The regular Monday column in which Steven Lynch answers your questions about (almost) any aspect of cricket

Steven Lynch29-May-2006The regular Monday column in which Steven Lynch answers your questions about (almost) any aspect of cricket:

Ramnaresh Sarwan is ‘the seventh player to mark his 100th one-day appearance with a century, and the third West Indian’ © AFP
Ramnaresh Sarwan scored a hundred in his 100th ODI – how many people have done this? asked almost everyone
Sarwan achieved the feat against India at Basseterre last week, in the first ODI played in St Kitts, the 158th ground to stage one. He is the seventh player to mark his 100th one-day appearance with a century, and the third West Indian. Gordon Greenidge was the first, with 102 not out against Pakistan at Sharjah in 1988-89 (the following season Greenidge completed a unique double by scoring a century in his 100th Test as well). The others are Chris Cairns, with 115 for New Zealand against India at Christchurch in 1998-99; Mohammad Yousuf (then known as Yousuf Youhana), 129 for Pakistan v Sri Lanka at Sharjah in 2001-02; Kumar Sangakkara, 101 for Sri Lanka v Australia in Colombo in 2003-04; Chris Gayle, 132 not out for West Indies v England at Lord’s in 2004; and Marcus Trescothick, with 100 not out for England against Bangladesh at The Oval in 2005.In last week’s Cricinfo article Offshore Interests, it is mentioned that West Indies were bowled out by Ireland for 25 in 1969. What was the result of the match? Was it a proper Windies team playing? asked Ravi Nair from India
That match was played at Sion Mills, in County Tyrone in Northern Ireland, on July 2, 1969. It was an official West Indian touring side (they lost the Test series in England that season), although the captain Garry Sobers didn’t play in this match, and the tour manager Clyde Walcott, who was 43 and had retired almost a decade previously, did. On a sporty pitch, West Indies were shot out for 25 – Grayson Shillingford top-scored with 9, and Walcott made 6: Ireland’s captain Doug Goodwin had the amazing figures of 12.5-8-6-5, and Alec O’Riordan took 4 for 18. Ireland passed the West Indian score for the loss of one wicket, then kept on batting. It was officially a one-day, two-innings match – but there was an agreement that the side ahead on first innings would be declared the winners. There’s a mischievous rumour that West Indies’ spectacular collapse – they were 12 for 9 at one stage – owed much to a visit to a nearby Guinness brewery, but actually there was barely time for that: they had only finished a hard-fought Lord’s Test against England late the previous day.With the Test series about to start, has anyone made more runs in India-West Indies Tests than Sachin Tendulkar? asked Arun from Goa
Quite a few people have, actually: Tendulkar is only 12th on that particular list with 1328 runs in 16 Tests against West Indies. Well clear at the top is another little Indian master, Sunil Gavaskar, with 2749 runs, which included an amazing 13 centuries. Next comes Clive Lloyd, with 2344 runs against India. Also ahead of Tendulkar are Viv Richards (1927 runs), Garry Sobers (1920), Rohan Kanhai (1693), Gordon Greenidge (1678), Dilip Vengsarkar (1596), Everton Weekes (1495 in only 10 matches, at an eye-popping average of 106.78), Gundappa Viswanath (1455), Polly Umrigar (1372) and Carl Hooper (1357). Shivnarine Chanderpaul currently has 1280 Test runs against India. For the full list, click here.

Dennis Amiss made 100 during England’s 159 for 3 against New Zealand in 1973 © The Cricketer International
What is the lowest ODI total to include a century? asked Andy Hames from Solihull
That is one of the oldest ODI records, since it was set in only the sixth such match ever played (there have now been nearly 2400 of them). At Swansea in 1973, in the first ODI not played on a Test ground, England made 159 for 3 to overhaul New Zealand’s modest total of 158 – and Dennis Amiss made a round 100. The highest completed (all-out) innings to include a century was also against New Zealand – in 1999-2000 Australia were bowled out for 191 at Auckland, but Damien Martyn carried his bat for 116.How many people have scored a double-century on their Test debut, and what is the highest score ever made on debut? asked Tyson Jonas from Australia
Five players have now scored a double-century in their first Test, but the highest score among them remains the first one – RE “Tip” Foster’s 287 for England against Australia at Sydney in 1903-04. He was followed by Lawrence Rowe, with 214 (and 100 not out) on debut for West Indies v New Zealand at Kingston in 1971-72; Brendon Kuruppu, 201 not out for Sri Lanka v New Zealand in Colombo in 1986-87; Mathew Sinclair, 214 for New Zealand v West Indies at Wellington in 1999-2000; and Jacques Rudolph, 222 not out for South Africa v Bangladesh at Chittagong in 2002-03. For a full list of players who scored a century on Test debut, click here.I wonder if it was measured/recorded or not but I’d like to ask what is the longest distance for a direct hit resulting in a run-out? asked Okcan Basat from Turkey
It’s not generally recorded, no. The longest one I’ve ever seen – and this would be hard to beat, except perhaps from the boundary at a huge ground like Melbourne – came in the 1984 Lord’s Test against West Indies, when Eldine Baptiste, fielding at long leg, spotted that England’s Geoff Miller was sauntering to the non-striker’s end, with his back turned. Baptiste unleashed an amazing flat throw from the boundary under the Warner Stand, and detonated the middle stump out of the ground at the far end the best part of 100 yards away. The gobsmacked Miller was run out for 0.