Was Shoaib Bashir the youngest bowler to take a five-for in England?
And which player made a hundred and took a hat-trick in the same Test?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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."
Steven Lynch is the editor of the updated edition of Wisden on the Ashes