CRICTRIVIA

Allister de Winter from Tasmania was once dismissed twice in 21 minutes in a Sheffield Shield match - last man out in the first innings and first out when following on. Has anyone been dismissed twice quicker than this?

The match you're talking about was Tasmania's encounter with Queensland in Brisbane in 1987-88. There have been a few instances like this one, but the record - an unbeatable one, I would suggest - is held by the Glamorgan fast bowler Peter Judge, who was dismissed twice in about a minute during a match against the touring Indian team at Cardiff Arms Parkin 1946. Judge was bowled by Chandu Sarwate to end the first innings, and the Indians asked Glamorgan to follow on. There wasn't much time left in the match, so Glamorgan's captain Johnny Clay (who was the not-out batsman) decided to give the crowd some fun, didn't bother with the usual 10 minutes between innings, and reversed his batting order... and Judge was promptly bowled by Sarwate's first ball of the second innings.

When Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene shared their world-record partnership of 624 against South Africa, did Nicky Boje also set a record for the highest number of runs conceded without taking a wicket?

The South African slow left-armer Nicky Boje had figures of 0 for 221 from 65 overs in that record-breaking match in Colombo in July 2006. Wisden reported that Boje was nonetheless "the most effective of the bowlers, operating over the wicket for much of the innings and directing the ball into the rough". Rather surprisingly, Boje's figures are not quite the worst for a bowler failing to take a wicket in a Test innings - and perhaps even more surprisingly, the record-holder is a fast bowler rather than a spinner. When Garry Sobersset the then-record Test score of 365 not out in Kingston in 1957-58, Pakistan's Khan Mohammad finished with 0 for 259 from 54 overs as West Indies piled up 790 for 3. Pakistan's opening bowler Mahmood Hussainpulled a thigh muscle after sending down only five balls of the first over, increasing the workload of the others. Khan, a charming man who sadly died recently, would later recount the tale with a whimsical smile: "Everyone always asks me about my 0 for 259. They never ask about the time I got Len Hutton out for a duckat Lord's!"

Which bowler has earned the most stumpings in Tests and one-day internationals?

Two old friends lead the way in both categories here. In Test matches Muttiah Muralitharan has so far claimed 45 wickets through stumpings, while Shane Warne had 36. In third place is another Australian legspinner, Clarrie Grimmett, whose 216 Test wickets included 28 stumpings (that's 12.96% of his dismissals). In fifth place, India's Subhash "Fergie" Gupte had 20 stumpings in 149 dismissals, an even higher ratio of 13.42%. Anil Kumble lies fourth (24 out of 619). In one-day internationals Murali leads the way with 55, just ahead of Warne (50), with Sanath Jayasuriya a rather surprising name in third place with 42.