, and the willingness to work hard on it setting that right.

Chance to win Commonwealth Games medal has kept veteran England bowler going

Valkerie Baynes29-Jul-2022Had it not been for the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, Katherine Brunt could be retired from international cricket by now.The event, which began with a hopeful, theatrical and eccentric opening ceremony on Thursday night, features women’s cricket for the first time in history at Edgbaston from Friday morning. Brunt is thrilled that at the age of 37 she is able to be part of the sort of multi-sports event that so inspired her growing up.Related

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But it wasn’t always on the cards and, had late July and early August 2022 not been highlighted on the women’s cricket calendar for the past few years, she might not have been playing anymore.”To be honest, it’s been on my mind properly for the last four years and there’s been events that have come and gone that I thought I’d never be a part of,” Brunt told ESPNcricinfo. “This is just literally another one of those things – a Commonwealth Games – the chance to earn an actual medal, it’s impossible to imagine right now but it’s right there and I’m just so happy I’ve managed to keep myself here and fit and strong and with the ability to still play well. I’m really proud of the fact that I’m here and I get the chance to experience this and tell my kids about it one day.”And she is playing well. Having retired from Tests ahead of England’s draw with South Africa in Taunton at the end of June, Brunt roared back in their opening ODI in Northampton with a hostile opening spell that read 5-1-5-2 and reduced South Africa to 34 for 2 inside the first nine overs. She then took a career-best 4 for 15 in the first T20I as England swept both white-ball series to head to Birmingham match-hardened and on a roll. But for Brunt, it wasn’t nearly as easy as it looked.”I’ve had the most challenging year of my whole career this year,” she had said between the ODI and T20I legs of South Africa’s multi-format tour. “I’ve had some seriously big lows this year, I’ve considered retirement constantly. I’ve been battling with doubt and self-belief for weeks on end.”I went through the Ashes and the World Cup series with a lot of mental strife, physical strife at times, and I’ve never questioned my action as much as I have in the last few months. The last 12 weeks of training have been seriously difficult, and me wondering whether I’ve still got it has been at the forefront of my mind every single day.”So the last two weeks have been brilliant. Something just clicked and I felt that I’m back to myself and that game [in Northampton] really did help me with remembering who I am and what I can do and I still belong in this team and there’s still a job for me to do yet.”At the ODI World Cup in New Zealand earlier this year, Brunt could be seen practising various technical drills during the warm-ups and she took just one wicket in England’s first five games before making a breakthrough with 3 for 17 against Pakistan.”I was praying it was something specific and there was something I could do but sometimes it’s just a feel, and that’s actually the most annoying part of the game is because I don’t have a magic wand and neither do other people,” Brunt said.”The problem lies in the fact that I’ve always been able to just make it happen and I’ve always been really consistent. I’ve got a repeatable action and there’s not much care that needs to be taken with it and so when it did go wrong, I had no answer and no clue as to what to do.

“I’m really proud of the fact that I’m here and I get the chance to experience this and tell my kids about it one day.”Katherine Brunt

