Also: Moeen Ali’s Ashes distinction, other 3-2 Ashes scorelines, and the oldest living Australian players
Steven Lynch25-Aug-2015How many times has an Ashes series ended up 3-2? asked Martin Palmer from England
This one in 2015 was only the sixth Ashes series to end up 3-2, the first since 1997 when Australia came out on top. That, though, was a six-Test series which also included a draw: the last five-Test Ashes encounter to end up this way was the famous one of 1936-37, when England went 2-0 up but Australia – skippered by Don Bradman – won the last three Tests to pinch the series, a unique feat. The other 3-2s were all in England’s favour, in the 1884-85, 1894-95 and 1903-04 series in Australia.Moeen Ali scored nearly 300 runs in the Ashes series – is this a record for someone who never batted above No. 8? asked Martin Basterfield from England
Moeen Ali’s 293 runs in the 2015 series from No. 8 or 9 has been exceeded only once in the Ashes, by Australia’s Sammy Carter – their wicketkeeper and an idiosyncratic batsman – who made 300 runs in the 1907-08 home series, with a highest score of 66. Carter’s aggregate has been exceeded only twice in any Test series: Shaun Pollock made 302 runs in South Africa’s five home Tests against West Indies in 2000-01, but he was shaded by Harbhajan Singh, who made 315 for India at home against New Zealand in 2010-11. That came from only three Tests: Harbhajan scored his only two Test hundreds, and averaged 105 overall.England won the fourth Test by an innings then lost the fifth by an innings. Has such a turnaround ever happened before? asked Neil Cartwright from England
This seesaw end to the 2015 series was only the second time in Ashes history that the sides had traded innings victories in successive Tests. The other occasion was in 1965-66, when England won the third Test in Sydney by an innings and 93 runs, only for Australia to hit back in Adelaide, winning by an innings and nine. In other series it has happened three times. In India in 1952-53, in Pakistan’s inaugural official Test series, India won the first Test, by an innings in Delhi, only for Pakistan to turn the tables in Lucknow. This also happened in the series between England and West Indies in 1966, and the two-match rubber between India and South Africa in 2009-10.I know Ajinkya Rahane’s eight catches in Galle was a Test best, but was it a first-class record too? asked Mahesh Rahul from India
Ajinkya Rahane’s eight catches in the field in the recent first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle eclipsed the old Test record of seven, first achieved by Greg Chappell for Australia against England in Perth in 1974-75, and later equalled by Yajurvindra Singh (on debut, for India against England in Bangalore in 1976-77), Hashan Tillakaratne (Sri Lanka v New Zealand in Colombo, 1992-93), Stephen Fleming (New Zealand v Zimbabwe in Harare, 1997-98) and Matthew Hayden (Australia v Sri Lanka, also in Galle, in 2003-04). Rahane was the ninth outfielder to take five catches in a Test innings, a record originally set by Chappell’s grandfather, Vic Richardson, against South Africa in Durban in 1935-36. The first-class record, though, is held by Wally Hammond, who was a fine slip fielder as well as a superb batsman. Playing for Gloucestershire against Surrey at Cheltenham in 1928, Hammond took ten catches – eight of them off Charlie Parker – and also scored 139 in the first innings and 143 in the second.Moeen Ali’s 293 runs in Ashes 2015 is the second-highest by a No. 8 or below in an Ashes•Getty ImagesFollowing the sad passing of Arthur Morris, who is Australia’s oldest living Test cricketer? asked Jamie Stewart from Canada
The recent death of Arthur Morris, aged 93, leaves 89-year-old Len Maddocks as Australia’s oldest living Test player. Maddocks, a wicketkeeper from Victoria, played seven Tests during the 1950s. Two of them came in England in 1956: Tony Lock inflicted a pair on him at Headingley, then he provided Jim Laker with two of his 19 wickets in the next match at Old Trafford. In the second innings, Maddocks was the last man out to complete Laker’s ten-wicket haul. Morris’ death means there is now just one survivor from the famous Australian “Invincibles” team of 1948, which was captained by Don Bradman. The last man standing is Neil Harvey, who was only 19 during that tour and is now 86.Kumar Sangakkara played 594 international matches without ever bowling – is that a record? asked Sunit Kumar from Afghanistan
Well, it would have been a record – except that actually Kumar Sangakkara did occasionally have a bowl, sending down 14 overs in Tests in four different innings. Ten of them – for a respectable 34 runs – came at Karachi in 2008-09, as Pakistan amassed 765 for 6 declared. The man who has played the most international matches without ever bowling is Adam Gilchrist, with 396, ahead of Moin Khan (288) and Ian Healy (287). The top non-wicketkeeper is Eoin Morgan, who has played 213 internationals so far without ever turning his arm over. Sangakkara did play more matches (594) than anyone else without taking a wicket: Gilchrist is next, ahead of Herschelle Gibbs, whose one and only over in 361 international matches came as the 11th bowler used when West Indies piled up 747 against South Africa in Antigua in 2004-05.
