Ask The Spider #55

Who has scored most Test wickets without a 10w match haul?

Surprisingly, this distinction falls to Bob Willis, whose best match figures were nine for 92 (this was not at Headingley in 1981, where he had only taken 0 for 72 in the first innings). Second place is a bit of a surprise too – Brett Lee stands on 310 Test wickets without a ten-fer.

And the most Test career wickets without a 5wI?

Mike Hendrick (England) took 87 Test wickets with a best of four for 28.

Has any player ever scored 2,000 runs in an English domestic season without a century?

Lancashire opener David Green scored 2037 runs in 35 matches in the 1965 season, including 14 fifties with a highest score of 85.

Which Englishman has scored most runs in Ashes Tests?

Sir Jack Hobbs scored 3636 runs at 54.26, notching 12 centuries in 41 Ashes Tests.

And who has taken most Ashes wickets for England?

Ian Botham leads the list wth 148 Aussie victims in 36 Tests, at a cost of 27.65 per wicket. In both batting and bowling categories, however, Australian players lead the all-time lists – Don Bradman scored 5028 runs at 89.78, and Shane Warne took 172 wickets at 22.30.

When was the first occasion that a team won a First Class match without conceding a wicket?

In 1956, Lancashire beat Leicestershire by 10 wickets without conceding a single wicket.

West Indies’ Andy Ganteaume has the highest ever Test average, with 112 in his only Test innings. Has anyone else produced a century in their only Test?

Yes, New Zealand’s Rodney Redmond scored 107 and 56 in his only Test against Pakistan at Christchurch, 1972-73.