And who is the youngest Test centurion?
Steven Lynch13-May-2025Romario Shepherd came in in the 18th over in a recent IPL match and reached 50. Was this a record? asked Dirhan Ahmed from India
Playing for the Royal Challengers against Chennai Super Kings in Bengaluru last week, the Guyanese allrounder Romario Shepherd came to the crease to face the fifth ball of the 18th over – and hurtled to 53 from just 14 balls. Only one quicker half-century has been recorded in the IPL, by Yashasvi Jaiswal in 13 for Rajasthan Royals against the Knight Riders in Kolkata in May 2023.Shepherd broke the IPL record for the latest start to a half-century in an innings, previously 14.3 overs by Naman Dhir (62 not out) for Mumbai Indians against Lucknow Super Giants at the Wankhede Stadium in May 2024. Dhir’s final partner in that innings was… Romario Shepherd. For more details of Shepherd’s onslaught, click here.Shepherd’s late-arrival fifty has been bettered in a T20 international: against Mongolia at the Asian Games in Hangzou in September 2023, Nepal’s Dipendra Singh Airee came in after a wicket fell to the first ball of the 19th over, but finished with 52 not out from ten balls, eight of which he hit for six.Ishan Kishan took four catches for Sunrisers the other day. Was this a record for the IPL? asked Mahesh Bhasin from India
Sunrisers’ wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan took four catches – three of them off Pat Cummins – in the no-result game against Delhi Capitals in Hyderabad last week. This was the 26th instance of a keeper making four dismissals in an IPL innings – but there’s one case of five, by Kumar Sangakkara for Deccan Chargers against Royal Challengers Bangalore in Hyderabad in April 2011.There are also 12 instances of an outfielder taking four catches in an IPL innings, and two cases of five: by Mohammad Nabi for Sunrisers Hyderabad against Mumbai Indians in Abu Dhabi in October 2021, and Daryl Mitchell for the Super Kings against Sunrisers in Chennai in April 2024.Apparently there’s a great-grandson of a former England captain playing county cricket at the moment. Is it Ben Compton? asked Derek Wilson from England
It’s not Kent’s Ben Compton, as the old England great Denis Compton never captained in a Test. (And Ben is Denis’s grandson, not great-grandson.) The player you’re asking about is actually Harry Came, a batter who made his debut for Hampshire in 2019 (unusually, as a concussion substitute), and moved to Derbyshire two years later. He scored two first-class hundreds in 2023, and has had a useful start to the current season, scoring 83 against Gloucestershire in Derbyshire’s first Championship match, and 73 against Middlesex at the end of April.Came is the great-grandson of the legspinner Walter Robins, who played for Middlesex and captained England in three of his 19 Tests before the Second World War. Robins’ daughter Penelope married Kenneth Came in 1958.Mohammad Ashraful is the youngest Test centurion, scoring his debut hundred at 17 years and 63 days•AFPMushfiqur Rahim was stumped by a substitute in a recent ODI. Has this ever happened before? asked Peter McDonald from England
Mushfiqur Rahim of Bangladesh was stumped by Afghanistan’s Ikram Alikhil – subbing for the injured Rahmanullah Gurbaz – during a one-day international in Sharjah in November 2024. There’s only one previous instance of this in ODIs, and the same Afghanistan double act was involved: Philippe Boissevain of the Netherlands was stumped by Alikhil, subbing for Gurbaz, in Doha in January 2022.There have been no instances of stumped by a substitute in T20Is, but three in Tests: South Africa’s captain Tip Snooke (by Neville Tufnell, on for Herbert Strudwick) against England in Durban in January 1910; Pervez Sajjad (by Bevan Congdon, on for Artie Dick) for Pakistan vs New Zealand in Lahore in April 1965; and Tom Latham (by Srikar Bharat, on for Wriddhiman Saha) for New Zealand vs India in Kanpur in November 2021.Who’s the youngest cricketer to score a hundred in a Test? asked Aahan Bojanui from India
The youngest man to score a Test century is Mohammad Ashraful, in the second innings of his debut for Bangladesh against Sri Lanka in Colombo in September 2001. Going by the date of birth ESPNcricinfo have for him (July 7, 1984), Ashraful would have been 17 years 63 days old at the time – but some sources give the date as September 9, 1984, which would mean he achieved the feat the day before his 17th birthday.Next on the list is Mushtaq Mohammad, who was 17 years 82 days old when he reached his hundred for Pakistan against India in Delhi in February 1961. Sachin Tendulkar of India and Zimbabwe’s Hamilton Masakadza also scored Test centuries before turning 18.For the full list of the youngest Test centurions, click here (note that the ages shown are at the start of the match in question).The youngest to score a century in a women’s Test is Sri Lanka’s Chamani Seneviratna, who was 19 years 156 days old when she scored 105 not out against Pakistan in Colombo in April 1998: this is still Sri Lanka’s one and only official women’s Test match.And there’s an update to last week’s question about Mehidy Hasan Miraz scoring 88 runs and taking five wickets on the same day in a Test:Thanks to his feat against Zimbabwe in Chattogram last month, Mehidy Hasan does hold the men’s record for most runs on a day in a Test on which he also took five wickets – but Chris Gayle ran him close, with 82 and five wickets for West Indies against England at Edgbaston in August 2004.The others to have scored at least 50 runs and taken five or more wickets on the same day are Jimmy Sinclair (6 for 26, then 59 of his eventual 106) for South Africa vs England in Cape Town in April 1899, Dilruwan Perera (five wickets spread over two innings, in between which he scored 64) for Sri Lanka vs Australia in Galle in August 2016, Shakib al Hasan (five wickets and 54) for Bangladesh vs West Indies in Kingston in July 2018, and Wes Hall (50 not out and five wickets to reduce India to 30 for 5) for West Indies in Port-of-Spain in April 1962.Two women also achieved the feat in Tests. England’s Myrtle Maclagan took 7 for 10 and then scored 72 on the first day of the inaugural women’s Test, against Australia in Brisbane in December 1934, while Enid Bakewell took 5 for 56 and then scored 66 not out on the third day of England’s Test against New Zealand in Christchurch in March 1969; she’d scored 114 on the second day.Use our feedback form, or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions02.02GMT, May 7, 2025: This answer said “three” previously. The first instance, featuring John Trumble and Billy Barnes, was added on.