“But I just slowed everything down and then started from the beginning again – as if I was a youngster. It was quite interesting and it took a lot of will… There were some technical issues in there but once they got fixed, it was just a matter of bowling overs and hoping that that feel came back. That was the most important bit for me, the feel, because that’s the bit that gives me the confidence and the belief to be able to beat the best batters in the world.”One thing that didn’t wane was Brunt’s on-field passion. Love it or not – probably depending on whether you’re on her team, the opposition or a neutral onlooker – it’s a huge part of what makes her the bowler she is.”I never have to find that,” Brunt said. “That’s just in me as soon as I cross the boundary rope. It’s something that just comes out naturally. And sometimes I don’t like what I see but honestly, it’s just because I’m so emotional and I wear my heart on my sleeve.”That fire needs to be controlled, sometimes it’s uncontrollable, but it’s not something I have to conjure up.”Far from those snarling, bellowing, in-your-face wicket-taking celebrations, a glimpse of Brunt as she marched into Alexander Stadium for the opening ceremony showed the face of a young kid again, eyes wide and mouth open in awe as she looked up into the stands of what will also be the athletics venue and took it all in. Beside her, Sophia Dunkley, the just-turned-24-year-old who represents England’s next generation beamed and jumped for joy. Their thrill at being part of a multi-sport showcase event was palpable, and a big part of what has kept Brunt going.”Growing up watching Olympic athletes and things like that on TV, thinking that that was a million miles away and now we’re part of it is just unbelievable, isn’t it?” Brunt had said earlier.A short time before England entered the stadium, Bismah Maroof, the Pakistan captain, walked in as her nation’s joint flag-bearer alongside wrestler Muhammad Inam, and Chamari Athapaththu, Sri Lanka’s captain, shared the honours for her country with weightlifter Indika Dissanayake.The BBC interviewed Suzie Bates, who had already enjoyed being part of such a spectacle representing New Zealand in basketball during the 2008 Olympics. The opportunities that cricket began to offer, she said, helped her decide to switch sports and here it was, her second sport, so to speak, at the pinnacle. Then, continuing the women’s cricket thread being woven through the sport’s maiden appearance at the Games, umpire Sue Redfern read the Commonwealth Oath on behalf of all the officials taking part.Katherine Brunt walks in the opening ceremony with Team England•Getty ImagesSo what would it mean to Brunt to win a gold medal on home soil? It could go straight to the top of her career highlights.”All of our country’s athletes in every aspect of sport all coming together and being probably part of the biggest stage of them all, it would be the icing on the cake of what I consider a really fruitful career I’ve had the privilege to experience and I’ve kept going as long as I have to get to this stage,” she said.”So I think it would mean everything to myself especially but obviously as a team it’s something we’re really, really, really striving for. It would be brilliant.”So if that box is ticked in the final at Edgbaston on August 7, does Brunt retire on that note?”Honestly, I could tell you, end of the Commonwealth Games and then just ride off into the sunset, right? I would be lying that that was a sure thing,” she said. “That’s the goal I set myself two years ago and I will be extremely proud of myself to get to the end of that unscathed.”But if that if that’s a success, and I feel great, then why not go to the February T20 World Cup? Especially with it being just a T20 focus, it would take a lot of stress off my body and be also a great end so I can’t say Commonwealth because it might just not be, but it is very soon.”

A statistical look at the all the records the Mumbai batter has scaled in the ongoing Ranji Trophy season

Sampath Bandarupalli23-Jun-20222 – Number of players to score 900-plus runs in two different editions of Ranji Trophy, before Sarfaraz Khan. He is the first player to achieve this feat in successive tournaments. Sarfaraz scored 928 runs in the 2019-20 edition of Ranji Trophy and has recorded 937 runs so far in the ongoing edition. Ajay Sharma and Wasim Jaffer are the other players to have breached the 900-run mark in a Ranji Trophy season on two occasions.ESPNcricinfo Ltd82.83 – Sarfaraz’s batting average in first-class cricket. It is the second-highest for any batter with 2000-plus runs in the format. The only batter with a better average is Donald Bradman, who has 28067 runs to his name at an average of 95.14.ESPNcricinfo Ltd82.76 – Sarfaraz’s batting average in Ranji Trophy across 23 matches – the third-highest for any player who has scored 2000-plus runs. Only Vijay Merchant (98.35) and Sachin Tendulkar (87.37) average more than Sarfaraz across the 87 editions of the competition.ESPNcricinfo Ltd133.85 – Sarfaraz’s average so far in the 2021-22 edition of Ranji Trophy. It is the fourth-highest for any batter in a Ranji Trophy season, where they have recorded 900-plus runs. His own average of 154.66 during the 2019-20 season is second on this list, while Rusi Modi’s 201.6 in the 1944-45 season is the highest.

Northants stint leaves NZ batter well equipped to face Ben Stokes’ England challenge

Matt Roller10-May-2022The majority of New Zealand’s Test squad will arrive in the UK this weekend ahead of their three-match series against England in June but two players are already in situ and have been preparing for the challenges of foreign conditions with early-season stints in county cricket.Will Young and Colin de Grandhomme had dinner together in London last week during Surrey’s innings win against Northamptonshire and will play again for their respective sides from Thursday before joining up with their international team-mates ahead of warm-up games at Hove and Chelmsford at the start of next week. The five Test squad members at the IPL – Kane Williamson, Trent Boult, Daryl Mitchell, Tim Southee and Devon Conway – are due to arrive once their franchises are knocked out.While de Grandhomme has played several blocks of county cricket before, Young is returning for only his second stint and has had significantly more freedom to enjoy the experience than he did while undergoing regular Covid-19 tests during his four games for Durham last year. He is averaging 39.4 across his five innings for Northants to date despite two single-figure scores last week and expects to be fully acclimatised by the time his international team-mates arrive.Related

