I was looking at the scorecard for Nathan Astle's 222 against England in 2001-02, and he scored 139 in one session. Is this a record? asked James Langley from New Zealandin Christchurch in 2001-02, Nathan Astle had scored 83 at tea on the fourth day. New Zealand were 270 for 6 after 72 overs then, but in 21 more after the interval, Astle hurtled to 222 before his dismissal ended the match (England won by 98 runs with more than a day to spare). The records aren't entirely complete in this area, but I'm reasonably certain that the individual record for any session of a Test was set by Denis Compton, who scored 173 between lunch and tea on the second day for England against Pakistan at Trent Bridge in 1954. "Compton sent the bowling to all parts of the field with a torrent of strokes, orthodox and improvised, crashing and delicate, against which Kardar could not set a field and the bowlers knew not where to pitch," enthused Wisden. He was eventually out for 278, his highest Test score.I've seen the records for most runs and wickets in a calendar year. But which wicketkeeper has taken the most catches in a year in Tests and ODIs? asked Phil MatthewsI'm not sure I've ever seen those records either, and as it turns out it's very tight at the top, in Test cricket at least: the record is 67, set by Australia's Ian Healy in 1993 (58 caught, nine stumped) and equalled by Mark Boucher of South Africa in 1998 (65 caught, two stumped). Adam Gilchrist of Australia came close in 2004, with 66 Test dismissals (58 caught, eight stumped). Next is Healy again, with 59 in 1997. The most stumpings in a calendar year is 11, by Australia's Hanson Carter in 1921. Gilchrist does hold the record for one-day internationals, though, with 65 dismissals in 1999 (56 caught, nine stumped). That same year, which included a World Cup in England, Ridley Jacobs of West Indies made 60 dismissals (54 caught, six stumped). There have been five other instances of a keeper making 50 ODI dismissals in a year, two more by Gilchrist (56 in 2003 and 55 in 2002), two by Moin Khan of Pakistan (56 in 2000 and 51 in 1999), and one by South Africa's Mark Boucher (57 in 2000).Who had to wait the longest from his debut for his first Test wicket? asked Keith Pritchard from EnglandIf you're talking in terms of time, then the longest wait for a maiden Test wicket was just under 14 years, by the greatPakistan batsman Zaheer Abbas. He made his debut in October 1969 but took the first of what turned out to be three Test wickets in Jullundur in September 1983. Zaheer took that first wicket - India's Roger Binny - in his 60th match, giving him a share of that record among non-wicketkeepers with Gundappa Viswanath (Mark Boucher took his first wicket in his 84th Test, and Syed Kirmani in his 72nd). And I'm indebted to the Melbourne statistician Charles Davis for the information that the most balls bowled before a maiden Test wicket is 651, by AG Kripal Singh of India - an offspinning allrounder (although not a very successful one), he finally struck in the tenth innings in which he had bowled, to dismiss England's Geoff Pullar in Delhi in 1961-62.What's the most runs anyone has made in a Test without getting out? asked Master James Corcoran from LondonThat's a nice simple one, since when Brian Lara scored his Test-record 400, for West Indies against England in St John's in 2003-04, he wasn't out. Only two other men have ever scored more runs than that in a Test - Graham Gooch 456 (333 and 123) in 1990, and Mark Taylor (334 not out and 92 in 1994-95). The most runs in two not-out innings in the same Test is 363, by Stephen Fleming, who made 274 and 69 - both undefeated - for New Zealand against Sri Lanka in Colombo in April 2003. And the only man to make two not-out centuries in the same Test is Aravinda de Silva, who scored 138 and 103, without being dismissed in either innings, for Sri Lanka against Pakistan in Colombo in April 1997.Further to last week's question, what's the worst Test average by any specialist bowler? asked Michael CrossI can see by some other emails that I confused a few people with last week's answer, which was talking about people who had played in a minimum of 50 Test matches. If you open it up to all specialist bowlers, regardless of the number of Tests played, then the worst average among those who took 20 or more wickets is 76.95, by the England legspinner Ian Salisbury (20 wickets in 15 Tests). But Salisbury will probably be relieved to learn that he's in some danger of losing this unwanted record: the Bangladesh fast bowler Rubel Hossain currently has 23 wickets in 15 Tests at an average of 74.70. If you raise the qualification to 50 wickets, then the worst average is owned by Mohammad Sami of Pakistan (85 wickets at 52.74); Shahadat Hossain of Bangladesh (51.90) is the only other one above 50. And if you cut things off at 100 wickets, the worst average is the West Indian Carl Hooper's 49.43 (114 wickets in 102 matches): if you don't consider him a specialist bowler, next comes the South African slow left-armer Nicky Boje (100 at 42.65).
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