Who has hit the most sixes in an IPL season?

Kamindu Mendis had a Test average of 109 after three innings. What's the highest average at that point of a career? asked Sa-aadat Parker from South Africa
In what was only his second Test, Sri Lanka's Kamindu Mendis hit 102 and 164 against Bangladesh in Sylhet recently. As he'd scored 61 in his only other Test, against Australia in Galle in July 2022, this gave him an average of 109 after three innings.

This is not terribly exceptional: Mendis lies 29th of the 43 batters who had an average of 100 or more after three Test innings. Top of the list is England's Ian Bell, who averaged 297 after three innings (70, 65 not out and 162 not out). Faf du Plessis averaged 266 (78, 110 not out and 78 not out), and Frank Worrell 256 (97, 28 not out, 131 not out). As those scores suggest, many of these averages were boosted by not-outs: Mendis actually has the highest average of anyone who was dismissed in all three innings.

To answer another question, Mendis was the first to score twin centuries in a Test after coming in at No. 7 or lower in both innings. And his partner in two big stands in Sylhet, Dhananjaya de Silva, was only the third to score two from No. 6, after Allan Border (Australia vs Pakistan in Lahore in 1979-80) and another Sri Lankan in Tillakaratne Dilshan (against Bangladesh in Chattogram in 2008-09).

Who has hit the most sixes in an IPL season? asked Sadanand Patel from India
Chris Gayle leads the way here, with 59 sixes for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in 2012. He's also third on the list, with 51 in 2013, and fifth with 44 in 2011. In between come Andre Russell, with 52 sixes for Kolkata Knight Riders in 2019, and Jos Buttler, with 45 for Rajasthan Royals in 2022.

Overall, Gayle still leads the way, despite not having featured in the IPL since 2021. He hit 357 sixes in all in the IPL, and is still nearly 100 ahead of the next man, Rohit Sharma.

What's the highest total made in the fourth innings of a Test to win by ten wickets? asked Laurie McKenzie from England
The highest to win a Test by ten wickets is Australia's 173 for 0 against England in Brisbane in 2017-18, when David Warner made 87 and Cameron Bancroft 82. That just eclipsed Australia's 172 for 0 to beat West Indies in Adelaide in 1930-31, when Bill Ponsford scored 92 and Archie Jackson 70.

There is one higher fourth-innings total in a draw: West Indies ran up 250 for 0 against Australia in Georgetown in 1983-84 (Gordon Greenidge 120, Desmond Haynes 103) after being set 323 to win in 260 minutes. For a list, click here.

The highest to win a men's ODI by ten wickets is South Africa's 282 for 0 (Quinton de Kock 168, Hashim Amla 110) against Bangladesh in Kimberley in 2017-18, while the T20I record is Pakistan's 203 for 0 (Babar Azam 110, Mohammad Rizwan 88) against England in Karachi in 2022-23.

In women's ODIs, Australia made 221 for 0 (Annabel Sutherland 109, Phoebe Litchfield 106) to beat Ireland in Dublin in 2023, while in T20Is Sri Lanka scored 143 for 0 (Chamari Athapaththu 80, Harshitha Samarawickrama 49) to beat New Zealand in Colombo in 2023.

Who was the youngest Test cricketer to die? And who holds this sad record in one-day and T20 internationals? asked Zaheer Ahmed from the United States
The holder of this mournful record is the Bangladesh allrounder Manzural Islam Rana, who played six Test matches during 2004 but was only 22 when he was killed in a road accident in Khulna in March 2007. Next comes someone who, coincidentally, was mentioned in the previous answer: the brilliant Australian batter Archie Jackson hit 164 on his Test debut, against England in Adelaide in 1928-29, when only 19, but died of tuberculosis four years later.

Manzurul is also the youngest male ODI player to die; next is the Sri Lankan seamer Stanley de Silva, who was 23 when he was killed - also in a road accident - in 1980. The youngest T20 international player to pass away was Australia's Phillip Hughes, who was just short of his 26th birthday when he succumbed to injury after being hit in a match in November 2014.

I noticed that despite playing 277 international matches in all, Jonny Bairstow has never bowled a single delivery. Is there anyone who has played more and never bowled? asked Nair Ottappalam from India
Jonny Bairstow turns out to come in surprisingly low on this particular list: his 277 matches without bowling places him only 12th. Leading the way is Mushfiqur Rahim of Bangladesh: the second Test against Sri Lanka in Chattogram was his 462nd international match, and he didn't bowl in the first 461.

Next come Adam Gilchrist, who played in 396 international matches without ever bowling, and the first non-wicketkeeper in Eoin Morgan (379).

Bairstow is only the fourth player to appear in 100 Tests without bowling at all: Ian Healy leads the way with 119, Stephen Fleming played 111, and Andrew Strauss also 100.

Kumar Sangakkara played 404 one-day internationals without ever bowling, Mark Boucher 295, Gilchrist 287, and Mushfiqur 271 so far. Two non-wicketkeepers lead the way in T20 internationals: the South African David Miller has so far appeared in 116 without bowling, while Morgan played 115.

Alyssa Healy has so far played 153 women's T20Is without bowling, Smriti Mandhana 128, and Tammy Beaumont 102. To date Healy has played 263 internationals in all formats without being called upon to bowl, Beaumont 220 and Mandhana 216.