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“Durham was a cool experience and the perfect lead-up to our Test series last year,” Young told ESPNcricinfo at The Oval. “I wanted to emulate the same thing if I could so I put my name forward and thankfully Northants offered me a deal. This time I’ve signed for slightly longer – quite a bit of the Championship and also some of the Royal London Cup so I’m stoked to have a proper go at county cricket.”Covid is no longer a thing over here so I can experience the summer and everything there is on offer over here. Last year I was limited as to what I could do with Covid restrictions and tests every second day but this time it’s pretty much a free-for-all. My partner is over too and we’ve been trying to get into London when we can and to various other parts of the UK. It feels like life as usual.”Over here, every team utilises the fact they can have two overseas professionals playing. Back home, you don’t really get that, so playing for your domestic teams, it’s just the guys from that region so you know a lot of those players, especially now I’ve played 10 years of domestic cricket. It’s a fast learning curve here: you’re thrown in there and not only are the conditions different over here and you play with a different ball, you’re learning constantly against the guys you’re up against. That’s why I’m here: to play as much cricket as I can and learn about how the game is played over here.”Young has two half-centuries (96 and 63) in his first three County Championship matches•Getty ImagesYoung’s time at Durham also gave him the opportunity to get to know Ben Stokes, having played against him in domestic cricket in New Zealand in 2017-18 when Stokes was returning to cricket after his late-night indiscretions in Bristol ruled him out of the Ashes. “We played against Canterbury home and away in the Super Smash,” he recalled. “I was a little bit younger then and thought it was pretty cool to be playing against Ben Stokes.”I met him properly up in Durham last season. He was injured but he came in after one of the wins we had a had a couple of drinks in the dressing room and helped us celebrate. I’m stoked for him. I’m sure it’s a proud time for him and we’re the first assignment. I’m sure he’ll be looking to make a mark so it’ll be a good challenge.”Young played a walk-on role in New Zealand’s tour last year, playing the third Test of his career when Williamson was rested at Edgbaston and making 82 and 8 to help set up an eight-wicket win which clinched only their third-ever series victory in England. He was left out of the side for the World Test Championship final against India but has played each of their last six Tests and is averaging a respectable 31.35 across his career.But with Williamson due to play his first Test since November and following scores of 8, 3 and 0 against South Africa in February, Young does not feel certain of his place. “I’m just thankful to be part of the squad at this stage,” he said. “To get an opportunity in the starting XI would be great but we’ll just have to wait and see.”New Zealand tend to play a lot of two-match series and it can be difficult to get into a rhythm at times. If you don’t find it, you’re struggling. It’s an experienced side that’s coming over and a lot of them have experienced these conditions before. I’m sure there will be some questions and information sharing when they arrive and that’s what the two warm-up games are for as well: there’s plenty of time for the guys to get ready for those Tests.”There are two key absentees from the side that won the WTC final in Ross Taylor and BJ Watling, both of whom have retired in the last year, but one of New Zealand’s main strengths in the recent past has been to build squad depth through future planning, pushing their A-team programme and giving opportunities to players on the fringes of the set-up.”It’s a huge loss, Ross and BJ,” Young said. “They’ve both given so much on the field to New Zealand and they’re both huge parts of the success over the last while and were well-liked, popular guys in the group. There’s definitely a hole with them gone but in the same breath, there’s been enough opportunities for guys to be around the group and familiarise themselves with the team so it’s not a huge shock to the system when it comes to actually playing Tests.”Certainly for me, I was around the group for a few series beforehand and it’s the same for others. For example, Tom Blundell, who is stepping into BJ’s shoes, he was around the group as an opening batsman and now he’s got the gloves and has slid down the order. It’s great because there’s not such a huge hole when guys like that have left.”It’s been a big push from NZC over the past three or four years to have two tours – one home, one away – every year with the New Zealand A side and I’ve been lucky to be part of that, as have some of the other guys who are getting opportunities now. This England series is an incredible opportunity which we’re all looking forward to. The guys will all get stuck in once they’re over here.”

And how many batters have managed a hundred in each Test of a three-match series?

