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Time is of the essence
Wisden CricInfo staff - March 22, 2002

Sunday, March 24, 2002

The column in which our database director answers your queries, large or small, about the history of the game

  • Was Astle's innings the fastest double-century in Tests in terms of time?
  • Has anyone taken a debut one-day five-for?
  • The oldest Test double-centurion
  • When did MCC become England?
  • Ranji's double feat
  • The oldest Test cricketer

    Was Nathan Astle's recent Test double-century the fastest in terms of time as well as balls faced? asks Gerry Hart

    Although Astle's amazing onslaught took him to 200 in 153 balls - by far the fastest using that yardstick - it took him 217 minutes to reach his double-century, three minutes slower than the Test record. That was set by Don Bradman, at Headingley in 1930, when he took only 214 minutes to reach 200 against England. The number of balls he faced isn't recorded - keeping tally of them has only generally been recorded since the mid-1960s, and even then there are lots of gaps - but we do know that The Don faced a total of 436 balls in his whole innings, which ended early on the second day when he was out for 334.

    Has anyone ever taken five wickets in an innings in their first one-day international? asks Suresh

    Only five people have managed this. The first one was Uvais Karnain, of Sri Lanka, who took 5 for 26 against New Zealand at Moratuwa in 1983-84. He ripped out Nos. 2-6 in New Zealand's order - Bruce Edgar, Geoff Howarth, Lance Cairns and the Crowe brothers - to set up a 41-run victory, Earlier he had smashed 28 off 24 balls. Karnain went on to play 19 ODIs, but no Tests. He later had a spell as a national selector. The second bowler was Tony Dodemaide, the Australian allrounder who played for Victoria and Sussex. He made his ODI debut against Sri Lanka at Perth in 1987-88, and took 5 for 21. That was on Jan 2, 1988, in a match played three days after Dodemaide's Test debut - in which he scored 50 and took 6 for 58. He is now MCC's head of cricket at Lord's. The most famous bowler to do it was Allan Donald, who claimed 5 for 29 (Shastri, Sidhu, Manjrekar, Tendulkar, Amre) for South Africa v India at Calcutta in 1991-92, in South Africa's first official international match for almost 22 years. More recently it has been achieved by Colin Stuart (5 for 44, West Indies v Kenya, Nairobi, Aug 2001) and Charitha Buddika (5 for 67, Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe, Sharjah, Oct 2001).

    I think I've read that Jack Hobbs was the oldest person to score a Test century. Was he the oldest to score a Test double-century too? asks Hayden Gaskell

    Hobbs is indeed the oldest man to score a Test century - he was 46 years 82 days old when he scored 142 for England v Australia at Melbourne in 1928-29. But Hobbs lies only second on the list of oldest Test double-centurions. He was 41 years 197 days old when he made 211 against South Africa at Lord's in 1924 - but South Africa's Eric Rowan was seven days past his 42nd birthday when he managed 236 against England at Headingley in 1951. Just to complete the set Andy Sandham - Hobbs's long-time opening partner for Surrey - was the oldest Test triple-centurion. He was three months short of his 40th birthday when he completed his 325 for England v West Indies at Kingston in 1929-30, in what turned out to be his last Test match.

    How long is it since England teams were called MCC when they played tour games outside Test matches? asks Geoffrey Collins from New Zealand

    From 1903-04, when the Marylebone Cricket Club assumed responsibility for organising England's overseas tours, the team was known as England in Test matches (and later one-day internationals) but MCC when they played what would now be called warm-up games against provincial or state sides. The Test & County Cricket took over the running of the tours after it was set up in 1968, but the teams retained the old naming convention and still wore the MCC touring colours (sweaters trimmed with red, yellow and navy blue). In 1976-77 England were touring India, and MCC sent a club side to Bangladesh at roughly the same time. There was a certain amount of confusion in Bangladesh, with many fans thinking they were getting the full England team. The following winter the name was changed, and from the 1977-78 tour of Pakistan and New Zealand England's team has been billed as "England XI" in all matches outside Tests or ODIs.

    Has anyone ever scored two first-class centuries on the same day? asks Lalchand Mukherjee

    The only person to do this is KS Ranjitsinhji - the famous prince Ranji, after whom India's domestic competition is named. Ranjitsinhji, who played for England in the days before India achieved Test status, scored 100 and 125 not out for Sussex against Yorkshire at Hove on August 22, 1896. He had gone in to bat the night before, but was 0 not out at the close of play.

    Who was the oldest man to play Test cricket? asks Christopher Canning

    Only four 50-year-olds have played Test cricket - and two of them were in the same side. Against West Indies in 1929-30, England included Wilfred Rhodes and George Gunn. Rhodes, who was 52 years 165 days old on the final day of the match (which was left drawn after nine days when England had to leave to catch the boat home), remains the oldest Test cricketer, and Gunn was 50 years 303 days old himself. Rhodes's Test career - 30 years 315 days - is the longest on record. Neatly, he made his debut in 1899, in the last match for Test cricket's first 50-year-old, WG Grace. The other half-centurion was Australia's Bert Ironmonger. Apart from Rhodes and Gunn, England's side in that 1929-30 Test included three 40-year-olds (Ewart Astill and Nigel Haig, both 42, and Patsy Hendren, 41) as well as Andy Sandham, who was three months short of his 40th birthday. The captain, Freddie Gough-Calthorpe, was 37. I think it's safe to assume that it wasn't the zippiest fielding side that England have ever had.

  • If you have a question, e-mail it to steven.lynch@wisden.com. We can't normally enter into individual correspondence, but a selection of questions and answers will be published here each week

    More Ask Steven columns
    March 17, 2002
    March 10, 2002
    March 3, 2002

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