And which Test centurion has the lowest batting average?
Steven Lynch04-Dec-2018I noticed that Mohammad Abbas has had lots of lbw victims. Which bowler has the highest percentage of lbws in Tests? asked Ahmed Siddique from Pakistan
After the second Test against New Zealand, the Pakistan seamer Mohammad Abbas had 23 lbw victims among his 61 Test wickets – that’s 37.7%. Given a minimum of 50 wickets, the only man with a higher percentage over a complete career is the Sri Lankan spinner Ajantha Mendis, whose 70 Test wickets included 28 lbws (38.57%).If we raise the qualification to 100 wickets, the leader is the Australian seamer Terry Alderman, who had 58 lbw victims (not all of them Graham Gooch) among his 170 Test wickets. That’s 34.12%, just ahead of the Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal’s 33.15% (178 wickets, 59 lbws).The first five West Indies batsmen were all bowled the other day. What’s the most people out bowled in one innings of a Test? asked Ahson Atif from India
There have been two Test innings which contained nine men out bowled – but both were a long time ago, when defensive play was not so advanced and it was less usual to use the pads as a second line of defence. The first such occasion was in Cape Town in 1888-89. It was just the second Test match South Africa had ever played, and nine of their batsmen were out bowled: the only one who wasn’t, opener Albert Rose-Innes, managed to get himself run out without facing a ball. It happened again in the Ashes Test at The Oval in 1890, when the only Australian batsman not to be bowled was Harry Trott, who top-scored with 25 before giving a catch.In West Indies’ disastrous first innings in the second Test in Mirpur over the weekend, the top five in the order were all bowled – only the third time this had happened, and the first since Australia’s top five in that match at The Oval in 1890. It also happened to England in the third-ever Test, in Melbourne in 1878-79, when actually the top seven were all bowled. At Mirpur this time, though, none of the remaining five batsmen to fall were out bowled.All 11 Bangladesh batsmen reached double figures in their 508 against West Indies. How often has this happened? asked Chetan Chimanaji Pandit from India
That feat by Bangladesh in the second Test against West Indies in Mirpur over the weekend – their lowest score was the last man Nayeem Hasan’s 12 not out – was the 14th occasion that all 11 batsmen had reached double figures in the same Test innings. The last time was nearly three years ago, when South Africa managed it against England in Johannesburg in January 2016 – although their 313 that day was the lowest innings total involved in any of the cases.The first time it happened was in 1894-95, when all 11 Englishmen made double figures against Australia in Melbourne, in a match England won despite being bowled out for 75 in their first innings.Trevor Chappell averaged only 17.61 in ODIs, despite his 110 against India in the 1983 World Cup•Getty ImagesI read that Yasir Shah is on course to become the fastest bowler to 200 Test wickets. Looking ahead a bit, who was the fastest to 300, and 400? asked David Patterson from England
After his 14-wicket haul in Pakistan’s second Test against New Zealand in Dubai last week, Yasir Shah had 195 wickets in 32 matches. That put him well on course to beat another legspinner, Australia’s Clarrie Grimmett, who reached 200 in his 36th Test, back in 1935-36.After reaching 200, Yasir can set his sights on R Ashwin, who took his 300th wicket in his 54th Test for India, then Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan, who reached 400 in his 72nd match. Murali also led the way to 500 (87 Tests), 600 (101), 700 (113) and 800 (133).Who has the lowest batting average for anyone who scored a Test hundred? Is it Ajit Agarkar? And who holds the record for ODIs? asked Prakash Patel from England
The batting of Ajit Agarkar might be best remembered for his horror run of five successive ducks against Australia in 1999-2000 – but he did hit an unbeaten 109 against England at Lord’s in 2002. And he actually stands a reasonably respectable ninth on this particular list, with an overall Test average of 16.79.The man with the lowest average of any Test centurion is the West Indian fast bowler Jerome Taylor, whose rapid 106 against New Zealand in Dunedin in 2008-09 only lifted his average to 12.96, still well short of the next-worst, Saqlain Mushtaq’s 14.48.Most of the people above Agarkar on the list are tailenders who had one big day with the bat, but two are specialist batsmen: Frank Hayes made 106 not out in his first Test for England, against West Indies at The Oval in 1973, but finished with an average of 15.25. He wasn’t helped that all his nine Tests came against then-mighty West Indies; his next-highest score was 29. And Australia’s Jack Badcock made 118 in an Ashes Test in Melbourne in 1936-37, but never reached double figures in 11 other Test innings, and finished with an average of 14.54.A famous name tops the list for one-day internationals. Australia’s Trevor Chappell averaged only 17.61 in ODIs, despite making 110 against eventual champions India at Trent Bridge during the 1983 World Cup. He’s just ahead of Xavier Marshall of West Indies, who ended with an average of 17.85 despite hammering an undefeated 157 – with a then-record 12 sixes – against Canada in King City in 2008.Use our feedback form or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions
