Rediff Logo
Line
Channels: Astrology | Broadband | Chat | Contests | E-cards | Money | Movies | Romance | Weather | Wedding | Women
Partner Channels: Auctions | Auto | Bill Pay | Education | Jobs | Lifestyle | TechJobs | Technology | Travel
Line
Home > Cricket > News > Report
December 5, 2000
Feedback  
  sections

 -  News
 -  Betting Scandal
 -  Schedule
 -  Database
 -  Statistics
 -  Interview
 -  Conversations
 -  Columns
 -  Gallery
 -  Broadband
 -  Match Reports
 -  Archives
 -  Search Rediff


 

Ask the experts








The Responses




Statistical Questions


Name: Samuel Rajendran
Question: How many centuries Sourav Ganguly scored in Test cricket (anyone can score in one day cricket so please include Test matches only ). Has he scored any centuries against some cricket playing nations with good bowling like Australia, South Africa, West Indies and Pakistan. What is the number of runs scored in india and outside. Is he worthy enough to be considered as a skillfull batsman. Awaiting your answer. Thanks -

Answer:
Ganguly has scored 7 hundreds in 38 Test matches - 3 v Sri Lanka; 2 each v England and New Zealand.
His Test runs at home: 19 Tests 1281 (avg 45.75) 3 hundreds and 8 fifties
His Test runs away: 19 Tests 1430 (avg 47.67) 4 hundreds and 6 fifties
Total 38 Tests 2711 (avg 46.74) 7 hundreds and 14 fifties



Name: Niren
Question: How many times on overseas tours have top Indian batsmen been dismissed
a) in the slips
b) bowled
c) lbw
d) out to short pitched stuff
e) fishing outside off stump in 5 terms
- to give an indication of the problems Indian batsmen face against fast bowling ?

Answer:
Indian batsmen dismissals in Tests abroad since October 1998 i.e. in the last eight Test matches:
Bowled: 15 (11.28%)
Lbw: 17 (12.78%)
ct by fielder: 73 (54.88%)
ct by wk-kpr: 19 (14.28%)
Ct & bowled: 2 (1.50%)
run-outs: 4 (3.00%)
Stumped: 3 (2.26%)
Total dismissals: 133

Note: Catches constitutes 70.68% of the dismissals while 103 (77.44%) of the dismissals have come against pace bowlers. Australians Glenn McGrath (18 wickets in 3 matches) & Brett Lee (12 in 2), New Zealander Simon Doull (12 in 2) and Australian Damien Fleming (12 in 3) are the main wicket-takers among pace bowlers,while Australian Shane Warne (8 in 3) and Bangladesh off-spinner Naimur Rahman (6 in 1) are the main wicket-takers among spinners.



Name: Thomas Mathew
Question: Has there ever been an instance in cricket history where the runs scored in a particular over had the following sequence of scoring: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. That is one run scored on the first ball, two off the second ball, three of the third ball and so on completing the sequence. If there is, could you provide details.

Answer:
There are no such instances in cricket history. Even if it has occured it has not been recorded anywhere. However six sixes of six balls have been scored twice - by Gary Sobers for Nottinghamshire in 1968 and by Ravi Shastri for Bombay in 1985.



Name: Very Curious
Question: What is tendulkars first class batting average, and how many first class runs has he scored? Also who has the maximum number of first class wickets? and who among contemporary bowlers has the maximum number of first class wickets? Thanks,

Answer:
1. Upto the end of the Nagpur Test match he has scored 13846 runs (avg. 62.09) in 163 first-class matches since 1988-89.
2. Englishman Wilfred Rhodes has the distinction of capturing the maximum wickets in first-class history: 4204 wickets (avg 16.72) from 1898 to 1930.
3. Among contemporary bowlers : South African Allan Donald with over 1100 wickets followed by Englishman Philip deFreitas with over 1050 wickets are the top wicket-takers in first-class cricket.



Name: Harish
Question: After McGrath got 10 for 27 at the Gabba in a test i wanted to know what the most economical spell of bowling with so many wickets has been in a test match

Answer:
The best bowling performances in a Test match where the bowler has captured
10 or more wickets and yet has conceded least runs:
15-28 Johnny Briggs England v South Africa Cape Town 1888-89
11-24 Bert Ironmonger Australia v South Africa Melbourne 1931-32
10-27 Glenn McGrath Australia v West Indies Brisbane 2000-01
11-31 Ernie Toshack Australia v India Brisbane 1947-48




Name: Udayan Bhattacharyya
Question: I always find it bizarre, why Ganguly's first Indian national selection (to Aus in 1991-92) is termed as a failure. As faras I remember he played only one one-day international, and no test matches that series. What is the basis of calling him a failure that series? How many matches did he play, and how many runs did he score in each of the matches he played that series? Also I want to see a comparaion of that stats with Sachin's first series (against Pak, 1989-90) stats. That will be interesting. Thank you.

