Smith & Vaughan: captains together

Sky Sports' cricket stats man Benedict Bermange has teamed up with skysports.com to bring you statistical highlights from our cricket coverage of the past week.

Or if you've been stumped by a quiz question down the local, just email Benedict here or fill out the comment form at the bottom of the page and he will answer your questions.

Marvel at these captains

At Headingley, Michael Vaughan became the second England player and the eleventh overall to captain his country in 50 Test matches:

When South Africa wrapped up victory, Graeme Smith overtook Hansie Cronje's record of 27 victories as South Africa captain.

Paul Collingwood missed out on being selected for this Test, so his consecutive matches streak ended at 33. It was the second-longest of any of the current squad - this match was Pietersen's 41st consecutive Test.

Darren Pattinson's brother James has recently played for Australia in the Under-19 World Cup. Only once in Test history have brothers played against each other. In March 1892 at Cape Town, Alec & George Hearne played for England while brother Frank played for South Africa.

It has occurred once In One Day Internationals. At Stormont in June 2006, Ed Joyce took the field for England while brother Dominick played for Ireland.

Playing the averages

Graeme Smith and Neil McKenzie have the highest average opening partnership of any pair who have added at least 1,000 runs together for the first wicket:

The second Test was just the second time in their history that both South African numbers 5 and 6 have scored centuries in the same Test innings. The only previous occasion was earlier this year by the same two batsmen against West Indies at Durban.

James Anderson and Alastair Cook have only batted together twice for England but have put on at least fifty on both occasions. They added 66 at The Oval against India last year and 59 at Headingley.

Century men

Ashwell Prince's century was his third in consecutive matches on this tour. However, he is some way short of the most consecutive matches in which a touring player in England has scored a century:

Working together

Mark Boucher has now taken 73 catches from the bowling of Makhaya Ntini, which places the pair fifth all-time:

Benedict answers your questions...

NUMBERS GAME
Please can you tell me what is the relevance of the number on each of the players shirts located just below the England crest -for example KP - 626. Many thanks, Andrew Fennell
BENEDICT REPLIES:The number of the shirts refers to the cap number they are for England. So Kevin Pietersen was the 626th player to represent England in Test cricket. At Headingley, Darren Pattinson became the 640th.

COINCIDENCE?
I've noticed in all forms of cricket that a wicket falls on the last ball of the over countless times, I suppose it's coincidence, but I find it interesting. (You do brilliant work) Paul
BENEDICT REPLIES: I do not have records for all Tests ever played, but here is a breakdown of Test wickets from 1998 to 2008 by ball in the over:

Quite why the fifth ball is so high I don't really know. It could be a result of higher-order batsmen taking a single to try and keep the strike for the next over, but then the tail-ender is dismissed next delivery.

SIX OF THE BEST
Hi Benedict, In relation to your "stats all" feature i would like to how many batsmen have managed to hit the ball outside of a ground during international cricket?!John Williams
BENEDICT REPLIES: In order to hit a six, the batsman used to have to hit the ball out of the ground, before the law was changed in 1910 to allowing any hit that cleared the boundary. Unfortunately records are not now kept as to which sixes remain inside and which have gone outside the ground. I would imagine that Sanath Jayasuriya and Shahid Afridi - who have hit the most sixes in international cricket - would probably be at the top of the list.

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