Steven Lynch04-Jul-2022Has anyone scored as many runs as Jonny Bairstow in the New Zealand series at a higher run rate? asked Mike Bullivant from England

In the three Tests against New Zealand, Jonny Bairstow scored 394 runs from 328 balls, a rate of 120.12 per 100 balls. No one has scored more runs in a series more quickly: the nearest is Bairstow’s current captain Ben Stokes, with 109.01 – 411 from 377 balls – in South Africa in 2015-16.The only man known to have scored 300 runs in a Test series at a faster rate is Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi, who hammered 330 off 272 balls – 121.32 per 100 – at home against India in 2005-06. For the full list, click here (note that an asterisk, such as the one against Clive Lloyd’s run-rate figure, means our data is incomplete).I noticed that in a shortish career as opener, John Campbell has been at the crease several times when West Indies have won a Test. Which opener has done this most often? asked Davo Kissoondari from Guyana

The West Indian opener John Campbell may have played only 20 Tests so far, but has now been at the crease six times when the winning hit was made, including both matches against Bangladesh last month. This compares well with a rather more famous Jamaican opener, Chris Gayle, who was also in at the end of a West Indian win on six occasions – but played 103 Tests in all.Only eight openers have been batting at the moment of victory in more Tests, and the fewest matches any of them played was 74 (Michael Slater, who was there for seven wins). Another famous West Indian leads the way by some distance – Desmond Haynes was at the crease at the end of 18 Test victories. Matthew Hayden was there for 11, and Gordon Greenidge for ten.Haynes’ 18 is the most by anyone, opener or not: Ricky Ponting is second with 13, while Jacques Kallis was in at the moment of victory on 12 occasions.Daryl Mitchell scored a century in each match of the England series. How many people have done this? asked Kelly McLeod from New Zealand

New Zealand’s Daryl Mitchell was the seventh man to score a century in each match of a three-Test series, following Ken Barrington (England vs Pakistan in 1967), Shoaib Mohammad (Pakistan vs New Zealand in 1990-91), Matthew Hayden (Australia vs South Africa in 2001-02), Mohammad Yousuf (Pakistan vs West Indies in 2006-07), Ross Taylor (New Zealand vs West Indies in 2013-14) and Virat Kohli (India vs Sri Lanka in 2017-18).But two men have scored a century in each match of a four-Test series: Kallis, for South Africa against West Indies in 2003-04, and Steven Smith, for Australia vs India in 2014-15.No one has managed a hundred in each match of a five-Test series: Clyde Walcott did score five centuries for West Indies in the home series against Australia in 1954-55, but two of them came in the second Test in Port-of-Spain.Jacques Kallis made a hundred in each of the four Tests against West Indies in 2003-04•Touchline/Getty ImagesApparently only one Englishman has made two full Ashes tours of Australia and not played a Test there – who is he? asked Norman Davis from England

There’s only one man who fits the bill here – but he isn’t, strictly speaking, an Englishman! The tall Northamptonshire fast bowler David Larter toured down under in 1962-63 and 1965-66, but couldn’t force his way into the Test side on either tour. He was born in Inverness, in Scotland, but his family moved to Suffolk when he was ten.Larter did have some success in the ten Tests he managed between injury problems, taking 37 wickets, with a best of 5 for 57 – and nine in the match – on debut against Pakistan at The Oval in 1962.Northamptonshire wicketkeeper Laurie Johnson rated him highly. Interviewed for Larter’s 2021 biography Bowling Fast, he summed up: “It was always interesting keeping to David Larter, as he was different from other quick bowlers in that he could extract bounce from a length. He was a great trier and, on his day, when everything clicked and conditions were in his favour, he could be as quick as Frank Tyson (for whom I used to stand back the full length of the wicket).”Recurring injuries proved too much in the end, at a time when off-field support was less sophisticated than it is now. The unfortunate Larter retired from county cricket in 1967, still only 27. “It was useless trying to carry on,” he wrote. “I played only four games last summer because of a damaged left ankle, and it broke down again in our knockout cup game against Bedfordshire. If I can’t stand up for one match it’s pointless trying to play in three-day games. My ankle will just not stand being jarred.”It didn’t quite happen at Edgbaston, but when was the last time the captain batted at No. 11 in a Test? asked Rajendra Sharma from India

It didn’t happen at Edgbaston because India’s Jasprit Bumrah, in his first match as captain, went in at No. 10 rather than his customary 11 – and did rather well, breaking the record for most runs in an over in a Test.The last captain to go in last in a Test was Sri Lanka’s Suranga Lakmal, against England in Pallekele in 2018-19. The last to do it regularly was Courtney Walsh, on 14 occasions for West Indies in the late 1990s.For the full list, click here (this includes some innings where the captain was injured or did not bat).Shiva Jayaraman of ESPNcricinfo’s stats team helped with some of the above answers.Use our feedback form, or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions