Test Match Special statistician Malcolm Ashton has dug deep into the record books to answer your latest batch of questions.

Here are the former England scorer's answers.

Swann has taken five wickets in an innings on nine occasions in his 24 Tests

What is the average (in days) Test matches have lasted since January 2000? Lots of Test matches seem not to go the full five days these days.
Paul Cooyr, UK

Since 1 January 2000 there have been 492 Tests of which 286 lasted five days, 143 for four days, 59 for three days and three lasted two days. The second Test between West Indies and England in Antigua in 2009 lasted 10 minutes before being abandoned!

How many times has Graeme Swann taken a wicket in his first over of a spell in international cricket?
James Wareing, UK

This is a question that needs some fairly detailed research as it was quite apparent last season that whenever Swann came on a wicket fell. I set myself a task to research it during the winter, but for you, I have trawled through the score sheets for this last international season and can reveal as follows: in 42 spells of bowling this summer Swann has taken a wicket in the first over of a spell nine times.

What is the least number of overs bowled in a Test match with a winning result? And was this also the shortest Test match with a conclusive result?
Andy Barnes, UK

The answer is 109.2 overs, Australia v South Africa at Melbourne in 1931-32.

SA 36 all out in 23.2 overs; Australia 153 all out in 54.3 overs; SA 45 all out in 31.3 overs.

Australia won by an innings and 72 runs.

I suspect it was the shortest in terms of playing time as SA were 5-1 in their second innings at the close of day one (started on 12 Feb). There was no play on day two and 14 February was a rest day!

WG in his more customary pose with the willow

What is the lowest score in which every batsman has scored more than 10 and hit at least one boundary?
John, England

I have found 11 matches where all 11 players reached double figures but, because of age, some of the scorecards are sketchy on boundaries scored. However, there are three Tests that fit your criteria:

South Africa v England at The Old Wanderers 1906, where SA made 385.

England v West Indies at The Oval 2004, where Eng made 470

India v England at The Oval 2007, where India made 664

Jason Gillespie famously scored a Test Match double century against Bangladesh as a night-watchman despite having the reputation of being a bit of a 'rabbit' and I would imagine that a feat like that can never happen again; but I was wondering which Test batsman to have scored a hundred has the lowest average?
Sam Barnard, United Kingdom

Sam, the answer to your question is Saqlain Mushtaq of Pakistan, who averaged just 14.48 from 78 Test innings yet scored 101 not out v New Zealand at Christchurch in 2000-01. The lowest average for an England Test player who scored a century is 15.25 by Frank Hayes. He scored 106 not out v West Indies at The Oval in 1973 and had 17 innings in his Test career. Incidentally, Frank's next highest score was only 29.

Has there ever been a bowler who has taken a hat-trick spread across two innings or two matches (ie he took the last two wickets in two balls of one innings and then took a wicket with his first ball in the next innings)?
Oliver Matthews, Australia

In Test cricket, to date, there have been 37 instances of a bowler taking a hat-trick, with three players doing the feat twice, TJ Matthews, H Trumble and Wasim Akram.

Taking a hat-trick in different innings has occurred three times. The first was Courtney Walsh for West Indies v Australia at Brisbane in 1988-89 (last ball of the first innings and the first two of the second).

The second was by Merv Hughes v West Indies at Perth in the next match of the same series (he had Ambrose with the last ball of his 36th over and Patterson with the first ball of the 37th to wrap up the innings. He then took a wicket with his first ball in the second innings).

The third was Jermaine Lawson for West Indies v Australia at Bridgetown in 2002-03 (last two wickets in the first innings and first in the second) - and he was the first West Indies player to take a hat- trick on home soil.

Australia leg-spinner TJ Matthews needs a mention in that he took his two hat-tricks in each innings of the same match.

How many international cricketers have played other sports at international level - and when was the most recent?
Euan, England

Keeping it English, I have found 12 England cricketers who have also played football for England.

They are: John Arnold, Andy Ducat, CB Fry, Tip Foster, Leslie Gay, Billy Gunn, Wally Hardinge, Alfred Lyttleton, Harry Makepeace, Arthur Milton, Jack Sharp and Willie Watson.

The Nawab of Pataudi represented India at hockey and Ted Dexter played in the English Amateur Golf Championship. Finally, WG Grace was the national 440 yards hurdles champion (yes, I know he was a big lad and I'm having trouble believing it as well!) and represented England at bowls.

Otherwise, Jonty Rhodes and Russell Endean played hockey for South Africa and Dave Houghton for Zimbabwe. Vic Richardson and Bruce Dooland played baseball for Australia.

I remember Graeme Swann joking that the worst part of Jonathan Trott & Stuart Broad's long partnership in the last England Test was seeing his name posted as Last Man for so long. Who has suffered seeing his name against 'Last Man ... 0' for the longest in Test cricket?
Ed, UK

Swanny was right! He had to wait 426 minutes for Broad to lose his wicket, but, and while this is not definitive, in Swann's second Test in Mohali, Virender Sehwag was out for nought after 12 minutes and the next wicket, that of Gautam Gambhir, did not fall for another 454 minutes, Gambhir and Rahul Dravid putting on 314 for the second wicket.

