Fourth week of July

21 JULY

C. Aubery Smith (1863-1948), captain of the England Test team and later a Hollywood star, was born on this day in 1863. Also born on this day were: Chandrakant 'Chandu' Borde (1933-), Indian batsman and leg-spin bowler who scored 3,061 runs and took 52 wickets in Tests and was later chairman of Test selectors; Barry Richards (1945-), South African batsman whose exceptional promise at the Test level could not be realized due to South Africa's exclusion from the game for 29 years; Geoffery Dymock (1945-), Australian left-arm medium fast bowler who played in 21 Tests and took 98 wickets; and Chetan Chauhan (1947-), Indian opening batsman who was Gavaskar's partner and who scored more than 2,000 runs in Test cricket without scoring a century.

In 1884, this was the first day of the first ever Test at Lord's. England went on to beat Australia by an innings and five runs, and Allan G. Steel (148) scored the first Test century at this ground. Exactly two years later, in 1886, on the last day of a three-day Test, Johnny Briggs took 6 for 45 to complete England's last innings win over Australia at Lord's.

In 1964, Arnold Long (Surrey) set a world wicket-keeper record against Sussex at Hove when he took his 11th catch in the match.

In 1981, Bob Willis took a sensational 8 for 43 against Australia at Leeds to mastermind one of England's most famous victories. He plundered three wickets in 11 balls before lunch, then five more in the afternoon session to fashion an 18-run victory for England –the first side since 1894-95 to win a Test match after following on.

In 1994, South Africa played their first Test in England for 29 years. Kepler Wessels (105) went on to become South Africa's first centurion at Lord's in 39 years and ultimately their first winning captain for 59 years when the Proteas beat England by 356 runs.

In 1995, Brian Lara recorded the first 'pair' of his career. In a tour match at Canterbury, he fell each time to Kent's Dr. Julian Thompson.

In 2001, The Guardian announced the creation of a new MCC in Seattle, USA – the Microsoft Cricket Club mainly comprising Indian software engineers.

In 2005, Glenn McGrath became only the second fast bowler to take 500 Test wickets when Marcus Trescothick tried to force the very first ball after Tea on first day of Lord's Test through midwicket.


22 JULY

Born on this day were: John MacBrayn (1892-1983), English Batsman hose only Test at Old Trafford against South Africa was rained out after 66.5 overs (He did not bat, bowl or take a catch – surely one of the most futile appearances on the Test stage); Chandersekhar 'Chandu' Sarwate (1920-2003), Indian all-rounder whose name will be forever linked with the famous last wicket partnership of 249 runs with Shute Banerjee in India's match against Surrey at The Oval in 1946, in which he and Banerjee became the only No. 10 and 11 to score centuries in a first-class match ; Tom Cartwright (1935-), English medium-pacer who played in only five Tests but will always be remembered as the man who taught Ian Botham how to bowl; and V.B. Ranjane (1937-), Indian fast bowler in the early 1960s who was the first Indian to take a hat-trick on first-class debut.

In 1859, playing for England XI, V E Walker took all ten wicks in one innings (43-17-74-10) against Surrey at The Oval. Then exactly six years later he repeated the feat in 1865 taking all ten wickets in an innings (44.2-5-104-10) for Middlesex against Lancashire at Manchester, becoming the first man to take all ten wickets twice.

In 1950, Frank Worrell scored 261, his highest score, and at the time, also the highest score in a Test at Trent Bridge. This set West Indies on their way to a first innings lead of 335 and a ten-wicket victory that put them 2-1 up in the series.

In 1958, Sir Donald Bradman was elected an Honorary Life member of MCC under Rule XI A.

In 1987, Indian all-rounder A.G. Kripal Singh (14 Tests from 1955 to 1965; 422 runs and ten wickets, including a hundred on debut) died, aged 53.

In 1995, English fast bowler Harold Larwood (78 wickets in 21 Tests from 1926 to 1933) of 'Bodyline' fame died in Sydney, aged 90. One of the fastest bowlers of all time, he took 33 wickets in the controversial 1932-33 'Bodyline' series, including Don Bradman's four times, as England regained the Ashes.

In 2002, Sri Lanka made 509 in 104 overs on the second day of the first Test against Bangladesh at Colombo – a Test record for a side in a day's play. They beat England's record of 503 in 111 overs against South Africa at Lord's in 1924. Aravinda de Silva's 200 in only 229 balls was the fourth fastest double century in Tests at the time. 


23 JULY

Born on this day were: Charles Bannerman (1851-1930), pioneering Australian Test batsman who missed out on Test cricket due to apartheid but captained them in three ODIs in 1991; Alan Turner (1950-), Australian left-handed opener (1975-77); and Graham Gooch (1953-), English opener and captain who is the only player ever to hit a triple century and a century in the same Test match and whose 8,900 runs in Test cricket are an English record.

In 1884, on the last day of the first ever Test played at Lord's, George Ulyett completed figures of 7 for 36 to bowl Australia to an innings defeat.

