da aposte e ganhe： The regular Monday column in which Steven Lynch answers your questions about (almost) any aspect of cricket

da dobrowin： Steven Lynch07-Aug-2006The regular Monday column in which Steven Lynch answers your questions about (almost) any aspect of cricket:

Mahela Jayawardene: champion among right-handers © AFP
Has anyone ever sat with his pads on for longer than Tillakaratne Dilshan did during Sri Lanka’s big partnership of 624? asked Graham Hadleigh from Reading
Surprisingly, it isn’t a record: assuming that Dilshan put his pads on when the second wicket fell in Colombo, he would then have sat through about 645 minutes of actual play, while Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara shared their big stand. But another pair of Sri Lankans batted for even longer: when Sanath Jayasuriya and Roshan Mahanama put on 576 against India in Colombo in August 1997, during the highest Test total of 952 for 6, they were together for 753 minutes. Aravinda de Silva was the man with the pads on in the pavilion for all that time – but it didn’t seem to affect him much, as he went out and made 126.Were Nicky Boje’s figures 0 of 221 in the first Test against Sri Lanka the worst ever in Tests? asked Shalinder Tickoo from India
Nicky Boje was only the second bowler to conceded more than 200 runs in a Test innings without taking a wicket – but he didn’t quite break the record, which is still held by the Pakistan fast bowler Khan Mohammad. He bowled 54 overs at Kingston in 1957-58, but finished with 0 for 259 as West Indies ran up 790 for 3 before declaring – Garry Sobers made 365 not out and Conrad Hunte 260. He wasn’t helped by the fact that his new-ball partner Mahmood Hussain pulled a thigh muscle in his first over, and another bowler (Nasim-ul-Ghani) broke his thumb after 15 overs. West Indies made 790 for 3 declared in all – Fazal Mahmood toiled through 85.2 overs and conceded 247 runs, but at least he managed two wickets. Many years later I bumped into Khan Mohammad at Lord’s, where he used to do some coaching. He smiled when reminded of that pasting: “Everyone always talks about my 0 for 259,” he said. “They never talk about when I got Len Hutton out for a duck, at Lord’s in 1954!” For a list showing the most runs conceded in any Test innings, click here.Was Mahela Jayawardene’s 374 the highest score ever by a right-hander? asked Gamini de Silva from Kalutara
Mahela Jayawardene’s 374 for Sri Lanka against South Africa in Colombo last week was indeed the highest score by a right-hand batsman in Tests, beating the 68-year-old record of Len Hutton, who made 364 for England against Australia at The Oval in 1938. The other four higher scores than Hutton’s – by Garry Sobers, Matthew Hayden, and two by Brian Lara – were all by left-handers. For a list of the highest Test scores, click here. The highest score by a right-hander in first-class cricket is 499, by Hanif Mohammad in Pakistan in 1958-59.

Nicky Boje became only the second bowler to concede more than 200 in an innings without taking a wicket © Getty Images
Has there ever been a bigger partnership than the 624 Sri Lanka managed last week? asked Terry Dolby from Bristol
The Sangakkara-Jayawardene stand of 624 in Colombo is a new world record for any wicket in Test and first-class cricket. The previous Test record was the 576 of Jayasuriya and Mahanama that is mentioned above, while the first-class record went just one run better – 577, by Vijay Hazare and Gul Mohammad for Baroda in the Ranji Trophy final against Holkar at Baroda in 1946-47. The highest-known partnership in any form of cricket, though, is an unbroken one of 664, by the 14-year-old Sachin Tendulkar and his future Indian team-mate Vinod Kambli in a school game in Bombay in February 1988.Ravi Shastri once hit six sixes in an over. When was this, and has anyone else done it? asked Suresh Verma from India
Ravi Shastri achieved this feat in the course of a very fast double-century for Bombay against Baroda in the Ranji Trophy at Bombay in 1984-85. The unfortunate bowler was the Baroda slow left-armer Tilak Raj. The only other person to do this in a first-class match was the great West Indian Garry Sobers, who clouted Glamorgan’s Malcolm Nash for six sixes in an over while playing for Nottinghamshire at Swansea in 1968.Which ground has staged the most Test matches, in England and worldwide? asked Andrew Bell from Chelmsford
At the top of the list, appropriately enough, is Lord’s, which has now staged 112 Test matches. No other ground has yet reached 100, although Melbourne is close with 98. Sydney has staged 94 Tests and The Oval 88: then there’s a bit of a gap to Old Trafford (71), Headingley (66, including this year’s one against Pakistan), Adelaide (64), Port-of-Spain (54), Trent Bridge (53), and the Gabba in Brisbane (48). For a full list of Test grounds, and the matches played there, click here. It’s a very different story in one-day internationals – Sharjah leads the way with 198, ahead of Sydney (124) and the MCG (120).