And which cricketer was nicknamed Lady Boom Boom?
Steven Lynch29-Nov-2022I see the record for the highest List A score has been broken again. Who was the first to score a double-century in a one-day game? asked David Randall from Scotland
The recent innings of 277 by Tamil Nadu’s Narayan Jagadeesan, against Arunachal Pradesh in Bengaluru on November 21, elbowed the 268 of Alistair Brown (for Surrey vs Glamorgan at The Oval in 2002) down to second place on this list. It was Jagadeesan’s fifth successive century in List A matches, another record.That huge innings was the 38th double-century so far in all List A matches worldwide. Eight have come in one-day internationals (three by Rohit Sharma). The first in any List A match was by the great South African left-hander Graeme Pollock, who hammered an unbeaten 222 in a Gillette Cup match for Eastern Province against Border in East London in 1974-75. “The opposition captain cocked up his arithmetic,” Pollock told Ian Chappell. “He finished up with a couple of non-bowlers and I made 74 off the last four overs.”Do you know what crest the East Africa team used on their blazers for the 1975 World Cup? And did they have a flag? asked Jason Cumming from Australia
We managed to track down a photograph of the East African squad arriving at Edgbaston in Birmingham for one of their World Cup matches in 1975 (they lost all three fairly comfortably, to New Zealand, England and India. The picture shows the team’s blazers fairly well. The man on the extreme right is Don Pringle, the father of the later England allrounder Derek. I asked him what he remembered of the team’s exploits: “I don’t remember the blazer at all, and certainly can’t recall a flag,” said Derek. “The blazer badge looks like it might depict the national birds of Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia around an outline of Africa.”I haven’t been able to track down the flag they used, if indeed there was one (Wikipedia has a picture of what I think is a later version). Generally speaking, that East African team is something of a mystery. The Association of Cricket Statisticians has no details at all on two of the squad – Hamish McLeod and Praful Mehta – and only years of birth for four of the others (Shiraz Sumar, Sam Walusimbi, Yunus Badat and Zulfiqar Ali). I was told recently that the Indian-born slow left-armer PG Nana died a few years ago, but no official record of this has come to light. So if there’s anyone out there who can fill the gaps – or identify the flag – then please let me know!What’s the highest partnership by two players appearing in their only Test? And what’s the highest by two debutants (who might later have played again)? asked Martin Power from Australia
The highest stand in Tests by a pair of one-cap wonders is a modest 53, by Derbyshire’s William Chatterton and Victor Barton of Hampshire, for England against South Africa in Cape Town in 1891-92. The Cape Times recorded that “Enthusiastic cheers followed the downfall of the Derbyshire crack” (Chatterton) for 48, while Barton “had shown some magnificent hitting, having slashed up 23 in 25 minutes”. That was the only Test of what was essentially a private tour, and neither man came terribly close to England selection again. The second-highest – and the only other stand of more than 24 – is 49 by Takudzwanashe Kaitano and Dion Myers for Zimbabwe against Bangladesh in Harare in July 2021. It’s quite likely that one or both of them will play another Test (Myers is still only 20), which would remove them from this list.The highest partnership by two men in their first Test dates back to 1964-65, when Khalid “Billy” Ibadulla (who went on to 166) and wicketkeeper Abdul Kadir (95) put on 249 for Pakistan’s first wicket against Australia in Karachi. The record came under threat early last year, when Nkrumah Bonner and Kyle Mayers added 216 for the fourth wicket as West Indies chased down 395 to beat Bangladesh in Chattogram.The highest stand in a country’s inaugural Test is 165, by Dave Houghton and Andy Flower for Zimbabwe’s sixth wicket against India in Harare in 1992-93. For the full list of the highest partnerships by debutants, click here.
Great day out in the Valletta Cup 2022
Hit my 2nd Century for the National Team scoring 115 off 59 balls with 7 4s and 8 6s against Bulgaria National Cricket Team.
Also being the highest runs scorer in a match for Czech Cricket pic.twitter.com/2b6dOjKNFl
— Sabawoon Davizi (@SabawoonDavizi) May 12, 2022
I notice that a Czech Republic player has scored three T20I hundreds! How many people have done this? asked Sasha Donkic from Prague
You’re right that the Czech Republic left-hander Sabawoon Davizi, who was born in Afghanistan, has scored three centuries in T20I – 101 against Malta in Marsa in his second such match in October 2019; 115 not out against Bulgaria, also in Marsa, in May 2022; and 111 not out against Austria at home in Vinor in July 2022.Two other men have made three centuries in T20Is – Glenn Maxwell of Australia and New Zealand’s Colin Munro – but the overall leader is India’s Rohit Sharma, who has so far scored four. Six women have scored two.In all T20 games, the one and only Chris Gayle is way clear of the field with 22 hundreds. Next, with eight, come a trio of Australians: Aaron Finch, Michael Klinger and David Warner.I know that Shahid Afridi was nicknamed “Boom Boom”. But who is “Lady Boom Boom”? asked Jalil Mohammad from Pakistan
My first thought was that it might be Shahid Afridi’s wife, Nadia… but actually it is the Pakistan women’s player Nida Dar. She apparently earned the nickname as her attacking play reminded some of Afridi’s explosive exploits.Nida Dar, whose father was also a first-class cricketer, has so far played 96 one-day internationals and 124 T20s for Pakistan, scoring more than 3,000 runs and taking 207 wickets with her off-breaks.Shiva Jayaraman of ESPNcricinfo’s stats team helped with some of the above answers.Use our feedback form, or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions
