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One day, two tons
Wisden CricInfo staff - August 9, 2001

The column in which our database director answers your queries, large or small, about the history of the game. If you have a question for Steven Lynch, e-mail him at steven.lynch@wisden.com

Test centuries on the same day

Captaining England on debut

John Edrich - Runs in the Family

The prolific Glenn Turner

Indians born outside India

Young Test captains

Has anyone ever scored two centuries on the same day in a Test? asks Phil Smith

No, no-one has ever managed this. In fact only one person has scored two fifties on the same day of a Test � Monty Noble, an Australian allrounder from the turn of the last century. He scored 60, and 59 not out of his eventual 89, on the second day of the Old Trafford Test of 1899. KS Ranjitsinhji, the Indian prince who played for England, was also playing in that 1899 match. Three years earlier, batting for Sussex against Yorkshire at Hove, he had become the only man ever to score two centuries on the same day in a first-class match, with 100 and 125 not out.

Who was the last man to captain England on his Test debut? asks Gary Metcalfe

It was Tony Lewis, the former Glamorgan batsman who later became the BBC TV's cricket anchorman. Lewis was chosen as captain for the tour of India and New Zealand in 1972-73, after Ray Illingworth (who had been in charge during the 1972 Ashes series) said he was unavailable to tour. Lewis skippered in all eight Tests of that tour, and did quite well � he hit 70 not out in his first Test, which England won, and 125 at Kanpur in his fourth, which was drawn. But England lost the series 2-1, and drew all three Tests in Pakistan. Illingworth returned as captain for the 1973 season, with Lewis in the side for the first Test against New Zealand. But he scored only 2 and 2, lost his place, and never won it back after a knee injury restricted his mobility.

I've had a quiz question I can't find out the answer to � "Which cricketer's autobiography is called Runs In the Family? Can you help? asks Chris McGowan

It's the autobiography of John Edrich, the gritty Surrey left-hander who played 79 Tests for England. The "family" part of the title is a reference to the famous Edrich family, of which John is a member. His cousin, W.J. (Bill), was Denis Compton's able sidekick in the fabulous summer of 1947, when both of them passed the previous record for runs in a season. Three of Bill's brothers also played first-class cricket, and the Edriches sometimes fielded a family XI against other clubs in Norfolk. Edrich's book was ghosted by David Frith, the founder-editor of Wisden Cricket Monthly, who pointed out to me once that the book was published in 1969 on the same day that Neil Armstrong became the first man to set foot on the Moon.

I seem to remember Glenn Turner scoring a huge percentage of Worcestershire's total in a match in the late 1970s. Can you give me any more details? asks Peter Cuddington

The match you're thinking of was Worcestershire's County Championship game against Glamorgan at Swansea in 1977. Turner opened and carried his bat for 141 in a total of 169 � that's a record 83.40% of the innings total. The next-highest score was 7, by Norman Gifford.

How many Indian Test players have been born outside India? asks Suresh

Excluding pre-Partition players who were born in what is now Pakistan, there seem have been four. Lall Singh, a batsman who played in India's inaugural Test at Lord's in 1932, was born in Malaya. Salim Durani, the charismatic 1960s allrounder, first saw the light of day in Kabul, Afghanistan's capital. Ashok Gandotra, who played two Tests as a batsman in 1969-70, started life in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. Robin Singh, the combative allrounder who played 136 ODIs but only one Test, was born in Trinidad.

When Javed Miandad first captained Pakistan, was he the youngest member of the team? asks Tariq Iqbal

Master batsman turned Wisden Online columnist Javed Miandad first captained Pakistan against Australia at Karachi in 1979-80 (and won by seven wickets). He was almost 23 at the time. Although he was Pakistan's youngest captain, and the third-youngest in Test history (after the Nawab of Pataudi junior of India, and Australia's Ian Craig), Javed wasn't the youngest member of that particular side � Tauseef Ahmed, who was making his Test debut in that game (and took seven wickets) was almost a year younger. However, the following year against West Indies at home, Javed was twice the youngest player in his side, in the Tests at Karachi and Multan. Initial research suggests there have been 19 instances at Test level of the captain being the youngest member of the side: by South Africa's Herbie Taylor (one match in 1912), the Nawab of Pataudi junior (five matches between 1961-62 and 1963-64), Javed Miandad (the two matches mentioned above), Kapil Dev (India v Pakistan, Bangalore 1983-84), Hansie Cronje (four matches between Jan 1994 and March 1995) and Sachin Tendulkar (six Tests between Oct 1996 and Dec 1997).

If you have a question on any aspect of cricket e-mail it to our database director at steven.lynch@wisden.com. A selection of the questions and answers will be published in the Ask Steven column. We cannot answer every question, and individual correspondence cannot be entered into

More Ask Steven columns
August 2001
July 2001

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