And have twins ever dismissed each other before in a match?
Steven Lynch01-Oct-2019Sunil Gavaskar holds the record for most runs in his debut Test series. Who holds the record for most wickets in his first series? And which bowler holds the record for best return on ODI debut? asked Abhinav from the United States
Two Australian fast bowlers lead the way when it comes to the most wickets in a debut Test series. Terry Alderman took 42 wickets in England in 1981, beating by one the 41 of Rodney Hogg in the 1978-79 Ashes in Australia. Both of those were six-match series: the record for a five-Test rubber on debut is 36 wickets, by the Australian legspinner Arthur Mailey against England in 1920-21. Colin Croft came close with 33 in his maiden series, for West Indies against Pakistan in 1976-77.The record for a four-Test debut series is 33 wickets, by Alf Valentine in England in 1950. Sonny Ramadhin lies third, with 26 wickets in that same series: the West Indian spin twins are separated by the England fast bowler Fred Trueman, who took 29 against India at home in 1952.And the most in a three-Test series on debut is 26 wickets, by the Sri Lankan mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis, at home to India in 2008. That broke the long-standing record of England’s Alec Bedser, who took 24 against India at home in 1946.Two bowlers have taken six wickets in an innings in their first one-day international. Fidel Edwards collected 6 for 22 on debut for West Indies against Zimbabwe in Harare in 2003-04, and Kagiso Rabada improved on that with 6 for 16 – including a hat-trick in his second over – against Bangladesh in Mirpur in 2015.Have three brothers ever played in the same first-class fixture? asked Tom Curran on Twitter
The background to this is that Ben Curran, the brother of the Surrey and England pair Tom and Sam Curran, plays for Northamptonshire – and they have just won promotion, so will play against Surrey in Division One of the County Championship next season.The answer is that there have been several first-class matches with three (or even more) brothers playing, although admittedly that has usually been for the same side. There have even been three instances in Tests: WG, EM and GF Grace for England against Australia at The Oval in 1880; Alec and George Hearne played for England, and their brother Frank for South Africa, in Cape Town in 1891-92 (a cousin also played); and Hanif, Mushtaq and Sadiq Mohammad for Pakistan against New Zealand in Karachi in 1969-70 (it was Hanif’s 55th and last Test, and Sadiq’s first).But the Currans may have the chance of repeating one of county cricket’s oddest scorecard entries, from a Championship match at Lord’s in 1933: the Middlesex batsman Harry Lee was caught by his brother Frank off the bowling of another brother, Jack, who were playing for Somerset. The scorecard thus read “HW Lee c FS Lee b JW Lee 82”. Harry later wrote: “I do not believe that brothers had ever before behaved so unbrotherly in a first-class game.”I’m guessing that Don Bradman has the best ratio of innings to hundreds in Tests. But who’s next? asked James Sullivan from England
Don Bradman turned 36.25% of his Test innings – 29 out of 80 – into hundreds, and you’re right to assume that is the best percentage in Tests, given a minimum of ten centuries. The next best is 25% by the West Indian George Headley (40 innings, ten centuries). Next comes Steve Smith, who currently has 26 centuries from 124 innings, or just under 21%.Matt Parkinson dismissed his twin, Leicestershire’s Callum Parkinson, lbw in the first innings, only to have him return the favour in Lancashire’s first innings•Getty ImagesThe Parkinson twins dismissed each other in a recent County Championship match. Has this ever happened before? asked Paul Melville from England
The Lancashire legspinner Matt Parkinson celebrated his call-up for England’s tour of New Zealand by dismissing his identical twin brother, Leicestershire’s Callum Parkinson, in the final round of 2019 County Championship matches at Grace Road last week. Callum, who’s a slow left-armer, got his revenge by dismissing Matt, also lbw, when Lancashire batted.This was the first time twins had dismissed each other in a first-class match. The only other instance of a twin getting his brother out that I could remember happened in the Varsity Match at Lord’s in 1982, when Oxford University’s Jonathan Varey dismissed his twin brother, David, of Oxford.But the ever-alert members of the Association of Cricket Statisticians have unearthed another instance: in a match in Kaluthara in 2016-17, Duvindu Tillakaratne of Badureliya had his twin (and fellow left-arm spinner), Ravindu Tillakaratne, stumped for four. They are the sons of the former Sri Lankan captain Hashan Tillakaratne.Oman were all out for 24 in an international match earlier this year. Was this some sort of record? asked James McDonald from Scotland
The match you’re talking about was in Al Amerat in February: Scotland skittled Oman for 24. It wasn’t actually an official one-day international, as Oman don’t have the required status, but it was the fourth-lowest total in any List A (senior one-day) game, as this list shows. Remarkably, the very next day, also in Al Amerat, Oman turned the tables, scoring 248 for 8 and beating Scotland by 93 runs.The lowest List A total of all is 18, when West Indies Under-19 took their name a bit too literally against Barbados in Blairmont in Guyana in October 2007.Use our feedback form or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions
