Ask the Umpire - cricket trivia
Sunday 20 April
Niall: Could you tell me what Micheal Vaughan's Test batting average is since returning from injury last year? Thanks.
The Umpire: It's 40.18 thanks to a run glut against the Windies last summer: 884 runs in 22 innings.
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Saturday 19 April
Blue Seagull: Hi Umps. With Stuart Broad being Chris's son what other father-son combinations have played for England? And have any of them played together?
The Umpire: The Broads are the latest in quite a list of fathers and sons who've played for England: A R Butcher and M A Butcher; M C Cowdrey and C S Cowdrey; J Hardstaff snr and J Hardstaff jnr; L Hutton and RA Hutton; I J Jones and S P Jones; F G Mann and F T Mann; J H Parks and JM Parks; A Sidebottom and R J Sidebottom; MJ Stewart and A J Stewart; F W Tate and M W Tate; C L Townsend and D C H Townsend. None of the father/son combinations played in the same game.
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Friday 18 April
Matthew, Driffield: Hi Ump. Could you please tell me what Mark Ramprakash's first class average is since he left Middlesex?
The Umpire: In the County Championship, he has made 10462 runs at an average of 75.27.
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Thursday 17 April
Harry: Did I ask a difficult question? Please can you reply to my question who is ranked No.2 in Test cricket?
The Umpire: Do you mean team or individual? If it's the former, India are second with a Test championship rating of 111 compared with Australia's 141. South Africa are third on 109, with England fourth on 108. As regards individuals, the top three batters are: 1, Hussey; 2, Ponting; 3, Sangakkara. Bowling: 1, Murali; 2, Steyn; 3, Clark.
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Wednesday 16 April
Me: Can you give me the ODI, Test and first class bowling stats for Sharma and Broad? Me and my mate got a debate going on who is the better bowler. Also who is the quicker bowler?
The Umpire says: Sharma and Broad are two of the brightest prospects in world cricket, and their stats are not dissimilar. Sharma has a Test bowling average of 36.47 and economy rate of 3.52, compared with Broad's 38.33 and econ rate of 2.87. ODIs: Sharma av 23.07, econ 4.66; Broad av 29.34, econ 5.09; first class: Sharma av 27.17, econ 3.02; Broad av 29.14, econ 3.54. As for batting, Sharma's Test average is 28.50, Broad 23. As for speed, Sharma was clocked at around 135-140kph during India's series against Australia. I suspect that Broad is slightly slower in the main, but he occasionally can produce a real quickie.
