Captains sharing a surname

Steve Smith is the second Test captain of that surname in recent memory, after Graeme Smith. How many other captains named Smith have there been, and is Smith the most common surname for a Test captain? - Tatenda Mushangwe

There have been a total of five Test captains with the surname Smith: before Graeme and Steve, there were Aubrey Smith (who captained England in his only Test, against South Africa in 1889, before going on to a rather lengthier career as a Hollywood actor), Mike Smith (25 matches as captain of England in the 1960s) and Ian Smith (who was New Zealand's regular wicket-keeper in the 1980s and early 90s, and captained them once). It is indeed the most common surname among Test captains, the others to have produced more than one being:

FOUR:

Khan - Majid, Imran, Moin, Younis (all Pakistan)

Taylor - Herbie (South Africa), Mark (Australia), Ross (New Zealand), Brendan (Zimbabwe)

THREE:

Ahmed - Ghulam (India), Imtiaz (Pakistan), Saeed (Pakistan)

TWO:

Brown - Bill (Australia), Freddie (England)

Carr - Arthur, Donald (both England)

Chappell - Ian, Greg (both Australia)

Cowdrey - Colin, Chris (both England)

Crowe - Jeff, Martin (both New Zealand)

de Silva - Somachandra, Aravinda (both Sri Lanka)

Gilligan - Arthur, Harold (both England)

Goddard - John (West Indies), Trevor (South Africa)

Grant - Jackie, Rolph (both West Indies)

Gregory - Dave, Syd (both Australia)

Mann - Frank, George (both England)

Pataudi - Nawab senior and junior (both India)

Richards - Alfred (South Africa), Viv (West Indies)

Richardson - Vic (Australia), Richie (West Indies)

Note: the Chappells, Crowes, Gilligans and Grants were brothers; the Cowdreys, Manns and Pataudis were father and son; Majid and Imran Khan were cousins; Dave and Syd Gregory were uncle and nephew. All the other namesakes were unrelated.

Michael Jones/Arnold D'Souza

No home Tests in a year, doubles in most countries, players wearing glasses, and the number of first-class matches

India didn't play a home Test in 2014. When was the last calendar year this happened? - Sivakumar Venkatesan

The last year in which India didn't host a Test was 1992, when they played three in Australia, one in Zimbabwe (the hosts' inaugural Test) and three in South Africa, but none at home. It was the third year in four they had done so: after hosting nine Tests in 1987 and four in 1988, they only played a solitary home match (against Sri Lanka at Chandigarh in November 1990) in the next four years, before a three match series against England in 1993. - Ramesh Parajuli Avi

Kumar Sangakkara has now scored Test double centuries in six different countries (Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, UAE and New Zealand). Has anyone else done this? - Anusha Ranaweera

No, Sangakkara is the first to reach this milestone, beating Brian Lara's previous mark of five (West Indies, Australia, Sri Lanka, South Africa and Pakistan). Younis Khan also currently has five (Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, UAE and Zimbabwe), and still has the chance to add to his collection. - Michael Jones

Did Harry Bromfield, who played 9 Tests for South Africa between 1961 and 1965, wear glasses on the field? - Ashru Mitra

Yes, he did - the 1965 series featured five bespectacled players (Geoff Boycott, MJK Smith, Eddie Barlow, Peter van der Merwe and Bromfield). - Mike Leach

The current Test match between New Zealand and Sri Lanka is number 2155 in the chronological ordering. How many first-class matches have been played? - Richard Mackey

Cricket Archive numbers all its first-class matches. Right now there are 56,047 matches in its database, from 1772 to the end of 2014; new matches are added on an almost daily basis. - Charles Davis

Most centuries in first 100 Tests, and most away runs in 2014

Who scored most centuries in their first 100 Tests? - Kazim Krunchoo

There's a three-way tie at the top here: Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar and Matthew Hayden all scored 30 centuries in their first 100 matches. Ricky Ponting and Kumar Sangakkara follow with 28, Michael Clarke 26, Graeme Smith and Alastair Cook 25. Don Bradman scored 29 centuries, and only played 52 matches; Garry Sobers made 26 in 93 matches. Younis Khan currently has 28 in 96, so if he continues his recent good form he may equal or even break the record. - Michael Jones

Who scored most Test and ODI runs away from home in 2014? - Sivakumar Venkatesan

Counting away matches only (i.e. the home of the opposition), Murali Vijay led the way in Tests with 852 runs, and Hashim Amla in ODIs with 800. Including all matches outside the player's own country (and excluding Pakistani batsmen, since all their "home" matches are played in a neutral country), Kumar Sangakkara's 943 was the most in Tests, and Amla retains the top spot in ODIs with 892. - Martin Briggs