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The regular Tuesday column in which Steven Lynch answers your questions about (almost) any aspect of cricket:
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Double ton: Ganguly's 100th Test was also the MCG's 100th
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Which Test holds the record of producing a result within the shortest span of time? asked Junaid Kasmani from Pakistan
The shortest Test, both in terms of time taken and balls bowled, was the remarkable fifth Test between Australia and South Africa on a "sticky dog" of a pitch in Melbourne in 1931-32. There were only five hours and 53 minutes of play, and just 109.2 six-ball overs all told. On a wicket made treacherous by rain South Africa were bowled out for 36 and 45, with the 49-year-old slow left-armer Bert Ironmonger taking 5 for 6 and 6 for 18. Australia, lacking Don Bradman, who had injured himself in the dressing room just before the start, managed 153. For a full list of the shortest Tests, click here.
Sourav Ganguly played his 100th Test in the 100th Test at the MCG. Has anyone else done this? asked Arvind Verma from Chennai
The simple answer is no, because only one other ground has staged 100 Tests. That was Lord's, which reached the landmark with the 2000 Test against West Indies, and no one in that match was winning his 100th cap. No one in that Lord's game made a century, either, which means that Matthew Hayden, with 124 at the MCG on Boxing Day, is the only person to score a hundred in a ground's 100th Test. The New Year's Test in Sydney was the 96th to be played at the SCG.
At the start of West Indies' second innings in the second Test at Cape Town, Makhaya Ntini bowled five maidens in a row. What is the longest spell of consecutive maidens by a bowler in Test cricket? asked Marian van Oorschot
The most successive maiden overs in a Test is 21, by the Indian slow left-armer Bapu Nadkarni, in the first Test against England in Madras in 1963-64, when his overall figures were an astonishing 32-27-5-0. Nadkarni bowled 131 successive dot-balls in that spell, but that didn't break the Test record, which remains 137, by the South African offspinner Hugh Tayfield against England in Durban in 1956-57. Those were eight-ball overs, though, so Tayfield managed "only" 16 maidens in that spell, which spanned both innings.
Mahela Jayawardene now holds the record for runs scored at a particular Test ground. Who has scored the most at an away ground? asked Jeremy Gilling from Australia
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The name's Death ... Whispering Death
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Mahela Jayawardene did indeed break this record during the recent series against England - he has now scored 2062 runs in Tests at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo. The previous record-holder was Graham Gooch, with 2015 Test runs at Lord's. The only man to score more than 1000 Test runs on a ground outside his own country is England's Jack Hobbs, who made 1178 runs in 10 Tests at the MCG. Australia's Don Bradman, who lies third on the overall list with 1671 runs at the MCG, ran Hobbs close - in only four Tests at Headingley, The Don made 963 runs at an average of 192.60. For a full list of run-scorers on a single Test ground, click here.
Who was nicknamed "Whispering Death"? asked Arnold Proctor from Marylebone
This was the great West Indian fast bowler Michael Holding, who's now a treacle-voiced television commentator. The nickname originally came from an umpire, and referred to Holding's athletic, light-footed run-up - unlike some more lumbering pacemen, you couldn't hear him coming. Holding called his 1993 autobiography Whispering Death.
Who is the only man to have played Test cricket for England and India? Is it Ranji? asked Moneeb Khan from Delhi
The great KS Ranjitsinhji only played Tests for England - India were not given Test status until after his career finished, although actually he never played even a first-class match in his home country. The answer is another Indian prince: the senior Nawab of Pataudi, who played three Tests for England - starting with a century on debut in the first Test of the 1932-33 Bodyline tour, at Sydney - and later captained India in their three-Test series in England in 1946.
Steven Lynch is the editor of the Cricinfo Guide to International Cricket, the new edition of which has just
been published. If you want to ask Steven a question, use our feedback form. The most interesting questions will be answered here each week
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