What's the longest winning streak in the IPL?
Also: has anyone taken the first nine wickets in a Test innings, but missed out on the tenth?
There are currently 17 instances of a bowler taking nine wickets in a Test innings (plus three cases of ten). The only one that fits the bill here is Muthiah Muralidaran's 9 for 51 against Zimbabwe in Kandy in January 2002. Murali took the first nine but, after the last pair had added 35, Chaminda Vaas nipped in and took the tenth.
"… events on the field were dominated by Muralitharan's failure to capture the last wicket in the morning. The off-spinner, hampered by torn ligaments in his ring finger dislocated the night before, would have surpassed fellow off-spinner Jim Laker's ten for 53 against Australians in 1956 if Russel Arnold had not fumbled a simple bat-pad catch off the first ball of the day. Then, fifth ball, Muralitharan spun an off-break sharply back into the pads of Travis Friend only to see umpire Venkatraghavan rule in the batsman's favour. Next over, Vaas ran through the motions, bowling gentle medium pace at number 11 Henry Olonga. But the dreadlocked tailender couldn't resist a swipe the left-armers last ball and was caught behind by Kumar Sangakkara. There was a stifled appeal and a moment of silence - when the Sri Lankan players wondered whether they could just ignore the final wickets fall - before umpire Asoka de Silva was forced to raise his finger."
The longest winning streak in IPL history is held by the Kolkata Knight Riders. They won nine games in a row including the 2014 final, against Kings XI Punjab in Bengaluru, then won one further match in 2015 - making ten IPL games in all - before tasting defeat.
Grahame Corling was a compact seamer from northern New South Wales who won selection for the 1964 Ashes tour after only one season in Australia's Sheffield Shield. Aged 23, he played in all five Tests in England, taking 12 wickets at 37.25: he had Geoff Boycott (also in his first series) caught at slip by Bob Simpson three times. But Corling was seemingly never again in the running for a Test place, and faded out of first-class cricket after the 1968-69 season.
Gloucestershire's 706 for 6 declared against Leicestershire at Grace Road last weekend was indeed their highest first-class total - previously it was 695 for 9 declared, against Middlesex at Archdeacon Meadow in Gloucester in 2004, when the New Zealander Craig Spearman hit 341. Before that you have to go back to 1928, when Gloucestershire's 653 for 8 declared against Glamorgan in Bristol included 218 from the great Wally Hammond.
You're right that Graeme Smith played under only two other captains, right at the start of his career: Mark Boucher in his first three Tests, and Shaun Pollock in the next five.
Steven Lynch is the editor of the updated edition of Wisden on the Ashes