Christmas Quiz: How did you go? Check your answers here

1. What the hell do the books The American Way of Death and Love In a Cold Climate have to do with the present-day politics of international Formula 1 car racing?

Both were written by aunts (Jessica and Nancy Mitford) of Max Mosley, the recently deposed President of FIA, the F1 governing body (son of Oswald Mosley and Diana Mitford)

2. In the history of Test cricket, the names of two players each appear three times in the top-ten list for runs scored in a single day’s play by an individual batsman (range 228 to 309). Name these two cricketers.

Bradman; Virender Sehwag (India)

3. The recently crowned 2009 world men’s and women’s surfing champions both hail from the same town. One point each for the names of the two champions and their town.

Mick Fanning; Stephanie Gilmour; Tweed Heads/Coolangatta.

4. Two multiple-choice answers to a US baseball question. The NY Yankees won their 27^th World Series title in 2009. Name the major league club that has won the second-most World Series titles, and the number of its victories.

Club: A: Boston Red Sox; B: Philadelphia/KC/Oakland Athletics; C: St Louis Cardinals; D: Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers

Titles: A: 12; B: 10; C: 8 D: 6

5. There are eight recognised major titles in international men’s and women’s golf
[M: US Masters, Open & PGA + British Open; W: sub. Kraft-Nabisco for Masters, then ditto].

In 2009, American golfers won three ‘majors’; five players from four other countries shared the remainder.
One point each for the nationalities of the non-American champions, with a bonus point for identifying which country produced two champions.

South Korea (2); Argentina; Sweden; Scotland (UK)

6. For the first time since the birth of Test cricket in 1877, a male cricketer represented Australia in an international match in 2009 without having previously played in a first-class (e.g. Sheffield Shield) match. What is his name?

David Warner

7. Name the two Australians who won gold medals at the 2009 world Athletics championships. Bonus points for their correct events.

Steve Hooker: men’s pole vault; Dani Samuels: women’s discuss

8. The following sequence describes the chain of possessions leading to Geelong’s decisive goal in the 2009 AFL grand final: Johnson to X to Scarlett to Ablett to Rooke to Y to Z. Name players X, Y and Z.

X: Gary Ablett; Y: Travis Varcoe; Z: Paul Chapman

9. Before Kym Clijsters won the 2009 US Open, who was the most recent previous mother to win a tennis Grand Slam final. Bonus points for the title and the year.

Evonne Goolagong/Cawley; Wimbledon; 1980

10. One point each for the names of the two players featured in the NRL’s TV ad to promote the start of its 2009 season.

Greg Inglis; Brett Stewart

11. Where did Lance Armstrong finish in his comeback attempt at the 2009 Tour de France? Who won?

3rd; Alberto Contador

12. In the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Australia’s opening group match is against Germany in Durban. Who are Australia’s two subsequent group opponents? Bonus points for correctly naming the venue of each match.

Ghana, at Rustenberg; Serbia, at Nelspruit

13. When So You Think won the 2009 Cox Plate, Bart Cummings stood on the brink of a rare achievement. One point each for the names of the three racehorse trainers who saddled-up the winners of the Caulfield Cup, Cox Plate and Melbourne Cup in the same year; and bonus points for the only horse to achieve this treble, and its year.

Lou Robertson (1935), Ivan Tucker (1954), Lee Freedman (1992); Rising Fast, 1954.

14. Which current player now has a share in three of the ten all-time batting partnership records for each wicket in Test cricket?

Mahela Jayawardene (Sri Lanka – 3^rd, 4^th, 6^th)