CricViz answers BBC Sport readers’ Test cricket statistics questions

During England's first Test against Pakistan, BBC Sport invited readers to submit statistical questions for CricViz and published the first selection of answers on 25 August 2026.

The feature, Ask CricViz, presents ball-by-ball and historical data across recent Tests; the published answers note that all Test statistics include the Australia v Bangladesh Test in Mackay but exclude the ongoing Sri Lanka v India Test in Colombo. Readers posed a wide range of queries covering hat-tricks, partnerships, DRS, shot outcomes and long-term run projections.

CricViz reports that in Tests with available ball-by-ball data there have been 1,355 instances of a bowler taking wickets on two consecutive balls, with only 43 of those (3.2%) converted into a hat-trick; there have been 49 hat-tricks in Test history but ball-by-ball details exist for 43. Josh Tongue has recorded two wickets in two balls on four occasions without ever completing a hat-trick, including two instances in the recent Test versus Pakistan at Headingley, one in the Melbourne Ashes Test in December 2025 and one against India at Headingley in June 2025. Australia’s Mitchell Starc has taken wickets in two consecutive balls 17 times in Tests and has not registered a hat-trick.

CricViz told a reader, "You're spot on with your observation," confirming Joe Root has been involved in 50-plus run partnerships with 45 distinct partners in Tests, the joint-most alongside Shivnarine Chanderpaul. The 150-run stand with Jordan Cox at Headingley was Root's 88th involvement in a 100-plus partnership, the joint-most in Test history on par with Rahul Dravid.

On deliveries projected to hit the stumps since 2006, former Pakistan all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez leads with 41% of his balls shown to be projected to hit the stumps; among pace bowlers Paul Collingwood leads with just under 19%. Tests in Bangladesh record the highest percentage of deliveries hitting the stumps at 27%, while Australia has the lowest at 12%.

CricViz's review data shows Bangladesh's Liton Das has the highest DRS success rate among batters who took 15 or more reviews since 2016, with 68.8% (11 out of 16) of his reviews overturned, followed by Cheteshwar Pujara at 60% (9 out of 15) and Kraigg Brathwaite at 55.6% (10 out of 18). From a bowler’s perspective, Kemar Roach has the highest success rate among those with 15 or more reviews at 35% (14 out of 40), with England's Chris Woakes at 29.4% (10 out of 34) and Stuart Broad at 29.1% (16 out of 55).

Joe Root sits on 14,180 Test runs, 1,741 behind Sachin Tendulkar's 15,921, and has scored 2,794 runs in 32 Tests and 58 innings in Tests since the start of 2024, averaging 47.6 runs per innings in that span. At that rate CricViz calculates Root would require a further 37 innings — approximately 20 Tests — to surpass Tendulkar. The piece lists England's scheduled matches through to August 2027: two more Tests in the current Pakistan series, three away Tests in South Africa in December and January 2027, two away Tests in Bangladesh in February 2027, a one-off 150th Anniversary Test versus Australia at the MCG in March 2027, one home Test against Bangladesh at Lord's in May 2027 and five Ashes Tests in June and August 2027; CricViz notes he has another 14 Tests to the end of the next home summer and says it could be 15 Tests if England qualify for the World Test Championship final.

Additional answers covered a range of statistical details: in Tests since 2006 deliveries from pace bowlers in the 84-85mph range have produced the most wickets with 1,594, and the single most productive decimal speed is 84.6mph with 193 wickets. Against pace in Test cricket over the last three years, defensive shots see a dismissal every 41 deliveries, cuts every 40.4 balls and flicks every 38.1; driving carries a strike-rate of 123 with a dismissal rate of 31.9 (10 balls lower than defensive strokes), hooks every 15 balls and pulls every 22.7 balls per dismissal, while leaving results in a dismissal every 295.5 balls. The second ball of the over has produced the most Test wickets on 11,866 occasions, followed by the fifth ball on 11,787, and the most common team score in Tests is 296 (44 instances) with 191 and 223 next; the most common individual score is 0 with 11,877 instances (including dismissals and not outs), followed by 1 (4,684) and 4 (3,897). MS Dhoni has hit a six to win an ODI or T20I 12 times (ODIs 9, T20Is 3), the most in limited-overs international cricket, ahead of Virat Kohli on nine (ODIs 5, T20Is 4), Eoin Morgan on eight (ODIs 3, T20Is 5), Jos Buttler on eight (ODIs 5, T20Is 3), Shoaib Malik on seven (ODIs 4, T20Is 3) and KL Rahul on seven (ODIs 6, T20Is 1).

Readers additionally asked CricViz to name the top 20 men's Test batters and the top 20 men's Test bowlers, questions included at the end of the Q&A for further exploration.