Test Records - Week Ending 4th June 2006

Test #1804 Sri Lanka in England 2006 (3rd Test) at Trent Bridge, Nottingham

Everything else that happened in this test match was overshadowed by that magical 2nd innings bowling spell by Muralitharan which secured Sri Lanka's 2nd test victory in England and helped Sri Lanka level the test series 1-1. Muralitharan took first 7 wickets to fall in England's 2nd innings and was well on his way to become only 3rd bowler in cricket history to claim 10 wickets in an innings of a test till Kapugedera ran out Hoggard.

Muralitharan with his final figures of 8 for 70 in the innings and 11 for 132 in the test became only the 2nd bowler in test history to have claimed 10 wickets in two consecutive tests on two separate occassions. If we consider his record breaking streak of 4 tests with 10 wicket hauls which he achieved earlier as two separate occassions. He surpasses Sydney Francis Barnes as the only bowler to have claimed 10 wickets in a match in two consecutive tests on 3 separate occassions.

His 8 for 70 is 100th time that he took 5 or more wickets in an innings in first class cricket.

Jon Lewis of England while making his test debut (634the player from England) took a Michael Vandort's wicket with the 3rd legitimate delivery he bowled (his first ball in test cricket was no ball) and joined another 92 cricketers who have all taken a wicket in the first over they have bowled in test cricket.

England's captain Andrew Flintoff dismissed Mahila Jayawardane , the Sri Lankan skipper, in both the innings of this test. This provides 12th instance of a captain dismissing the opposing side's captain in both the innings of a test match. Flintoff and Jayawardane also provides 13th instance of a captain scoring a duck in the same test

A piece of trivia : Do you know who topped the batting averages for both the teams in this series. Its Chaminda Vaas at 92.00

Test #1805 India in West Indies 2006 (1st Test) at Antigua Recreation Ground, St John's, Antigua

India's failure to take the one wicket they needed for victory in the 19 deliveries that they were left with to bowl one of the tailenders provides only 15th such instance of a test match ending in a draw after a side battled it out with the 10th wicket pair at the crease. This Antigua match provides only 5th occassion of no.10 and no.11 denying a victory for the opponents.

Ramaresh Sarwan completed 4000 runs in test cricket when he reached 50 during his first innings knock of 58. He thus becomes the 14th West Indian and 94th cricketer to have aggregated 4000 runs in a test career.

Wasim Jaffer while hitting a double century became only the 16th Indian and 151st cricketer to have recorded a double hundred in test cricket. His double century in this test also provides only 30th occassion of a batsman hitting a double century in a test match when no other batsman could hit even a century.

VR Singh became the 256th Indian and 2479th cricketer to have made a test appearance.

Here is an interesting fact: Do you know who has the best batting average in tests among the current team members of India. Sreesanth at 59.00