In 1890 on his Test debut, Australian Jack Barrett became the first opener to carry his bat through a completed Test innings in an Ashes Test. At Lord's, his unbeaten 67 out of 176 gave Australia hope of an unlikely victory after they had collapsed to 132 all out in the first innings, but England won by seven wickets. No byes were conceded in the match – the first such occurrence in Test cricket. 

The day according to cricket lore when the term 'chinaman' (the left-arm spinner's 'wrong' un') was born. The origin of this term is reported to have come from the second Test at Old Trafford in 1933 between England and West Indies. Ellis Achong, a West Indian bowler of Chinese origin, bowled a ball that Walter Robins missed and was stumped. Robins left the crease cursing, 'Fancy being out to a bloody Chinaman,' to, which Learie Constantine replied: ;Do you mean the bowler or the ball?' However a more likely possibility to the origin of the term derives from the connotation of deviousness or inscrutability that is attached in English with the words 'Chinese' and 'Chinaman'. 

In 1934, Don Bradman hit his second successive Test triple hundred at Headingley, Leeds making 304 and sharing a stand of 388 with Bill Ponsford, who hit 181. He remained the only player to score two Test triple hundreds till Brian Lara made an unbeaten 400 against England in the fourth Test at St. John's, Antigua in April 2004. In fact, both Bradman and Lara have scored their triple hundreds at the same venue and against the same opponents.

In 1938 Don Bradman made 103 in the fourth Test against England at his favourite ground Headingley. This was his sixth century in six consecutive Tests starting from his 270 in the third Test at Melbourne against England in January 1937. He remains the only man to achieve this in Test matches and one of three (C.B. Fry and Mike Procter are the others) to score six consecutive centuries in six innings in first-class cricket.

In 1942, English batsman Andy Ducat, collapsed on the pitch and died of a heart attack while batting at Lord's, aged 56. He played football and cricket for England and made three and two in his only Test against Australia at Headingley in 1921.

In 1988, Indian all-rounder Mohammad Jahangir Khan (the father of Majid Khan) who played in four Tests from 1932 to 1936, died at Lahore, aged 78. 

In 1994, TV replays showed Mike Atherton rubbing something on to the ball during the Lord's Test against South Africa. Atherton used the dirt to dry one side of the ball and help Darren Gough get some reverse-swing. Having dirt in his pocket was not illegal, but rubbing it on the ball contravened Law 42.5, and the match referee Peter Burge called him to explain his actions. Burge accepted Atherton's explanation, but the following day Atherton admitted lying to Burge. He was fined Stg.Pds. 2,000.

In 2000, Muttiah Muralitharan had match figures of 13 for 171 against South Africa at Galle becoming the first Sri Lankan and the sixth bowler to dismiss all eleven batsmen in a Test match. Sri Lanka won by an innings to register their first Test victory over South Africa.

In 2002, Kapil Dev was voted the Wisden Indian Cricketer of the Century.

In 2005, Roshan Gunaratne, former Sri Lankan leg-spinner, died of a heart attack in California the age of 43. Gunaratne made his mark as a top class right-arm legspinner in Sri Lankan domestic cricket in 1982, but his only Test appearance against Australia at home one year later was a complete failure. 


24 JULY

Born on this day were: Frederick William 'Fred' Tate (1867-1943), English medium pace bowler whose missed catch and mishandled innings in his sole Test against Australia at Old Trafford in 1902, which England lost by only three runs, was christened Tate's Test; John 'Jack' Moroney (1917-99), Australian opener who scored a hundred in each innings against South Africa at Johannesburg in 1949-50; and Zaheer Abbas (1947-), outstanding Pakistani batsman who scored 5,062 runs in Tests and hit two hundreds in a first-class match eight times.

In 1902, Victor Trumper scored a hundred before lunch (103 not out) on the first day of the fourth Test against England at Old Trafford. He was the first of four batsmen to perform this feat ( C.G. Macartney in 1926; Don Bradman in 1930; and Majid Khan in 1976-77 are the others).

In 1931, George Gunn was 52 years old when he completed an innings of 183 for Nottinghamshire against Warwickshire at Edgbaston. His son, George Vernon Gunn scored 100 not out in the same innings – the only duo of father and son scoring centuries in the same first-class match.

In 1958, a distinguished trio made their Test debuts for England against New Zealand at Old Trafford; Ted Dexter hit 52 and Ray Illingworth took three wickets and the third newcomer, Raman Subba Row made nine. England won by an innings and 13 runs, and became the first side to win the opening four Tests of a series in England.

In 2003, South Africa's Herschelle Gibbs and Graeme Smith became the first opening pair in Test history to put on 300 runs (338) twice as they plundered England's attack on the first day of the first Test at Edgbaston. The two had made 368 against Pakistan in January 2003. 


25 JULY

In 1900, living up to his reputation of one of the biggest hitters in history, Gilbert Jessop scored a hundred before lunch in each innings for Gloucestershire at Bradford against a Yorkshire opening attack of George Hirst and Wilfred Rhodes. Having made 104 in the first innings, Jessop's score of 139 in the second innings was made in less than an hour and a half and included five sixes.

