Has anyone scored more runs at a higher strike rate than Jonny Bairstow did against New Zealand?

Has anyone scored as many runs as Jonny Bairstow in the New Zealand series at a higher run rate? asked Mike Bullivant from England
In the three Tests against New Zealand, Jonny Bairstow scored 394 runs from 328 balls, a rate of 120.12 per 100 balls. No one has scored more runs in a series more quickly: the nearest is Bairstow's current captain Ben Stokes, with 109.01 - 411 from 377 balls - in South Africa in 2015-16.

The only man known to have scored 300 runs in a Test series at a faster rate is Pakistan's Shahid Afridi, who hammered 330 off 272 balls - 121.32 per 100 - at home against India in 2005-06. For the full list, click here (note that an asterisk, such as the one against Clive Lloyd's run-rate figure, means our data is incomplete).

I noticed that in a shortish career as opener, John Campbell has been at the crease several times when West Indies have won a Test. Which opener has done this most often? asked Davo Kissoondari from Guyana
The West Indian opener John Campbell may have played only 20 Tests so far, but has now been at the crease six times when the winning hit was made, including both matches against Bangladesh last month. This compares well with a rather more famous Jamaican opener, Chris Gayle, who was also in at the end of a West Indian win on six occasions - but played 103 Tests in all.

Only eight openers have been batting at the moment of victory in more Tests, and the fewest matches any of them played was 74 (Michael Slater, who was there for seven wins). Another famous West Indian leads the way by some distance - Desmond Haynes was at the crease at the end of 18 Test victories. Matthew Hayden was there for 11, and Gordon Greenidge for ten.

Haynes' 18 is the most by anyone, opener or not: Ricky Ponting is second with 13, while Jacques Kallis was in at the moment of victory on 12 occasions.

Daryl Mitchell scored a century in each match of the England series. How many people have done this? asked Kelly McLeod from New Zealand
New Zealand's Daryl Mitchell was the seventh man to score a century in each match of a three-Test series, following Ken Barrington (England vs Pakistan in 1967), Shoaib Mohammad (Pakistan vs New Zealand in 1990-91), Matthew Hayden (Australia vs South Africa in 2001-02), Mohammad Yousuf (Pakistan vs West Indies in 2006-07), Ross Taylor (New Zealand vs West Indies in 2013-14) and Virat Kohli (India vs Sri Lanka in 2017-18).

But two men have scored a century in each match of a four-Test series: Kallis, for South Africa against West Indies in 2003-04, and Steven Smith, for Australia vs India in 2014-15.

No one has managed a hundred in each match of a five-Test series: Clyde Walcott did score five centuries for West Indies in the home series against Australia in 1954-55, but two of them came in the second Test in Port-of-Spain.

Apparently only one Englishman has made two full Ashes tours of Australia and not played a Test there - who is he? asked Norman Davis from England
There's only one man who fits the bill here - but he isn't, strictly speaking, an Englishman! The tall Northamptonshire fast bowler David Larter toured down under in 1962-63 and 1965-66, but couldn't force his way into the Test side on either tour. He was born in Inverness, in Scotland, but his family moved to Suffolk when he was ten.

Larter did have some success in the ten Tests he managed between injury problems, taking 37 wickets, with a best of 5 for 57 - and nine in the match - on debut against Pakistan at The Oval in 1962.

Northamptonshire wicketkeeper Laurie Johnson rated him highly. Interviewed for Larter's 2021 biography Bowling Fast, he summed up: "It was always interesting keeping to David Larter, as he was different from other quick bowlers in that he could extract bounce from a length. He was a great trier and, on his day, when everything clicked and conditions were in his favour, he could be as quick as Frank Tyson (for whom I used to stand back the full length of the wicket)."

Recurring injuries proved too much in the end, at a time when off-field support was less sophisticated than it is now. The unfortunate Larter retired from county cricket in 1967, still only 27. "It was useless trying to carry on," he wrote. "I played only four games last summer because of a damaged left ankle, and it broke down again in our knockout cup game against Bedfordshire. If I can't stand up for one match it's pointless trying to play in three-day games. My ankle will just not stand being jarred."

It didn't quite happen at Edgbaston, but when was the last time the captain batted at No. 11 in a Test? asked Rajendra Sharma from India
It didn't happen at Edgbaston because India's Jasprit Bumrah, in his first match as captain, went in at No. 10 rather than his customary 11 - and did rather well, breaking the record for most runs in an over in a Test.

The last captain to go in last in a Test was Sri Lanka's Suranga Lakmal, against England in Pallekele in 2018-19. The last to do it regularly was Courtney Walsh, on 14 occasions for West Indies in the late 1990s.

For the full list, click here (this includes some innings where the captain was injured or did not bat).