And was England’s 22-run win at Lord’s the closest there by margin of runs?
Steven Lynch22-Jul-2025Is it right that England’s win last week was the closest in a Test at Lord’s? asked Dennis McKinlay from Scotland
Last week’s exciting Test against India at Lord’s was the 149th to be played there, so it was something of a surprise to discover that 22 was indeed the narrowest victory margin by runs in any of them. The previous closest was 43, when Australia beat England in 2023. South Africa beat England by 51 runs in 2012, and Australia beat England by 61 in 1888.There have been two two-wicket victories in Tests at Lord’s, by Pakistan against England in 1992 and by England against West Indies in 2000. However, perhaps the closest Test of all at Lord’s finished in a draw: at the end of a famous match against West Indies in 1963 England were nine down but needed just six to win.West Indies were 11 for 6 during their horrendous collapse in Jamaica. Has the sixth wicket ever fallen at a lower score in a Test innings? asked Jason Cameron from Trinidad
The dismissal of skipper Roston Chase in the second innings in Kingston last week left West Indies perilously placed at 11 for 6. The only team to lose their sixth wicket earlier in a Test were Australia, who dipped to 7 for 6 in the follow-on against England at Old Trafford in 1888. Australia were also 11 for 6 at The Oval in 1896.That 1888 series, incidentally, is the only one of three or more Tests in which the highest score in the series was lower than the 75 (by Brandon King in Grenada) of the recent encounter in the Caribbean – England’s Bobby Abel made 70 at The Oval. There have only been five other such series which did not feature an individual century from either side.West Indies made it to 26 for 6 before Scott Boland’s hat-trick, and were grateful to a misfield for the chance to avoid equalling the lowest total in Test history, New Zealand’s 26 against England in Auckland in 1955. They still suffered the second-lowest; West Indies’ worst before this was 47, against England, also at Sabina Park, in 2004.Justin Greaves has been part of both 2025’s Test hat-tricks. Has anyone else been part of two in Tests? asked Colin Henderson from England
The unfortunate Justin Greaves was the first victim of Scott Boland’s hat-trick in the third Test in Jamaica last week, just as he had been when the Pakistan spinner Noman Ali achieved the feat in Multan in January.Greaves was the fourth man to be part of two Test hat-tricks. The first was arguably the most notable: the South African wicketkeeper Tommy Ward, making his Test debut in the Triangular Tournament at Old Trafford in 1912, was the third victim of the Australian legspinner Jimmy Matthews in both innings, thus completing a king pair.Another Australian legspinner, Stuart MacGill, was the middle man in the hat-tricks of Darren Gough (in Sydney in 1999) and Jermaine Lawson in Bridgetown in 2003), while the Sri Lankan wicketkeeper Romesh Kaluwitharana was the first victim of Wasim Akram (in Lahore in 1999) and Abdul Razzaq (in Galle in 2000). Akram took hat-tricks in successive matches against Sri Lanka, but the batters were all different.England’s Stuart Broad remains the only man to be involved in three Test hat-tricks. He took two – against India at Trent Bridge in 2011, and Sri Lanka at Headingley in 2014 – and was the final victim in Peter Siddle’s birthday hat-trick for Australia in Brisbane in 2010.Boland was the tenth Australian man to take a Test hat-trick.Only Stuart Broad has been part of three hat-tricks – as the perpetrator or two, and a victim in the third•Getty ImagesThe just-retired Angelo Mathews, the Waugh twins, and Steve Smith were all born on June 2. They have amassed more than 37,000 Test runs between them. Is this the most Test runs “born” on a single day? asked Siddiqui Saleem from the United States
It’s a reasonable guess – and a correct one! In total there have so far been 38,282 runs scored in men’s Tests by players born on June 2: that’s 10,927 by Steve Waugh, 10,477 by Steven Smith, 8214 from Angelo Mathews, 8029 by Mark Waugh, 416 from Lindsay “Dad” Weir of New Zealand, 213 from England’s George Lohmann… and not forgetting six by Jayantha Silva of Sri Lanka. Second on this particular list is October 27, with 32,417. That includes 12,400 from Kumar Sangakkara, 8786 by David Warner, and Mark Taylor’s 7525.The best day for bowlers is July 3, with 1104 wickets, the main contributors being Richard Hadlee (431), Harbhajan Singh (417), Ewen Chatfield (132) and Henry Olonga (68). A close second with 1074 wickets is June 24 – made up of 604 from Stuart Broad, 246 byGraham McKenzie and 224 from Vernon Philander.Apparently there’s someone who played in the same Test side as Victor Trumper and Don Bradman. Who was it? asked Michael Hunter from Australia
Victor Trumper, who played 37 Tests between 1899 and 1911-12, and Don Bradman, whose 52 matches came between 1928-29 and 1948, are the two most famous Australian batters of the past – Bradman because of his phenomenal scoring feats, and Trumper because of the unusual elegance of his batting. Both have inspired shelves full of books.As Trumper played his last Test before the Great War – he died of Bright’s Disease in 1915, aged only 37 – it needed a long career to have played alongside both him and the Don. My first thought was that it might be another fondly remembered batter, Warren Bardsley, but although he made his Test debut alongside Trumper in England in 1909, he played his last Tests in the 1926 Ashes, aged 43, a couple of years before Bradman’s debut.And it turns out that the man who played with both is a less celebrated figure. The New South Wales allrounder Charles Kelleway made his Test debut against South Africa in 1910-11 alongside Trumper (and Bardsley). He appeared in most of Australia’s Tests from then until 1924-25, but missed the 1926 tour of England – but was recalled after three years out of first-class cricket for the first Test of the 1928-29 Ashes tour, in Brisbane, where one of his team-mates was Bradman, making his debut. It wasn’t a happy occasion for the Australians, who lost by a whopping 675 runs: Kelleway bowled 34 wicketless overs and was out for 8, and then went down with food poisoning, missed the rest of the match and never played again; Bradman was out for 18 and 1 and was dropped for the only time in his life.Eighteen months later, after Bradman scored a century in the first Test of the 1930 Ashes series in England – he went on to amass a record 974 runs in the series – Kelleway, who was in a unique position to judge, was asked whether he was a greater batsman than Trumper. “It is very sad, because it is very nearly true,” he said. “In a century there will be only one Trumper, and in a century there would be only one Don Bradman.”Three England players – Jack Hobbs, Phil Mead and Frank Woolley – opposed both Trumper and Bradman in Test matches.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
