Also, what is the highest first-class innings total with the least number of extras?

Steven Lynch16-Jan-2024Who scored a double-century on debut but played only three more Tests? And which man took 16 wickets in his first Test but played only five more? asked Mustafa Sharif from Bangladesh
The answer to the first part of the question is Sri Lanka’s Brendon Kuruppu, who batted for 777 minutes in scoring 201 not out in his first Test, against New Zealand in Colombo in April 1987. He also kept wicket in that match, and had his pads on throughout a rather unexciting draw. Kuruppu won only three more caps, but remains one of just seven players to have scored a double-century on Test debut.The bowler who took 16 wickets in his first Test but played only five more was the Australian Bob Massie, who destroyed England at Lord’s in 1972 with 8 for 84 and 8 for 53. He played in the remaining three Tests of that Ashes series, and twice against Pakistan in Australia in 1972-73, but added only 15 more wickets to the debut 16.Massie’s debut figures were marginally improved by the Indian legspinner Narendra Hirwani, with 16 for 136 against West Indies in Chennai in 1987-88. He finished with 17 caps, and 66 wickets.No one else has taken more than 12 wickets on Test debut. I hope I haven’t mucked up any sports quizzes in downtown Dhaka by answering these!Is Aaron Finch, who has just retired, the only Australian to score 10,000 runs in T20 matches? asked Madhav Gokhale from Australia
Aaron Finch played what he said is his last game of professional cricket at the weekend, for Melbourne Renegades against cross-town rivals, Stars in the BBL at Melbourne’s Docklands stadium. Finch emulated Don Bradman in signing off with a duck (third ball, rather than the Don’s second) although, like Bradman at The Oval in 1948, his side ended up winning the match anyway.Finch is one of ten batters worldwide who have racked up more than 10,000 runs in all T20 matches. He finished with 11,458 – but that still puts him only second among Australians, as David Warner currently has around 300 more (and is still playing). Overall, Chris Gayle is top with 14,562 runs, a healthy 1569 more than the next man, Shoaib Malik.Is it true that Everton Weekes was named after Everton Football Club? And that ex-Arsenal footballer Theo Walcott’s uncle is Clyde Walcott? If only Frank Worrell had a connection with English football! asked Taimur Mirza from Australia
The first part is apparently true: Everton Weekes’ father was an Everton fan, and named his son after the blue side of Liverpool. It’s said that when the England offspinner Jim Laker heard about this, he informed Weekes that it was a good job his dad hadn’t supported West Bromwich Albion.Turning to the footballer Theo Walcott, there were stories around the time he was first selected for England in 2006 that claimed he was the grandson, or great-nephew, of Clyde Walcott. However, it doesn’t seem to be true: in an interview with the Daily Telegraph not long before his death later in 2006, Walcott said: “He’s definitely not a relative. As far as I know, he has no family connection to me whatsoever. If I was his great-uncle then his grandfather would have to be my brother. I have a brother, Keith, but he doesn’t have any kids. We are a small family and the only people carrying on the name are my two grandsons. I don’t have any first or second cousins with the Walcott name.”As for the other member of the Three Ws, Frank Worrell, I think we will have to keep looking to unearth a footballing connection! A cousin of his, Larry Worrell, played for Hampshire between 1969 and 1972, while a more distant relative, Michael Worrell, kept wicket for Barbados in the 1980s, and lived in England for a while.The highest Test innings with no extras is India’s 329 against England in 2021•BCCISaurashtra scored 578 for 4 in a recent Ranji Trophy match, with only nine extras. Was this some sort of record? asked Marque Dobrow from Australia
This was Saurashtra’s Elite Group match against Jharkhand in Rajkot earlier this month. Cheteshwar Pujara scored 243 not out – his 17th first-class double-century to extend his Indian record – as Saurashtra reached 578 for 4 before declaring.You’re right that there were only nine extras in Saurashtra’s big innings – but that remains a long way from the record. When Victoria made 647 against Tasmania in Melbourne in 1951-52, there were no extras at all!The highest Test innings with no extras is India’s 329 against England in Chennai in 2020-21. That just beat Pakistan’s 328 against India in Lahore in 1954-55.Further to last week’s question about batters making a high percentage of their team’s runs in one innings, what’s the record for both innings? asked Doug Williams from England
We only looked here at matches in which a team was bowled out twice, as otherwise working out a qualification became problematic. And by this yardstick the man who scored the highest percentage of his team’s runs in a Test match is Brian Lara – ­but not for the game in which he made 400 not out, or even the one in which he hit 375. Against Sri Lanka at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo in 2001-02, Lara scored 221 and 130 – but despite that West Indies managed totals of just 390 and 262, and lost by ten wickets. Lara thus made 53.83% of his side’s runs in the match.Jimmy Sinclair, who was mentioned last week, scored 110 (106 and 4) of South Africa’s 212 runs (51.89%) against England in Cape Town in 1898-99. The only other man to make more than half his side’s runs over two completed innings in a Test is Andy Flower, with 142 and 199 not out (50.37%) for Zimbabwe (286 and 391) against South Africa in Harare in September 2001.Interestingly, Charles Bannerman, who has led the innings percentages since the very first Test of all, comes in fifth on the match list even though he made only 4 in the second innings. That still gave him 169 of Australia’s 349 runs (48.42%) against England in Melbourne in 1876-77.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