(I copped out a bit there as I looked up the highest second-wicket partnerships and hoped that I could find an early opener's duck!)

In the three international formats what are the highest individual scores made in a losing cause?
Pete Johns, Cyprus

Tests: 242 by RT Ponting for Australia v India at Adelaide in 2003/04

ODI: 194 by CL Coventry for Zimbabwe v Bangladesh at Bulawayo (Queen's Club) in 2009

T20: 117 by CH Gayle for WI v SA at Wanderers in 2007/08

Everyone knows that "catches win matches," but what is the highest number of dropped catches made by a winning Test team in a match?
Miles Chapman, England

Until they make a separate entry in a scorebook for dropped catches this would be impossible to quantify, sorry!

What is the record for the highest number of different fielders taking a catch in a Test innings and also a Test match?
Kevin Briggs, England

In a Test Match by both teams the record is 18. This was in the England v West Indies Test at Headingley in 1963. In a single Test innings the record is nine which has happened on two occasions coincidentally on the same ground, Bridgetown, Barbados.

The first was West Indies v England on 12 March 1998, a match which I scored on my third tour as England scorer. The second was West Indies v New Zealand on 21 June 2002.

Trescothick achieved a rare feat against Bangladesh in 2005

We all know the superstitious number of Nelson is 111, Double Nelson 222 and so on.. but I would like to know how many times wickets have fallen in Test cricket on these scores?
Ian, England

On the basis that 111 is England's bogey number I have confined my search to them! (Australia's bogey is 87, being 13 short of 100) On a personal batting basis there have been only nine occasions when an England batsman has been out for 111 with one being not out. The latest was Paul Collingwood v West Indies at Lord's in 2007.

As far as fall of wickets are concerned England have lost wickets when the score was 111 on 46 occasions, 222 on 34, 333 on 23 and 444 seven times. Good question Ian!

With Bangladesh not only having just won their first (ODI) series against a higher ranked full member, but getting the clean sweep as well, I was wondering how long it had taken the other full members to get their first whitewash in a series (of any kind). Am I right in thinking New Zealand and India took a lot longer?
Alex, Amsterdam

Taking the teams mentioned and the minimum of a three-Test Series, I can tell you that New Zealand, having debuted in Test cricket in 1929-30, have never had a 3-0 clean sweep.

In a two-match series they have managed to win 2-0 on 10 occasions out of 43. Their first series win came in 1969-70 v Pakistan, winning 1-0 with two matches drawn.

India on the other hand debuted in Tests in 1932 and won their first Test series clean sweep (minimum three Tests) v England in 1992/93 and a second v Sri Lanka in 1993/94.

One-day stats have not been addressed as both New Zealand and India were both recognised Test playing nations when one-day cricket entered the fray, whereas Bangladesh has appeared on the scene since.

In the history of Test match cricket, what is the highest score made by the close of play on the first day of the match by a member of the team batting second?
Bill Warner, Tonbridge

There have been seven occasions where a batsman has made a century in the first innings (being the second innings of the match) by the close of day one. The highest score is 151 by Marcus Trescothick v Bangladesh at Chester-le-Street in 2005. Bangladesh first innings 104 and England 269-3 at the close.

However, I can find only one instance of three players scoring 50 or more in the same innings given the above criteria. Graeme Smith 121, AB de Villiers 98 and Jacques Kallis 54 v Zimbabwe at Cape Town in 2005. Zimbabwe 54 all out, South Africa 340-3 at the close of day one.

In the first-class game has an outfielder completed a hat-trick of catches? I ask as I have in club cricket but have never come across it anywhere else.
Mike Brimble, England

There are no records of an outfielder completing this feat at first-class or Test level, but it has been done twice by wicketkeepers. GO Dawkes of Derbyshire v Worcestershire at Kidderminster in 1958, three catches in succession from HL Jackson, and RC Russell for Gloucestershire v Surrey at The Oval in 1986 from successive balls from CA Walsh and DV Lawrence (2).

What is the longest sequence of dot balls a debutant bowler has achieved in Test cricket before conceding a run? And how many for a debutant batsman before scoring their first run?
Peter Regan, England

Sorry Peter, without access to all the scorebooks this is not possible to ascertain.

However, I can tell you that Geoff Allott of New Zealand (not on debut) batted for 77 balls for nought v SA at Auckland in 1998-99 and remains the most balls faced without scoring.

The England Test team wear a number on their shirt which denotes their first cap in terms of all who have gone before. What is the biggest difference between the numbers of two players in a Test?
Graham Campbell, UK

Glad you asked this Graham because it was me who researched the numbers while I was England team scorer. When looking this up I thought that it would be a recent record given the plethora of debutants but I was wrong.

Wilfred Rhodes (121) made his last but one appearance on the 21 February 1930 when LS Townsend (254) made his debut, a difference of 133. Of the recent era, GA Gooch (461) was playing when JE Benjamin (570) made his debut, 109 players later.

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