The 100-Test men, and an 11-county team

Graham Thorpe recently became the latest man to play in 100 Tests. Who was the first? asked Simon Sinclair from Bristol

Graham Thorpe, whose 100th Test was the second one against Bangladesh at Chester-le-Street, is the 32nd man to win 100 Test caps. Eight of them are English, including the first man to play a century of Tests, Colin Cowdrey. He marked his 100th Test, at Edgbaston in 1968, with a century against Australia (four others have scored a hundred in their 100th Test: Javed Miandad, Gordon Greenidge, Alec Stewart and Inzamam-ul-Haq - for details, click here). And for a full list of the most-capped Test players, click here.

The England team for the first Bangladesh Test included players from ten different counties - has there ever been a team made up from 11 counties? asked Martin Burns

As far as I can see this has only happened twice. The first time was in South Africa in 1930-31, at Durban, when England's team was Bob Wyatt (Warwickshire), Wally Hammond (Gloucestershire), Maurice Leyland (Yorkshire), Patsy Hendren (Middlesex), Maurice Turnbull (Glamorgan), Percy Chapman (Kent, capt), Jack "Farmer" White (Somerset), Maurice Allom (Surrey), Maurice Tate (Sussex), Bill Voce (Nottinghamshire) and George Duckworth (Lancashire, wk). This side probably also set a record for the most Maurices in one team (and the Maurices Allom and Turnbull later wrote an entertaining book about the tour). Ian Peebles played in the other four Tests in that series, meaning those teams included two players from Middlesex. It happened again against West Indies at Trent Bridge in 1950, when the team was Reg Simpson (Nottinghamshire), Cyril Washbrook (Lancashire), Gilbert Parkhouse (Glamorgan), John Dewes (Middlesex), Norman Yardley (Yorkshire, capt), Doug Insole (Essex), Godfrey Evans (Kent, wk), Derek Shackleton (Hampshire), Roley Jenkins (Worcestershire), Alec Bedser (Surrey) and Eric Hollies (Warwickshire). There have been some near-misses (other tens) since, but not other 11-county line-ups. England used 25 different players in that famous four-match series in 1950.

There's a lot of fuss made about Bangladesh taking a long time to win a Test - but how long did it take Zimbabwe to win one? asked Ramesh Mithra from Chennai

Zimbabwe's first win came in their 11th Test, against Pakistan at Harare in 1994-95, a little more than two years after their first Test match in October 1992. They have now won eight of their 79 Tests, and lost 45. Bangladesh's record, before the second Test against England, read played 37, won 1, drawn 4, lost 32.

Who has captained his country in the most ODIs? My bet is Steve Waugh ... asked Terry Good from Sydney

I'm afraid you lose your bet ... Steve Waugh is one of only 11 men who have skippered in more than 100 ODIs - he did 106 - but he's well short of the record. That currently stands at 193, by Arjuna Ranatunga of Sri Lanka. Stephen Fleming, who's currently done 174, might overtake him in the next year or two, while Sourav Ganguly is on 142. For a full list, click here.

Did Fazal Mahmood, who died last week, play for India as well as Pakistan? asked Imtiaz Mohammad from Peshawar

No, Fazal Mahmood didn't play in an official Test for India, although he did play first-class cricket there before Partition, and the creation of Pakistan, in 1947. He was considered for selection for India's tour of England in 1946, but was eventually thought to be too young at 19, and he was chosen for the tour of Australia in 1947-48, but pulled out after Partition. Pakistan became a Test-playing nation in 1952-53, largely thanks to Fazal's efforts in unofficial Tests, and he went on to take 139 wickets at 24.70 in his 39 Tests. He died last week, aged 78.

Who has taken the most catches in the World Cup? asked Arveen Reddy from Goa

Overall the leading World Cup catcher is Adam Gilchrist, of Australia, with 33 catches in 20 matches. He has also made two stumpings. Gilchrist is well clear of Moin Khan, of Pakistan, who has taken 23 catches (and seven stumpings). The most by a non-wicketkeeper is 18, by Australia's Ricky Ponting, in 28 matches.

Grant Dexter from Taiwan wrote: "In response to the question about players involved in games at grounds that carry their name: Ali Hassimshah Omarshah of Zimbabwe played at the Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi (might be pushing it a bit, but he does have `Shah' twice in his name); Navjot Singh Sidhu played at the KD `Babu' Singh Stadium in Lucknow (and did pretty well too); and Ravi Shastri played at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium in Hyderabad." Tom Iceton from Australia added: "Asif Iqbal played at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad. George Ulyett and George Lohmann played at St George's Park, Port Elizabeth (I'm sure there have been others). Gordon Greenidge played at Green Park, Kanpur. And Jim Parks played at three parks - Queen's Park in Trinidad, Eden Park in Auckland and Sabina Park in Jamaica." Several people pointed out that Stuart MacGill's full initials are SCG, and that he has often appeared at the SCG ... and Nitin Bajaj enquired whether "WACA Younis" counted, since he had played at Perth ...