Was Shoaib Bashir the youngest bowler to take a five-for in England?

Did I hear right from the TV commentary from Trent Bridge that Shoaib Bashir was the youngest ever to take a Test five-for in England? asked Keith McDonald from Scotland
That's nearly right: the tall Somerset offspinner Shoaib Bashir was the youngest to take five Test wickets in an innings for England in England during the second Test against West Indies at Trent Bridge earlier this month. He was 20 years and 282 days old, 16 days younger than Jimmy Anderson when he took 5 for 73 on his debut against Zimbabwe at Lord's in 2003.

Seven visiting bowlers have taken a five-for in a Test in England when younger than Bashir. Youngest of all was Mohammad Amir, who was 18 when he took 5 for 52 for Pakistan at The Oval in 2010. The others are Ramakant "Tiny" Desai for India at Lord's in 1959 , Graham McKenzie for Australia at Lord's in 1961 , Alf Valentine for West Indies at Old Trafford in 1950, Craig McDermott for Australia at Lord's in 1985, Chetan Sharma for India at Lord's in 1986, and Kapil Dev for India at Edgbaston in 1979. Apart from Desai, who was 19, the others were all 20 years old. Dwayne Bravo (for West Indies at Old Trafford in 2004) also took a five-for before turning 21, but he was older than Bashir and Anderson.

This was Bashir's third Test five-for: the only younger man to take one for England anywhere is Rehan Ahmed, who was just 18 when he claimed 5 for 48 against Pakistan in Karachi in December 2022. The only other man to take five wickets in a Test for England before turning 21 was the Nottinghamshire left-arm seamer Bill Voce, who was 20 (and 182 days) when he took 7 for 70 against West Indies in Port-of Spain in 1929-30. For the list of the youngest men to take five wickets in an innings in all Tests, click here.

The first three innings of the Nottingham Test all produced more than 400 runs. How often has this happened? And was it really the first time England had reached 400 twice in a Test? asked Keith D'Souza from Spain
The match between England and West Indies at Trent Bridge provided only the tenth instance of a Test containing three totals in excess of 400. In three of those, one of the 400s came in the fourth innings of the match. They included two of the most famous of all Tests: the ten-day timeless Test between England and South Africa in Durban in 1938-39, which ended in a draw when England - 654 for 5 chasing 696 to win - had to leave to catch the boat home, and the Headingley Test of 1948 , when the "Invincible" Australians led by Don Bradman chased down 404 to win on the final day, the 39-year-old Don finishing with 173 not out, his 29th and last Test century.

Surprisingly, this was indeed the first time in all of their 1073 Tests that England had reached 400 in both innings. Perhaps it's not so surprising when you discover that there have been only ten other instances of a side passing 400 twice, one of them earlier this year by India against England in Rajkot.

Ollie Pope has now made six Test centuries, all against six different countries. Is this a record? asked Andrew Brownjohn from England
Ollie Pope's 121 in the recent second Test at Trent Bridge was indeed his sixth Test century, all against different opponents. I was rather surprised to discover that he was the ninth batter to make his first six Test tons against different countries, following Quinton de Koc (South Africa), Dhananjaya de Silva (Sri Lanka), Dimuth Karunaratne (Sri Lanka), Henry Nicholls (New Zealand), Ricky Ponting (Australia), Ashwell Prince (South Africa), Thilan Samaraweera (Sri Lanka) and Virender Sehwag (India). Straying into what-if territory, Pope has a chance to become the first to score his first seven centuries against different opponents later this summer in the series against Sri Lanka. De Kock made six hundreds in his Test career, which appears to have ended in December 2021 - but he could make it seven if he were to make a return.

The record in one-day internationals is held by Ireland's William Porterfield, whose first nine centuries were all against different opposition. Sean Williams of Zimbabwe comes next: his eight ODI hundreds to date have all come against different countries.

Peter Moor, who used to represent Zimbabwe, played a Test against them last week. How many others have played a Test against their former country? asked Richard Stone from Zimbabwe
When he made his debut for Ireland against Bangladesh in Mirpur in April 2023, Peter Moor became the 17th man to have represented two countries in Test cricket. Interestingly, the last of Moor's eight Tests for Zimbabwe was also against Bangladesh in Mirpur, in November 2018; he made 83, his highest Test score to date. Moor faced his former countrymen in the first Test played at the Stormont ground in Belfast, in Northern Ireland, last week.

Moor is the ninth of those 17 men to play for his new country against the old one. The first to do this was Billy Midwinter, who remains the only man to appear on both sides in England-Australia Tests (and also the only one to be kidnapped by WG Grace). The England pair of Frank Hearne and Frank Mitchell both played for England against South Africa, then emigrated to South Africa and played against England (Mitchell as captain).

The Nawab of Pataudi senior played for England, scoring a century on debut in Sydney during the 1932-33 Bodyline series, and later captained India in England in 1946. Abdul Hafeez Kardar and Amir Elahi represented India before Partition and Pakistan against India afterwards. Wicketkeeper Sammy Guillen played for West Indies in New Zealand in 1951-52, and liked the place so much he decided to go and live there: he was given special permission to play against West Indies in 1955-56, and was instrumental in New Zealand's first Test win after 26 years, in Auckland. And finally Kepler Wessels played for Australia, then returned to his native South Africa and captained them in Australia in 1993-94.

Four of the others - Billy Murdoch, Jack Ferris, Sammy Woods and Albert Trott - played against England for Australia, then for England against South Africa (but did not oppose Australia). And four more - Gul Mohammad, John Traicos, Boyd Rankin and Gary Ballance - played for a second country against different opposition entirely. For the full list of men who have represented two countries in a Test, click here. No women have yet represented two different countries in Tests.

Which player scored a hundred and took a hat-trick in the same Test? asked Joel Pojas from the Philippines
The only man to achieve this remarkable all-round feat is the Bangladesh offspinner Sohag Gazi, who followed his unbeaten 101 against New Zealand in Chattogram in 2013-14 with a hat-trick towards the end of the visitors' second innings. "As much as the hat-trick, I was happy with the hundred," he said afterwards. "I helped the team in a vital moment, and I batted with the tail."

But the first person to do it in a Test match was a woman: Australia's Betty Wilson enjoyed a remarkable match at St Kilda in Melbourne in 1957-58. After taking 7 for 7 and rounding off England's innings of 35 with a hat-trick, Wilson scored exactly 100 as Australia - skittled themselves for 38 in the first innings - made 202 for 9 before setting a target of 206 in what became 64 overs. England survived - just, finishing with 76 for 8: Wilson took 4 for 9 this time, and finished with eye-popping match figures of 29.3-18-16-11.

Only eight other men have taken a hat-trick and scored a century at some point during their Test career: Johnny Briggs, Stuart Broad and Moeen Ali (England), Wasim Akram and Abdul Razzaq (Pakistan), Harbhajan Singh and Irfan Pathan (India), and James Franklin (New Zealand). For the list of Test hat-tricks, click here.