First week of August

1 AUGUST

Born on this day were: George Coulthard (1856-83), Australian Test player and the youngest ever Test umpire (In fact he played in a Test after he was an umpire); Mohammad Nissar (1910-63), pioneer Indian bowler who bowled the first five-wicket haul; Sir Frank Worrel (1924-67), who along with Weekes and Walcott (the 'Three Ws') was considered to be one of the best middle order batsmen in cricket; Trevor Goddard (1931-), South African all-rounder; Yujurvindra Singh (1952-), Indian all-rounder who while playing for India against England at Bangalore in 1976-77; Arun Lal (1955-), Indian opening batsman who is now a popular TV commentator; Graham Thorpe (1969-). English batsman; and Andy Blignaut (1978-), Zimbabwe pace bowler who in February 2004 took his country's first Test hat-trick against Bangladesh at Harare.

In 1949, D.V.P. Wright of Kent took his record seventh first-class hat-trick against Hampshire at Canterbury. 

In 1961 on the last day at Old Trafford, Richie Benaud went round the wicket to bowl a famous spell of 5 for 12 that destroyed England and helped Australia retain the Ashes.

In 1983 at Headingley, Bob Willis took his 300th Test wicket but could not stop New Zealand winning a Test in England for the first time.

In 1993, England defeated New Zealand by 67 runs in the final of the fifth Women's World Cup at Lord's.

In 2005, ICC opened new Head Quarters in Dubai.


2 AUGUST

Born on this day were: Thomas Alfred 'Tommy' Ward (1887-1936), South African wicket-keeper who was the third victim when Jimmy Matthews achieved the unique feat in Test cricket of taking a hat-trick in each innings in the triangular tournament match against Australia at Old Trafford in 1912; Matthew Henderson (1895-1970), New Zealand left-arm pace bowler who took a wicket with his first ball in New Zealand's inaugural Test against England in 1929-30; Arshad Ayub (1958-), Indian off-spinner who played in 13 Tests (1987-89); Philo Wallace (1970-), West Indian opening batsman and Darren Pattinson, England’s latest Test debutant.

In 1977, in Ian Botham's Test debut and Geoffrey Boycott's comeback, England completed their first win over Australia at Trent Bridge by seven wickets since 1930. 

In 1981, Australia needed only 151 to win the third Test at Edgbaston but Ian Botham took five wickets for one run off 28 balls. England's narrow win by 29 runs put them 2-1 up in 'Botham's Ashes.' Botham finished with 5 for 11 in the innings.

In 1985, David Gower scored his 5,000th run in Test cricket against Australia at Old Trafford. Although the match was drawn, this was his golden summer. Captain of a team that regained the Ashes 3-1, he scored 732 runs at an average of 81.33.

In 2001, Virender Sehwag hit the second fastest ODI century (69 balls) by an Indian when he scored 100 against New Zealand in the Coca-Cola trophy in Colombo.

In 2003, South Africa recorded 673 for 6 declared – their highest ever Test score in the second Test against England at Lord's. Their captain Graeme Smith made 259, the second highest Test score at Lord's and became only the fourth man to make double hundreds in successive Tests. He took his tally for the series to 621 from only three innings – equalling Dudley Nourse's 56-year-old record for most runs by a South African in a Test series against England.


3 AUGUST

Born on this day were: Rupert Brooke (1887-1915), English poet who was a good enough school cricketer to get an obituary in Wisden, which after discussing his cricketing exploits, adds as the last line, 'also earned considerable reputation as a poet'; Duncan Sharpe (1937-), Pakistani batsman who was one of the few Christians to play for Pakistan and later emigrated to Australia in 1959-60; Balvinder Singh Sandhu (1956-), Indian medium-fast bowler (and now a coach) who achieved fame for his dismissals of Gordon Greenidge in the 1983 World Cup final and Gopal Sharma (1960-), Indian off-spinner in four Tests (1985-87).

In 1986 Rupert de Smidt one of the longest-lived first-class cricketers died, aged 102. He played for Western Province just before World War I.

In 2000 for the first time in Test history, two players and that too of the same country appeared for their 100th Test in the same Test match, when Alec Stewart and Michael Atherton stepped out at Old Trafford, Manchester to play the third Test against the West Indies. That their 100th Test coincided with the Queen Mother's 100th birthday and that the venue was the home ground of one of these two (Atherton) was a remarkable coincidence. To add to all this was the fact that by scoring a century, the next day Alec Stewart became only the fourth cricketer to score a century in his 100th Test. Colin Cowdrey at Edgbaston against Australia in 1968, Javed Miandad at Lahore against India in 1989, Gordon Greenidge at Antigua against England in 1990 are the others.


4 AUGUST

Born on this day were: Clarence Passailaigue (1902-72), West Indian batsman who played in only one Test for West Indies; and Naren Shankar Tamhane (1931-2002), one of India's finest wicket-keepers who played in 21 Tests and was later a Test selector.

