And is Lhuan-dre Pretorius South Africa’s youngest centurion?
Steven Lynch08-Jul-2025Was Jamie Smith’s score at Edgbaston the highest in a Test by anyone at No. 7? asked Richard Boyce from England
That rapid 184 not out by Jamie Smith in the second Test at Edgbaston last week was the highest by an England wicketkeeper (previously Alec Stewart’s 173 against New Zealand in Auckland in January 1997), and also the highest by any England No. 7, beating the 175 of KS Ranjitsinhji against Australia in Sydney in December 1897.Overall, there have been 14 higher Test scores by wicketkeepers than Smith’s 184, and just five higher from No. 7.Smith was only the ninth England batter to score a century before lunch in a Test, joining his team-mate Ben Duckett on that list. England’s total of 407 at Edgbaston was the highest to include six ducks, surpassing Bangladesh’s 365 against Sri Lanka in Mirpur in May 2022, and the lowest to include a partnership of 300 or more (Smith and Harry Brook added 303 for the sixth wicket). That was previously West Indies’ 431 against Australia in Kingston in March 1999, when Brian Lara (213) and Jimmy Adams (94) put on 322 for the fifth wicket.Just to round off the Edgbaston stats fest, Shubman Gill’s 269 was the highest by an Indian captain in a Test, beating Virat Kohli’s 254 not out against South Africa in Pune in October 2019, while only his team-mate Karun Nair had made a higher score for India against England – his 303 not out in Chennai in December 2016.I heard that Lhuan-dre Pretorius was the youngest to score a Test century for South Africa. Who’s the youngest worldwide? asked Carter McKenzie from South Africa
Lhuan-dre Pretorius was just 19 years 93 days old when he scored 153 on debut for South Africa against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo last week. He took the South African record from another precocious left-hander, Graeme Pollock, who was 19 years 334 days old when he made 122 against Australia in Sydney in January 1964.Pretorius moves into tenth place on the overall list of youngest Test century-makers, which is headed by Mohammad Ashraful of Bangladesh: he was 17 years and 63 days old when he made 114 on debut against Sri Lanka in Colombo in September 2001. (Some sources give him an even later birth date, which would make him 16 years 364 days old when he made his hundred.)Pretorius did claim another record, as the youngest man to reach 150 in a Test, a mark previously held by the great Pakistan batter Javed Miandad. He was 19 years 119 days when he made 163 on debut for Pakistan against New Zealand in Lahore in October 1976.Surrey scored 820 the other day after being put in to bat. Was this a record? asked David Cunningham from England
Surrey piled up 820 for 9 declared at The Oval last week after being put in to bat by Durham’s captain Alex Lees. This was actually the second-highest total after being inserted, behind Jharkhand’s 880 against Nagaland in Kolkata during the Ranji Trophy in March 2022. The highest in a Test match is Australia’s 735 for 6 declared after being put in by Zimbabwe in Perth in October 2003.This was Surrey’s highest total, beating their 811 against Somerset at The Oval in May 1899. In that innings the diminutive opener Bobby Abel carried his bat for 357, which remains Surrey’s highest individual score: Dom Sibley’s 305 last week was their eighth triple-century.There have been only three higher totals in the County Championship: Yorkshire’s 887 against Warwickshire at Edgbaston in May 1896, Lancashire’s 863 against Surrey at The Oval in May 1990, and Somerset’s 850 for 7 declared against Middlesex in Taunton in April 2007. For the list of the highest totals in all first-class cricket, click here.Also during Surrey’s innings last week, an unwanted record was claimed by Durham’s offspinner George Drissell, who finished with figures of 1 for 247. This was the most expensive return in County Championship history, eclipsing the 3 for 235 of Leicestershire slow left-armer Claude Henderson, also against Surrey at The Oval, in June 2006. The only more expensive analysis in any first-class match in England was 1 for 298 by another left-arm spinner – Australia’s Chuck Fleetwood-Smith – in 87 overs during England’s 903 for 7 declared at The Oval in August 1930.The last time a side won a Test after losing just two wickets was when South Africa beat England by an innings at The Oval in 2012•Getty Images I noticed that when England beat South Africa in the 1924 Lord’s Test, they lost only two wickets. Is this a record? asked Muhammad Riaz via Facebook
In the match you mention at Lord’s in June 1924, England declared at 531 for 2 and went on to beat South Africa (273 and 240) by an innings. Opener Jack Hobbs made 211, his only Test double-century.That was the first occasion in which a side won a Test while losing only two wickets. It has happened four times since: by England (267 for 2 declared) against New Zealand (67 and 129) at Headingley in July 1958; England (459 for 2 declared) against India (165 and 216) at Edgbaston in July 1974; South Africa (470 for 2 declared) against Bangladesh (173 and 237) in Chittagong in April 2003; and South Africa (637 for 2 declared) against England (385 and 240) at The Oval in July 2012.Which batters scored the most runs in the first over in the IPL? And which bowler has taken the most wickets in the first over? asked Amit Kumar via Facebook
We’re lucky to have full ball-by-ball details of all the IPL matches since the first one in 2008, so the stats team – who had fondly imagined they’d finished with the IPL for a few months – bravely attacked this particular pair of figures. The top batters probably aren’t that surprising: Virat Kohli has scored 506 runs in the first over of an IPL innings (he faced 398 balls in them), and David Warner 475 (from 524 deliveries). Next come Shikhar Dhawan (456 from 463), Rohit Sharma (384 from 374) and Ajinkya Rahane (355 from 438).You could have a good guess at the leading bowlers too: Trent Boult has struck 32 times in the first over of an IPL innings, having sent down 618 balls in them. Next comes Bhuvneshwar Kumar with 27 (816 balls), a fair way clear of Deepak Chahar (15 from 494), Praveen Kumar (15 from 534) and Sandeep Sharma (13 from 468).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