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Ask Steven

What's the longest gap between a player's Test and ODI debut?

Also: what's the most common fielder/bowler dismissal in ODIs?

Steven Lynch
Steven Lynch
13-Nov-2018
Brian Close made his Test debut in 1949 and played his first ODI 23 years later, in 1972  •  Getty Images

Brian Close made his Test debut in 1949 and played his first ODI 23 years later, in 1972  •  Getty Images

New Zealand had four scores of 1 in an ODI last week. Was this a record? asked Malcolm Power from New Zealand
New Zealand's total of 209 against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi last Friday included 1s from Kane Williamson, Tom Latham and Trent Boult, and 1 not out from Lockie Ferguson. This was actually the 19th occasion there have been four scores of 1 in the same ODI innings (in only six of the cases were all four batsmen dismissed), but the record is five, by Zimbabwe against Bangladesh in Dhaka in 2004-05.
New Zealand's innings the other day also contained three scores of 13 (by Colin Munro, Tim Southee and Ish Sodhi). I'm indebted to researcher Aslam Siddiqui, who pointed out on the Ask Steven Facebook page that the combination of four 1s and three 13s had actually happened once before - by West Indies against Pakistan in Brisbane in 1981-82.
What's the highest total in ODIs and T20 internationals with no extras at all? asked Asim Mehmood from Pakistan
The highest total in one-day internationals not to include a single extra is India's 265 for 1 against Bangladesh in the Champions Trophy semi-final at Edgbaston in 2017. The only other extra-less total of more than 200 is Scotland's 229 for 3 against UAE in Edinburgh in 2016.
The highest in T20Is is Pakistan's 129 for 7 against Bangladesh in the Asia Cup in Mirpur in March 2016. Four days later in the final, also in Mirpur, Bangladesh's bowlers kept it tight again, conceding no extras in India's winning total of 122 for 2. There are no other totals of more than 90 without any extras in T20Is.
Just to complete the set, the highest Test total without any extras is Pakistan's 328 against India in Lahore in 1954-55.
What's the longest gap between a player's Test debut and his first one-day international? asked Martin Porter from England
The granddaddy of them all is Brian Close, who played his first Test for England in 1949, and made his only three one-day international appearances more than 23 years later in 1972, as stand-in captain for the injured Ray Illingworth. Next comes another Englishman in Norman Gifford, who made his Test debut during the 1964 Ashes and played his only two ODIs nearly 22 years later, in March 1986. Just short of his 45th birthday, Gifford remains the oldest Englishman - and the third-oldest overall - to appear in an ODI.
Close and Gifford both started their Test careers before one-day internationals had been thought of. The longest gap I can find by someone who made his Test debut after 1971, when the first ODI was played, is around eight and a half years, by the New Zealand fast bowler Kerry Walmsley, who won his first Test cap in March 1995 and made his ODI debut in November 2003. John Traicos, who made his Test debut for South Africa in March 1970, shortly before one-day internationals came into being, played his first official ODI - for Zimbabwe - more than 13 years later in June 1983, during the World Cup in England.
Aminul Islam and Akram Khan both made their debuts in Bangladesh's inaugural Test, against India in Dhaka in November 2000. Both had made their official ODI debuts more than 12 years previously - Aminul on October 27, 1988, and Akram two days later. Offspinner Shaun Udal played his first one-day international for England in May 1994, and made his Test debut 11 and a half years later, in November 2005.
What's the most common fielder/bowler dismissal in ODIs? My money's on caught Adam Gilchrist bowled Glenn McGrath! asked Jim Kennedy from Australia
You're very close: c Gilchrist b McGrath is actually second on this particular list, with 72 such dismissals (Gilchrist even added a stumping off McGrath - Craig McMillan of New Zealand in Wellington in 2004-05).
But the most common fielder/bowler combination in ODIs, with 75 victims, is caught Mark Boucher bowled Makhaya Ntini. Boucher is also third on the list, with 61 catches (plus a stumping) off Shaun Pollock.
The leading non-wicketkeeper is Muttiah Muralitharan, who took 35 catches off his own bowling in ODIs. The New Zealander Chris Harris took 29 return catches. Murali then features again: Mahela Jayawardene took 28 catches off his bowling in ODIs.
Who scored the most Test runs as a teenager? asked Anikett Dass from India
It's no great surprise to find Sachin Tendulkar leading the way here. He played 25 Tests while still in his teens, amassing 1522 runs. Mushtaq Mohammad comes next on the list with 868, then Mohammad Ashraful (798) and Parthiv Patel (669), just ahead of Javed Miandad with 655. Daniel Vettori took 54 Test wickets while still in his teens, and Mohammad Amir 51.
Tendulkar's five teenage Test tons is also easily the record: Mushtaq, Javed, Graeme Pollock, Neil Harvey (in only four matches) and Saleem Malik all made two. Javed, though, is the only teenager to score a double-century in a Test, with 206 against New Zealand in Karachi in 1976-77.
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Steven Lynch is the editor of the updated edition of Wisden on the Ashes