Answer:
Tendulkar scored a second ball duck in the only match of his maiden ODI series against Pakistan in December 1989, while Ganguly scored three runs off 13 balls against the West Indies in January 1992. Statistically Ganguly's performance is better than Tendulkar. It was rumoured that Ganguly's attitude off and on the field during the tour which did not gain him a place in the side from 1992 to 1996.
Perhaps as a Ganguly fan you may not agree.



Name: Simon Thangasamy
Question: Hi, I am very interesting the current and recent past of openers in one day internationals. Would you be able to give a statistical summary of success of current one day opening pairs by runs scored, average partnership and strike rates. Also, who in your opinion is the best opening pair in terms of consistency, good scoring, able to play different wickets and sheer entertainment ? This is all very intersting and I hope you can provide the necessary stats and info. Thanks for your time. Simon

Answer:
The top openers in ODIs without doubt are: the West Indians Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes. They have opened the innings of 102 occasions while aggregating 5150 runs @ 52.55 runs every innings. They have put on 15 100-plus partnerships. Following them are the Indians Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar with 4309 runs in 93 innings @ 47.35 runs every innings. They have 11 100-plus partnerships for the opening wicket.



Name: Srinivasan Renganathan
Question: 1.When and who was the first bowler to take a wicket in the game of cricket
2. Who was the frst to score a run in the game of cricket.

Answer:
This is a difficult question to answer because till today the cricket historians are not certain when and where did cricket actually begin. There are many versions to this. The first game of which some scores are available was the match between Kent v All England in June 18, 1744 and the first known scoresheet available was of the match between Duke Dorset's XI and Wrotham on August 31, 1769.



Name: Chandra Kakaraparti
Question: Who scored the fastest double century in Test Cricket as well as in One Dayers. Thanks, Chandra.

Answer:
The fastest double-hundred in Test in terms of minutes:
by Australian Don Bradman which came in 214 minutes during his innings of 334 against England at Leeds in 1930 in terms of balls (where recorded): by Englishman Ian Botham in 220 balls during his innings of 208 against India at The Oval in 1982

(Note: Bradman during his above innings could have taken lesser number of balls than Botham. However no details are available)



Name: Ravi Sankar
Question: Which test match recorded the maximum number of centuries from both the sides?

Answer:
Seven Test hundreds each were recorded By England and Australia at Nottingham in 1938 and by West Indies and Australia at Kingston in 1954-55



General Queries

Name: Spinster
Question: When is BCCI going to die natural death?

Answer: A natural death is when the heart stops beating. The BCCI does not possess that particular organ -- therefore, chances of its dying a 'natural death' are nil.



Name: Mahesh Chandrasekharan
Question: I as a off-spinner used a gentle out swinger as my wrong one but it has worked as many times Ajit Agarkar has scored a century or picked up 5 wickets! How is the off-spinners "Wrong 'un" or the Saqlain's "Doosra" bowled?

Answer: While we don't know how Saqlain bowls his Doosra, you could try this: First, practise bowling from very close to the stumps, so that if you don't impart spin, the ball should go through in a straight line onto off stump. Once you have that line mastered, try bowling the odd ball with the arm a fraction wider, so that the angle of delivery makes it 'go' the other way. A bit of overspin imparted to the ball helps the illusion of the 'wrong 'un' along.



Name: Sunder Iyer
Question: I hear a lot about reverse-swing and how long it took bowlers to master the art. What exactly is reverse-swing and how is it acheived?

Answer: About four years ago, Rediff had done a feature on the art of swing bowling, that will answer your questions. Here is the link, and if you have any further questions, do get in touch.
Secrets of Swing



Name: SquareCut
Question: As far as I know, a "Googly" bowled by a left-hander is called a "Bossie". What's the name of the wrong one (a leg break) bowled by a right handed off-spinner with no change in action ?

Answer: The wrong one from the off spinner was not really a cricketing phenomenon till very recently, when Saqlain began bowling it regularly. Masters of the past, like EAS Prasanna, would use deceptive angles on the crease, and of the bowling arm, to create the impression of one 'going' the other way, but no one really turned it like a leg break. Experts tell us that the off spinners leg break -- in the sense of the ball that genuinely turns away from off stump -- can only be bowled back of the hand, and would therefore be effective mostly against batsman who read spin off the deck, and not out of the hand. One way or the other, no one has named the off spinner's 'googly' yet -- you just might see the 'Doosra' become the official label for the ball.



