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Most maidens in a Test, and most wickets in a T20 international

Hard-to-score-off bowlers, Umar Gul's Twenty20 exploits, the corpse with pads on, and West Indies' national anthem

Steven Lynch
Steven Lynch
23-Jun-2009
Those two little misers: between them Alf Valentine and Sonny Ramadhin bowled 145 maidens in the Lord's Test of 1950  •  Getty Images

Those two little misers: between them Alf Valentine and Sonny Ramadhin bowled 145 maidens in the Lord's Test of 1950  •  Getty Images

What is the most maiden overs bowled in one innings of a Test match? asked Ali Wazir from the Netherlands
The record is 49, sent down by Alf Valentine of West Indies during his 92 overs in the second innings against England at Trent Bridge in 1950 (he finished with 3 for 140). During the Lord's Test on that same 1950 tour, Valentine bowled 75 maidens in the match (another record), while his spin partner Sonny Ramadhin delivered 70. In second place on the innings list is India's Vinoo Mankad, like Valentine a left-arm spinner, who had the remarkable figures of 76-47-58-4 against England in Delhi in 1951-52.
What are the best bowling figures in Twenty20 internationals? asked Robert Bartlett from Worthing
The best bowling analysis in a Twenty20 international is 5 for 6, by Pakistan's Umar Gul in last week's World Twenty20 match against New Zealand at The Oval. That broke the New Zealander Mark Gillespie's previous record, 4 for 7 against Kenya in Durban during the inaugural World Twenty20.
Who was it who once described Bill Lawry as "a corpse with pads on"? asked David Truscott from Australia
This rather rude (but not entirely inaccurate) description of the Australian opener Bill Lawry's batting style was minted during the drawn Oval Test of 1964 by Ian Wooldridge, the long-serving Daily Mail cricket and sportswriter who died in 2007. According to Lawry's own book Run-Digger, the quote ran: "Inch by loving inch the Australians are grinding the sword in the gaping wounds of English cricket. Their Fifth Test tactics - led by a man whom the scorecard called Lawry but who on closer inspection proved to be a corpse with pads on - half-emptied The Oval long before closing time. It was terrible to watch." Lawry made no apology for his innings of 94 in five-and-a-quarter hours: "I looked back with pride on my own concentration and application in holding out the English bowlers - exactly as I had been asked to do by our skipper Bobby Simpson. And after all we had led 1-0 in the series and a draw did clinch the Ashes at The Oval."
Who were the oldest and youngest players in the World Twenty20 championship? asked Michael Dobson from Lincoln
The oldest was Sri Lanka's Sanath Jayasuriya, who will be 40 next week. And the youngest was Pakistan's left-arm fast bowler Mohammad Aamer, who was born in April 1992 (more than two years after Jayasuriya played his first one-day international).
How many hundred partnerships have there been in Twenty20 internationals? Has anyone shared in more than one? asked Brijesh Powar from Gurgaon
There have been 17 hundred partnerships in Twenty20 internationals so far, the highest being 145 for the first wicket, by Chris Gayle (117) and Devon Smith (35) against South Africa in the first match of the inaugural World Twenty20, in Johannesburg in September 2007. South Africa still ended up winning that match by eight wickets! Gayle is one of six batsmen who have shared in two century stands, the others being Australia's Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden, Herschelle Gibbs and Graeme Smith of South Africa, England's Paul Collingwood, and Shoaib Malik of Pakistan.
Obviously the West Indies don't have a national anthem. So what tune was played at the beginning of their games in the World Twenty20 championship? asked Abeer Agrawal from India
The song played for the West Indies before their matches is called "Rally Round the West Indies". It was written and originally performed by the Trinidadian calypso artist David Rudder.

Steven Lynch is the editor of the Cricinfo Guide to International Cricket (reviewed here). If you want to ask Steven a question, use our feedback form. The most interesting questions will be answered here each week