And have two Tests ever played out simultaneously in the same country?
Steven Lynch06-Aug-2024For a while last week there were two Test matches going on at the same time in the United Kingdom. Is there any previous instance of two men’s Tests in the same country at the same time? asked Russ King from England
You’re right that the one-off Test between Ireland and Zimbabwe in Belfast and England’s third Test against West Indies at Edgbaston were being played at the same time. Unlike Dublin, where Ireland played their inaugural Test in 2018, Belfast is in Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom, so two Tests were thus being played in the same country at the same time. This has never happened before, although there was a near-miss in India in 2019: India played Bangladesh in Kolkata from November 22-24, then Afghanistan took on West Indies at Lucknow on November 27.It’s not quite the same question, but there have been two occasions when England were playing Test matches at the same time in two different countries: in 1929-30, two of the four Tests of both England’s tours of New Zealand and the West Indies were played on some of the same dates. There was also a near-miss early in 1892, when an England side took on South Africa in Cape Town from March 19 to 22, and another team in Australia started the third and final Test against Australia in Adelaide on March 24.Zimbabwe’s new wicketkeeper Clive Madande conceded 42 byes in the first innings against Ireland recently. Was this the worst on debut? asked Blake Forrester from Australia
The unfortunate Clive Madande had a largely forgettable Test debut against Ireland in Belfast last month. First he bagged a golden duck when he batted on the first day, then conceded 42 byes in Ireland’s modest total of 250.That’s not just the most conceded by a wicketkeeper on debut, it’s the most by a keeper in any Test innings. The previous record was 37, conceded by England’s Frank Woolley in an Australian total of 327 at The Oval in 1934. Woolley did have an excuse: he was 47, and not a regular wicketkeeper – he’d been pressed into service after Les Ames injured his back.There are also two cases of a wicketkeeper allowing 35 byes in a Test innings: Dinesh Karthik for India in Pakistan’s 537 in Bengaluru in 2007-08, and England’s Matt Prior against West Indies (544) in Port-of-Spain in 2008-09.The previous highest on Test debut was 28, by Hanif Mohammad in Pakistan’s inaugural Test against India in Delhi in 1952-53. Perhaps taking the hint, Hanif soon gave up keeping and concentrated on his batting.I noticed that during Ireland’s Test win over Zimbabwe recently, all their players took a catch during the match. How often has this happened in a Test? asked Michael Bradbury from Ireland
You’re right that all 11 of Ireland’s players made a contribution in the field to their exciting win over Zimbabwe in Belfast last month. There’s only one other Test in which all 11 players on one side took a catch, by New Zealand in Wellington in 2022-23. Actually New Zealand went one better, as 12 men – including substitute Will Young – held on to a catch over both Sri Lanka’s innings. There are 19 instances of ten players taking a catch in a match, but no other 11s.Rashid Khan and Paul Stirling both took six-fors in the same ODI in Greater Noida in 2017•AP Photo/Tsering TopgyalAre there any one-day or T20Is in which two bowlers took six wickets? asked Graham McAllister from England
There’s a grand total of one white-ball international that fits the bill here. In an ODI in Greater Noida in India in March 2017, Rashid Khan took 6 for 43 as Afghanistan (who had earlier made 338) restricted Ireland to 304. You might expect Rashid to do this sort of thing, but the identity of the Irishman who did well with the ball earlier in the day might surprise you: it was Paul Stirling, whose offbreaks brought him 6 for 55. He’s taken 37 wickets in 160 other ODIs. There have been no such instances yet in T20Is, or in women’s white-ball matches.There also remains a solitary ODI in which two bowlers from the same side took five wickets apiece, and again the gentlemen concerned were hardly known as demon bowlers. For Australia against England at Edgbaston in June 1977, shortly before that summer’s Ashes series started, Greg Chappell took 5 for 20, and his fellow medium-pacer Gary Cosier 5 for 18. “We both, at our lower pace, made the ball bend in the air and seam off the pitch,” said Chappell, “and with the help of some undistinguished batting from the England batsmen, whose footwork often left a lot to be desired, we finished off the innings for 171.” Unfortunately for Australia’s captain, his own side’s batting was even more undistinguished, as they collapsed to 70 all out. “A humiliating scoreline – and I regretted bitterly that England’s bowlers had had this ego boost so early in the summer.”I noticed that Riyan Parag’s first three international wickets were all bowled. Was this a record? And what’s the longest such streak at any point in a bowler’s career? Bowled is after all a special form of dismissal! asked Rahul Vats from the United States
It’s true that the Indian legspinner Riyan Parag’s first three wickets in internationals – in his fourth T20 match, against Sri Lanka in Pallekele late last month – were all out bowled. But Parag has a fair way to go to break the record: the Pakistan seamer Khan Mohammad (in Tests in the 1950s) and Luxembourg’s Ankush Nanda (in T20s against Turkey and the Czech Republic in 2019) both started by bowling their first seven victims. The England left-arm seamer Frank Foster (in the 1911-12 Ashes) and Bhutan’s Tenzin Wangchuk (in T20s between 2022 and 2024) both began with six.The most consecutive bowled dismissals by a bowler at any stage of their international career is ten, by England’s George Lohmann, all in the same Test against South Africa at Port Elizabeth (now Gqeberha) in 1895-96. Four men managed nine: Johnny Briggs of England (also in a Test against South Africa at Port Elizabeth, in 1888-89), South Africa’s Sandy Bell (in Tests against England in 1929 and 1930-31), Dinesh Nakrani of Uganda (T20s in October 2021) and Malaysia’s Syazrul Idrus in T20s in July 2023, including all his victims against China in Kuala Lumpur. His 7 for 8 that day remain the best figures in T20Is.And there’s an Irish-themed update to one of last week’s questions, from Dave C from Ireland
“Just to point out, you missed one in your list of two-country players who also appeared against their former countries: one of Boyd Rankin’s Tests for Ireland was against England.” You’re right – Rankin won his only England cap in Sydney in 2013-14, then played in Ireland’s inaugural match against Pakistan in 2018, and against England at Lord’s the following year. That means ten of the 17 two-country players played Tests against their first team. Apologies to all for the slip – especially Boyd Rankin!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