The Test Match Special statistician will be busy answering your questions throughout the season's action.

Fill in the form on the right-hand side of the page to stump the Bearded Wonder.

Daniel Brazier, England

What is the highest ever partnership between the two Waugh brothers and who was this against?

The highest partnership between the Waugh twins in all cricket was 464 unbroken and it still stands as the world record for the fifth-wicket in all first-class cricket. They shared it in a Sheffield Shield match for New South Wales against Western Australia at Perth in 1990-91.

Their best effort in Test matches was 231 for the fourth wicket against West Indies at Kingston in 1994-95 and their highest in limited-overs internationals was 207 for the third wicket against Kenya at Vishakhapatnam in the 1995-96 World Cup.

Sam, Australia

In a recent club match I played in, my batting partner bottom edged a hook shot, which, after bouncing, hit the back of his bat and popped up to the short leg who appealed for the catch. Thankfully for us the umpire turned it down. Was this decision correct?

Yes, the decision was correct, Sam. Once the ball had bounced, the batsman could not be given out caught. Law 32 (3d) states that the catch is fair if 'a fielder catches the ball after it has been lawfully struck more than once by the striker, but only if the ball has not touched the ground since first being struck.'

MRoger Santokhie, Norway

Are there any one Test century-makers? I remembered my brothers talking about a West Indian batsman from Trinidad. Is this true?

Very good to have a question from Norway. Yes, Andy Ganteaume is your man. A 27-year-old right-handed opening batsman, he scored 112 against England in his native Port-of-Spain in February 1948 in his only innings in Test cricket.

The strength of West Indian batting in the era of the three Ws was such that he was not chosen for the remaining two Tests and, although he toured England in 1957, he was unable to again make the Test eleven.

Chris, England

What is the highest number of Test matches that Australia has ever lost in succession? How about England?

Australia's worst run of successive defeats is seven, all against England, between 25 March 1885 and February 1888. England's worst run is eight in the 1920-21 (5) and 1921 (3) Ashes series.

Mansur, Cambridge

In the recent NatWest triangular series between England, Australia and Bangladesh, who hit the fastest 50? (I'm pretty sure Javed Omar's 50 at Leeds was the slowest.)

Mohammad Ashraful's 21-ball fifty, when he scored 94 off 52 balls against England at Trent Bridge, was easily the fastest of the 10-match tournament. As you correctly guessed, Javed's 113-ball effort when he scored 81 for Bangladesh against England at Headingley was the slowest. Paul Collingwood came close though in the Final when he took 108 balls over his invaluable fifty.

Minkesh, UK

Will the batsman be declared out if the ball is caught by the fielder after hitting the stumps at non-striker's end?

He certainly should be given out provided that the ball has not touched the ground before being caught. The batsman would also be out if a fielder caught a rebound off an umpire.

Nick Young, England

Bill, is it true that the great David Gower was once no-balled for throwing on one of the rare occasions when he bowled in a Test match?

Yes, it occurred at the end of the Trent Bridge Test against New Zealand in 1986 when Mike Gatting put Gower on to bowl with the scores level. By deliberately chucking the final ball of the match he completed the Kiwi's eight-wicket victory and became the first England bowler to be no-balled for throwing in a home Test. The match should have ended with that call of no-ball but, intriguingly, Donald Carr, Secretary of the TCCB, ruled that the boundary hit by Martin Crowe off that rogue but historic delivery should stand.

Jamie Brogden, England

Of the current players, who has scored most first-class centuries? I think it is Graham Hick but I will bow down to the expert if I am wrong.

No need to bow, Jamie. Hick's current tally of 127 places him tenth in the all-time first-class list. Three more hundreds will take him above Graham Gooch (128) and Len Hutton (129). Now aged 39, he is unlikely to challenge Frank Woolley whose 145 centuries is the seventh highest. The top six are Jack Hobbs (197), 'Patsy' Hendren (170), Wally Hammond (167), Phil Mead (153), Geoffrey Boycott (151) and Herbert Sutcliffe (149). Hick's closest currently playing rival is Mark Ramprakash with 76.

Greg, England

I've noticed how many people have been on hat-tricks in this year's NatWest series and I was wondering whether there's ever been more than one hat-trick taken in the same match?

Australian leg-spinner T.J. 'Jimmy' Matthews created an unparalleled Test record at Old Trafford on 28 May 1912 in the opening match of an inaugural nine-Test Triangular Tournament when he took a hat-trick in each South African innings.

Stewart Baxby, England

As a youngster, playing in the street, we played with option of bowling an Australian eight- ball over. Did they ever exist and, if so, when did they conform and bowl the standard six-ball over?

At Test level Australia employed eight-ball overs in 1924-25 and also from 1936-37 until the end of the 1978-79 season. At the end of Kerry Packer's two seasons of World Series Cricket, the ACB reverted to six-ball overs. They had been in use from 1891-92 to 1920-21 and from 1928-29 to 1932-33 inclusive. The change allowed more end-of over commercial breaks for television. Eight-ball overs were given a two-year trial in England in 1939 but the experiment ended with the outbreak of the Second World War. South Africa used them from 1938-39 to 1957-58, New Zealand from 1968-69 to 1978-79 and Pakistan from 1974-75 to 1977-78.

Raj Sawhney, England

Please could you list the top five limited-overs international scores by Indian batsmen outside India?

Certainly, Raj. 183 by S.C.Ganguly v Sri Lanka at Taunton in 1999; 175 not out by Kapil Dev v Zimbabwe, Tunbridge Wells, 1983; 152 by S.R.Tendulkar v Namibia, Pietermaritzburg, 2002-03; 146 by S.R.Tendulkar v Kenya, Paarl, 2001-02; and 145 by R.Dravid v Sri Lanka, Taunton, 1999.

Nicholas, Australia

I believe Ricky Ponting's century against Pakistan earlier this year was his first since becoming Australian Test captain after Steve Waugh's retirement. However, didn't he score a century when standing in as captain for Waugh after he was injured in Sri Lanka? Which would be considered his first century as captain for official statistical purposes?

Ponting's first hundred as Test captain of Australia was indeed his 207 v Pakistan at Sydney last January during his tenth match in office (his 18th innings). He did not deputise for Steve Waugh after the latter's collision with Jason Gillespie in Kandy because Waugh played in the very next Test of that rubber. Had Ponting scored a century while deputising as captain (for the entire match) that would have counted as his first in office.