Name: V MAHDEVAN
Question: i have a question regarding the implementation of the lbw law... consider 2 different cases... case 1... the ball pitches in line... satisfying all criteria to be given out... but the batsman plays forward... and is given the benefit(most times) ... case 2... te ball pitches in exactly the same spot as that mentioned in case 1. but in this case... the batsman is sweeping... i think there's a greater likelihood of the umpire gviving the batsman out ... my question is.. why are umpires biased against batsmen hitting across the line... ? as an example. i quote mark boucher's dismissal in the last test against nz... given out sweeping by umpire jaiprakash... im sure he wouldnt have been given out if he was playing with a straighter bat...(incidently, i think jaiprakash is awful as an umpire!!!)subroto porel is by far the best umpire in india after venkat....

Answer: One simple reason for this is that when you are playing forward, your front foot extends down the pitch far more than when you are playing the sweep. When the ball meets pad with the batsman having taken a good long stride forward, the umpire needs to make one heck of a call: one, what angle is the ball bowled at when it hits pad, and two, given the distance still to go, can he say for certain that had the stumps not intervened, the ball would have hit the stumps, or is it possible that the angle, and the distance still to be travelled, would take the ball past the stumps? On the sweep, the front foot is not extended as far down the track, which means the ball has less of a distance to travel, which in turn makes the umpire's call easier to make.



Name: Chirag Patel
Question: Since Nayan Mongia is aquitted by the Madhavan report, how strong are his chances of coming back to the team to replace Vijay Dahiya who presently is doing a good job ?

Answer: The fact that you are cleared of match-fixing does not, ipso facto, entitle you to a place in the Indian team. Mongia has had a bad run of late, Dahiya by contrast has done very well with the gloves in both forms of the game, and there are a couple of young guys waiting in the wings. Given all that, chances seem dim that Mongia will make it back to the squad.



Name: Vicky
Question: Do You think Tendulkar and Ganguly doesn't know that azhar had relations with bookies when he was playing under their capitancy?. why did sachin stay calm for all this period?

Answer: As far as we know, Sachin Tendulkar has on at least two occasions reported to the board his dissatisfaction with Mohammad Azharuddin. You will probably remember that when he was asked to lead India against Australia last year, he said he would take the job only on condition that Azhar was not part of the squad. At the time, a sizeable section of the media and the fans both accused him of playing politics. So maybe the right question to ask is, why didn't we -- the board, the media, the fans -- see the signals and listen to him then?



Name: Raj
Question: my question is..if u are a fielder fielding on the boundary...and u make a catch in midair outside the ropes,but haven't touched the ground, and throw it back for another fielder to catch it, is it considered a catch and will be batsman be given out?

Answer: If you are capable of flying outside the boundary and making that kind of catch, we would suggest that you try out for the Olympics gymnastic team -- we just might get our elusive first gold medal. But jokes aside, if you can get the ball back before you ground your feet outside the line, and the fielder who completes the catch is inside the legal playing area, the umpire would need to give the batsman out.



Name: R Khanna
Question: If there is a situation where the Bowler bowls the bowl and batsman on strike hits the ball back to the bowler and the bowler catches it........but notices that the non-striker has backed up too much and throws the ball at the non-strikers stumps to hit it and the non-striker hasn't made his ground....who is out and does the fielding team have a choice of who can be out??? Because the bowler was in control of his catch..to term it as out and yet he hits the stump and runs out the none striker.

Answer: In this instance, the dismissal would have to be deemed complete once the bowler had completed the catch -- which is defined as getting the ball entirely in his control. Once that was done, the batsman was effectively out, the ball is now dead and therefore anything you do with it from that point on would not be valid. You can't, though, have a cricketing buffet where you get to pick which batsman you want the umpire to dismiss.



Name: Alok Rakyan
Question: At the point of delivery , the bowler accidentaly knocks off the bails ( at the bowlers end)with his arm( follow thru) or kicks the stupms with his legs , dislodging the bails and the ball actually gets the striking batsman out, what is the result? is it out or is a no ball or a dead ball??

Answer: If the ball gets the striking batsman out, he is out, period. The bails having been accidentally knocked over make no difference to that decision.



Previous Questions -   Page: 2 3 4

Mail Cricket Editor