Declaring twice and losing, and the 100-Test wonders

Graeme Smith declared twice in the Sydney Test - and lost. Has this ever happened before? asked Johan van der Knaap from Pretoria

It has only happened once before - in 1967-68, when Garry Sobers of West Indies declared twice at Port-of-Spain, and ended up not only losing the match to England, but the series too. There's a case for saying it also happened in the infamous match at Centurion in 1999-2000, when Hansie Cronje of South Africa earned himself a leather jacket by declaring his first innings and forfeiting the second in a bid to ensure a positive result against England. On 22 other occasions a captain has lost a Test match after declaring one of his innings. The most recent before the one at Sydney last week was in 2004, when West Indies declared their first innings of the third Test at Old Trafford, but ended up losing. For Andrew Miller's recent piece on declarations that failed, click here.

How many batsmen have scored a century in their 100th Test, as Ricky Ponting has just done? asked Belinda Green from Melbourne

Ricky Ponting was the sixth man to score a hundred in his 100th Test - but the first to make two. The first one to do it was also the first man to play a century of Tests - Colin Cowdrey, for England against Australia at Edgbaston in 1968. Since then the feat has also been achieved by Javed Miandad, Gordon Greenidge, Alec Stewart and Inzamam-ul-Haq, before Ponting joined the club at Sydney. For a full list, including the matches, click here.

Jeetan Patel, New Zealand's supersub, won the Man of the Match award in one of the ODIs against Sri Lanka last week. Is this the first time the supersub has won the award? asked Ross Simmonds

Patel did indeed do this in the match against Sri Lanka in Wellington last week. But it was another New Zealander who was the first supersub to win a Man of the Match award: Shane Bond, who took 6 for 19 after replacing Nathan Astle against Indiaat Bulawayo in August 2005.

How many Tests and ODIs have India and Pakistan played, and what are the results? asked Ali Baig from Canada

Prior to the series which begins on Friday India and Pakistan had played 53 Test matches - Pakistan have won eleven and India eight, with 34 draws (12 of them in a row between 1952-53 and 1960-61). Of those, 23 have been played in Pakistan, who have won six to India's two. The two countries have also contested 101 ODIs, of which Pakistan have won 62 and India 35, with four no-results. Of those, 20 have been in Pakistan, who lead 12-6 in wins with two no-results.

Who threw the rugby ball to Glenn McGrath when he got injured at Edgbaston? asked Timmy Chambers

The unfortunate man who might just have turned the destiny of the Ashes shortly before last year's dramatic Edgbaston Test was Australia's reserve wicketkeeper. Glenn McGrath explained at the time: "I was just standing there with Brad Haddin. I turned to chase a ball, and my first step planted straight on top of a cricket ball that was on the ground. I'd seen them laid out earlier and thought how neat they looked - it was just one of those things ... I knew before I hit the ground that I was out of the match."

I have a question that has bothered me for a long time. Can you tell me the name of the ocean liner that took Douglas Jardine's famous "Bodyline" team to Australia? asked David O'Keeffe

Douglas Jardine faces the media ahead of sailing off in Orontes to Australia in 1932 © Cricinfo Ltd

Just about the definitive account of that infamous 1932-33 tour is David Frith's superb 2002 book Bodyline Autopsy, so I had a look in there. He says: "On Saturday, September 17, 1932, the English (MCC) team gathered on the deck of the Orient Line steamship Orontes to be introduced to the captain by their captain, DR Jardine." The voyage took 31 days: the ship stopped at Gibraltar, Toulon, Naples, Port Said, Aden and Colombo before berthing in Fremantle, near Perth in Western Australia, for the start of what - until 2005 at least - was cricket's most dramatic series.