In 1919, Dave Gregory who led Australia to victory in the very first Test against England in 1876-77 died, aged 74. His brother Ned, who won his only cap in the same match, was the first player to make a duck in Test cricket.

The first recorded sighting of a streaker took place at 3.20 p.m. on this day in 1975 when Michael Angelow, a merchant navy cook clad only in plimsolls, leapfrogged over each set of stumps during the second Ashes Test at Lord's. He was subsequently fined Sterling Pounds 25 (the amount of his winning from a bet) by St. John's Wood magistrates.

In 2001, a record seven Test wins in a row for Australia, who regained the Ashes with victory in the Trent Bridge Test. 


5 AUGUST

Born on this day were: M Sridhar (1965-), Indian batman whose innings of 366 for Hyderabad against Andhra Pradesh in 1993-94 is in the all-time top twenty in first-class cricket; Vasbert Drakes (1969-), West Indian fast bowler; Venkatesh Prasad (1969-), Indian pace bowler who was Javagal Srinath's partner with the new ball; and Aqib Javed (1972-), Pakistani pace bowler who played in his first ODI at 16, made his Test debut at 17, and whose 7 for 37 against India at Sharjah in 1991-92 was an ODI record at the time.

In 1965, Graeme Pollock's superb innings of 125 today set South Africa on the way to winning the second Test at Trent Bridge by 94 runs. South Africa won the series 1-0, which was their last in England for 29 years.

In 1966, a hundred between lunch and tea by Gary Sobers (174) set up an innings and 55-run victory over England in the fourth Test at Headingley. He scored 722 runs at 103.14, took 20 wickets, and won all five tosses in the series, which West Indies dominated in all departments of the game. They emerged as 3-1 winners.

In 2000 Lala Amarnath, legendary Indian all-rounder and captain died, aged 88. India's first Test centurion, he was a free-flowing strokeplayer and a medium pace bowler, who bowled off the wrong foot. Fiercely independent and plainspoken he courted controversy both on the field and off it and earned the title of the 'stormy petrel of Indian cricket'. He was sent back from England during India's 1936 tour after an outburst against the then captain, the Maharajkumar of Vizianagram. He captained India against Australia in 1948, where his aggressive captaincy drew praise from Don Bradman. He was also a national selector and a commentator but remained a maverick till the very end. 


6 AUGUST

Born on this day were: Amritsar Kripal Singh (1933-), Indian batsman who played in 14 Tests and scored 100 not out in his debut Test innings against New Zealand in 1955-56  in the tournament; Iqbal Qasim (1953-), Pakistani slow left-arm bowler (1976-88); and Simon Doull (1969-), New Zealand medium pacer.

In 1985, Allan Border scored 146 not out in the fourth Test against England at Old Trafford. 

In 1997, Sanath Jayasuriya completed a score of 340 against India at Colombo – the highest score in Tests for Sri Lanka and also the highest first-class score recorded in Sri Lanka. Inevitably there were other records too: Sri Lanka made 952 for 6 – the highest score in Test history – and Jayasuriya and Roshan Mahanama (225) batted throughout two full day's play. In all they added 576, a record for any Test wicket at that time. The match ended as a high scoring draw. 


7 AUGUST

Born on this day were: J.J. 'Kodgee' Kotze (1879-1931), one of South Africa's fastest bowlers; Gregory Stephen Chappell (1948-), Australian batsman and captain (brother of Ian and Trevor) whose 7,110 Test runs were scored at an average of 53.86; Dominic Cork (1971-), English seamer who took 7 for 43 in his debut Test at Lord's, against West Indies in 1995, and whose hat-trick later in the series was the first by an English bowler in a Test since Peter Loader in 1957; and Dion Ebrahim (1980-), Zimbabwe Test opening batsman.

In 1973, the great Australia all-rounder, Jack Gregory, died a week before his 78th birthday. A fast bowler who terrorised England's batsmen in the early 1920s, his century in 70 minutes at Johannesburg in 1921-22 and 15 catches in the 1920-21 series against England are both still Test records.

In 1987, Javed Miandad completed one of his six double centuries in Test cricket. During his 260 in the fifth Test at The Oval he became the first to score 6,000 Test runs for Pakistan, whose total of 708, their highest ever, was more than enough to draw the match and clinch the series 1-0. Imran Khan (118) and Salim Malik (102) also chipped in with centuries. England were on the field for more than two days, bowling 220.3 overs, with Ian Botham taking 3 for 217.

In 1997 Adam and Ben Hollioake made their brotherly debut against Australia in the fifth Ashes Test at Trent Bridge, Nottingham. They were the first brothers to bowl in the same Test for England and at one point they were bowling to the Waugh twins. Ben was tragically killed in a road accident in 2002.

In 1998, a third consecutive five-wicket haul (5 for 42) by England seamer Angus Fraser in the fifth Test at Headingley kept South Africa's first-innings lead down to 22. England went on to win a low-scoring match by 23 runs and take the series 2-1.