Ollie Robinson finished the Pakistan series with 21 wickets at an average of 8.76. Has anyone ever had a better series with the ball than that? asked Michael Davies from England
Looking at series of three or more Tests, only four bowlers have taken more wickets than Ollie Robinson's 21 at a better average than his 8.76. In South Africa in 1895-96, George Lohmann took 35 wickets at just 5.8, while in England in 1958 Tony Lock piled up 34 wickets at 7.47 against a very weak New Zealand team. Another slow left-armer, Bobby Peel, took 24 at 7.54 in the 1888 Ashes, while Sydney Barnes picked up 34 wickets at 8.29 in England's three matches against South Africa during the 1912 Triangular Tournament.
It might have been even better: after Robinson reduced Pakistan to 0 for 2 in the second innings of the third Test at Edgbaston, he had 21 wickets at 6.19 - but he didn't strike again in their long innings, finishing with 2 for 54, which dented his average a little.
Pakistan made four changes before the third Test in England. What's the record number of changes by a touring side mid-series? asked Philip Davidson from England
You're right that Pakistan made four changes between the second and third Tests: after their big squad reshuffle it looked possible there would be even more, but that was not quite the case. The record for a touring team mid-series remains six, by New Zealand in England in 2021: their side for the second Test at Edgbaston showed six changes from the series opener at Lord's. There are 12 other instances of a team making five changes to their side in the middle of a Test series, the last two both by Afghanistan in Zimbabwe (in 2020-21 and 2024-25).
There's one case of a home team picking entirely different sides for successive matches, by Australia against England in 1884-85: after a pay dispute, the side for the second Test in Melbourne showed 11 changes from the first in Adelaide. West Indies made nine changes between the third and fourth Tests of their home series against England in 1929-30, and also made nine between the second and third Tests against Australia in 1977-78 (this was owing to a dispute involving players who had signed for Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket).
There were no centuries at all in this season's England-Pakistan Test series. How often has this happened? asked Kevin Cameron from Scotland
You're right that there were no centuries in any of the three Tests of this summer's series between England and Pakistan: the highest score was Saud Shakeel's 97 at Lord's. I thought the answer was going to be from ages ago - but actually it's little more than a year since Australia played three Tests in the West Indies and the highest score was just 75.
There are six other series of three Tests (and none of more than that) in which there were no individual centuries with the bat: the Ashes series of 1882-83 and 1888, India vs New Zealand in 1969-70 and 1995-96, Pakistan vs West Indies in 1986-87, and Pakistan vs Zimbabwe in 1993-94.
Henry Crocombe took hat-tricks in successive first-class matches recently. How rare is this? asked Anthony Sundin from England
The Sussex seamer Henry Crocombe followed his hat-trick against Somerset in the County Championship match against Somerset in Hove at the end of August with another in the very next game, against Essex in Chelmsford.
Tracking such a feat is more complicated that it might look, as hat-tricks are not always immediately apparent from the scorecard. But according to the Association of Cricket Statisticians, Crocombe was the seventh bowler to take hat-tricks in successive first-class matches. The most famous of his predecessors was Wasim Akram, who did it in successive Tests for Pakistan, without a first-class match in between. These were both against Sri Lanka in the Asian Test Championship, in Lahore in 1999, and in the final in Dhaka the following week.
There are also eight instances of a bowler taking two hat-tricks in the same first-class match, including one in a Test, by the Australian legspinner Jimmy Matthews against South Africa at Old Trafford in 1912. Playing for New South Wales in the Sheffield Shield, Mitchell Starc ended both Western Australia innings at the Hurstville Oval in Sydneyin November 2017 with hat-tricks.
At Wellington in 2024-25, England's second innings lasted 82.3 overs and contained no maidens at all. Was this a record? asked Jamie Wright from New Zealand
It's true that England's second innings of 427 for 6 in 82.3 overs against New Zealand in Wellington in 2024 did not feature a single maiden. It was the height of Bazball, I suppose!
That is the longest Test innings not to contain a maiden, surpassing 57.3 overs in Pakistan's second innings against Sri Lanka in Sharjah in 2014. Set 302 to win, Pakistan raced home with nine balls to spare.
There are three first-class innings that contain more maiden overs. Top of the list is 95.1 overs, in Tamil Union's 466 for 4 against Kurunegala in Colombo in March 2013. When the MCC touring team took on Tasmania in Hobart in 1912, there were no maidens in 88.2 overs as MCC ran up 574 for 4, of which Frank Woolley made his highest first-class score of 305 not out.
The records above consider six-ball overs: there were no maidens in 107.7 eight-ball overs when Trinidad scored 490 for 8 against Barbados in Bridgetown in 1944, or in 88.5 overs as England made 469 for 4 in the third Test against South Africa in Durban in 1939.
Shiva Jayaraman of Cricinfo's stats team helped with some of the above answers.
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