The highest score for Zimbabwe is… Sikandar Raza, who hit 141 in a victory over Afghanistan in Bulawayo in July 2014 when they beat Bangladesh’s 303 for 2. All told, Zimbabwe has recorded 13 centuries in successful ODI run chases, including Innocent Kaia’s 110 in the same match as Sikandar last week, as well as those by Sikandar and Regis Chakabva in the match on Sunday in Harare.
In the second T20 game against Sri Lanka, India’s batters were all out in order, is this a new occurrence?
During the second T20 in St Kitts, India’s batters were all out in scorecard order – has this ever happened before? asked Niraj Mohammed.
During India’s innings in that match against West Indies in St. Kitts last week, No. 1 Rohit Sharma was the first man out, and Nos. 2 to 10 followed suit obediently, leaving no. 11, Arshdeep Singh, not out. A similar progression had only ever taken place once before, by Sri Lanka, in an August 2009 T20 match against Pakistan in Colombo.
Two other one-day internationals took place in April 2001, by India and Australia in Visakhapatnam, and by West Indies and South Africa in Grenada the following month.
More of a challenge to play than test matches are needed.
Test matches present a greater challenge because it is not always clear which opener took the first strike (and was therefore No. 1), as well as when the batting order has changed in the second innings. Currently on ESPNcricinfo, there are four instances of Nos 1-10 being out of order numerically. However, according to further research by Australian statistician Charles Davis, who has studied hundreds of original scorebooks, two of these cases are incorrect: according to Charles, Frederick Fane took the first strike against South Africa in Cape Town in 1909-10, while for Australia vs West Indies in Georgetown in 1964-65, Bill Lawry did the same. “Lawry and Simpson were the first opening pair to regularly swap places between first and second innings. Most (but not all) Australian opening pairs have done so since. Online scorecards frequently overlook this.”
That’s all it leaves, is just the match played by England against South Africa in Johannesburg in 1948-49, and the one between Pakistan and England at Old Trafford in 2001 (second innings).
Moreover, thanks to Charles Kelleway’s research, we have evidence of three more. Charles Kelleway took first strike in the second innings, not Warren Bardsley, South Africa vs Australia in Johannesburg in 1966-67 (Graeme Pollock was out before Colin Bland in the second innings), and England vs New Zealand at Lord’s in 1978 (Ian Botham was out before Bob Taylor in the first innings).
Have there ever been eleven left-handed batters on a side of a game of international standard, such as cricket?
Has a team ever fielded 11 left-hand batters in a Test match, or any other international match? asked Bijul Raveendran from India
There have been three times when the West Indies have fielded eight left-handers in a men’s Test: against Pakistan in Georgetown in 1999-2000, as well as against England at The Oval later in 2000; additionally, there are 38 more instances where a team has seven left-handers. In one T20I match, the only right-handers were Mahmudullah, the captain, and wicketkeeper Nurul Hasan for Bangladesh against Zimbabwe in July 2021. Bangladesh has been involved in five more instances of eight, all by itself. In ODIs, the most is seven, which has happened on no fewer than 46 occasions.
However, Sri Lanka’s women can match that as nine left-handers represented the side in consecutive one-day internationals against England in Colombo in 2016 (November 12 and 15).
Two of the characters in Chess are named after Test cricketers. Who are they?
The song lyrics for the musical Chess were written in the early 1980s by Tim Rice and Benny Andersson, with music by Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson. Sir Tim, a noted cricket lover and former MCC president, is most likely the person who named most of the characters. The protagonist is an American chess player against a Russian one; the American’s name is Freddie Trumper, a tribute to the legendary Australian golfer Victor Trumper. There was another player involved in the events: Walter de Courcy, a member of Trumper’s entourage and later his boss, is said to be named after a man from New South Wales: Jimmy de Courcy, who played in three Test matches in England in 1953. A complication happened when Walter Anderson took over the role on Broadway, but he’d already debuted in New York well before the Jimmy’s first appearance for England.
Name a cricketer who called his autobiography Wrist Assured?
Gundappa Vishwanath’s latest book is a collaboration with journalist R Kaushik and published by Rupa Books in India. It’s been a long time since Vishy last played a Test match, but it is still an entertaining trip down memory lane. The best thing about it is that it’s a hardback! More and more books are coming out in paperback only, and they don’t last as long on the bulging bookshelves.
Several of the above answers were helped by Shiva Jayaraman of ESPNcricinfo’s stats team.