The legendary W G Grace played his club match in 1914, aged 66. His score was 69 not out for Eltham against Grove Park. 

In 1946, Eric Hollies (of Bradman fame) took all ten Nottinghamshire wickets (10 for 49) at Edgbaston while playing for Warwickshire. He bowled seven and had the others lbw. This was the second and last occasion after John Wisden bowled all players in 1850, when a bowler took all wickets without recourse to a fieldman in first-class cricket. Warwickshire still lost by seven wickets.

In 1957, the hat-trick taken by fast bowler Peter Loader against West Indies at Headingley was the last by an English bowler in a Test until Dominic Cork achieved this feat in 1995. Loader dismissed West Indies captain John Goddard and then bowlers Sonny Ramadin and Roy Gilchrist, as West Indies collapsed to 142 all out. 

In 1964, Bobby Simpson turned his maiden Test century into a monumental 311 at Old Trafford against England. This was at the time the second highest Test score in England and the highest first-class score on the ground. 

In 1986, England used four wicket-keepers in the first Test at Lord's against New Zealand. When Richard Hadlee sent Bruce French to hospital, Bill Athey donned the gloves for two overs and then Bob Taylor – aged 45 (and at the ground doing PR work for the sponsors Cornhill Insurance) kept for England. The next day Hampshire's Bobby Parks stood in after lunch, and then French resumed on the fourth day. None of the four took any catches.

In 1999, New Zealand won a Test at Lord's for the first time. The architects of their nine-wicket win were Chris Cairns, who took 6 for 77 to bowl England out for 186 in their first innings and Matt Horne, who scored an even 100.

In 2003, Bundaberg Rum Stadium, Cairns, Queensland became Test cricket's 90th and latest venue when it hosted the second Test between Australia and Bangladesh. 


26 JULY

Born on this day were: Tom Garrett (1858-1943), Australian opening bowler in the first Test at Melbourne in 1877; Gulabrai Sipahimalani Ramachand (1927-2003), Indian all-rounder and captain who played 33 Tests for India, hit two centuries, and led India to their first victory against Australia in 1958-59; Sir Mick Jagger (1943-), British rock musician of the Rolling Stones who has been a major cricket enthusiast for 30 years and is a good friend of former Indian off-spinner Dilip Doshi; Jonathan Neil 'Jonty' Rhodes (1969-), South African batsman and one of the greatest fielders of all time (His full-length dive to run out Inzamam-ul-Haq in the group match at Brisbane in the 1992 World Cup was reproduced on billboards throughout South Africa); and Khaled Mahmud (1971-), Bangladeshi all-rounder.

In 1745, the first recorded women's cricket match took place at Gosden Common near Guildford in Surrey, when '11 maids from Hambledon beat 11 maids from Bramley.'

In 1902, Australia beat England by three runs in the fourth Test at Old Trafford, wen England's last man Fred Tate was clean bowled for four. Australia by winning 'Tate's Match' – as it came to be called – retained the Ashes. 

In 1955, it was the last day as an international umpire for Frank Chester. He first officiated as a 29-year-old at Lord's in 1924 and continued into his 61st year. The Test between England and South Africa at Headingley was his 48th, a world record before the arrival of Dickie Bird.

In 1993, Australia regained the Ashes with an innings victory at Headingley – and for the second time in the series, they had won a match in which they lost only four ickets. Allan Border's unbeaten 200 took the Aussies to 653 for 4, and then England were washed away, with Paul Reiffel taking eight wickets.

In 2001, Wisden launched the 'Wisden 100' , a new analysis to assess a Test player's batting and bowling performance. Spanning 134 years of Test cricket, it referred to the top 100 innings ever played and the top 100 bowling performances. It took into consideration the most exhaustive set of parameters ever used in the game.

In 2003, South African captain Graeme Smith made 277 in the first Test again England at Birmingham. It was a record individual Test score for a South African eclipsing the previous best of 275 by both Cullinan and Kirsten.

In 2005, New Zealand parliament voted 110 – 10 against a tour of Zimbabwe: the team went anyway. 

In 2006, a village side in North Yorkshire narrowly missed out on one of the worst recorded scores after their team were bowled out for just five - with all the runs coming from extras. Not a single batsman from Goldsborough Second XI managed to break their duck against Dishforth, the league-leaders, who rolled over their opponents in just 12 overs in a hectic 60 minutes. The only runs they could muster came from four byes and a leg-bye. Gavin Hardisty, Dishforth's opening bowler, ended with remarkable figures of 7 for 0.

27 JULY

Born on this day were: Percy Hornibook (1899-1976), Australian left-arm swing and spin bowler whose 7 for 92 at The Oval in 1930 is in the 'Wisden 100' and the top ten of the Wisden Ashes Ratings; John Brian 'Jack' Iverson (1915-73), Australian spinner whose peculiar method of spinning the ball made him the 'mystery bowler' when selected for the England tour of 1950-51; and Allan Border (1955-), Australian batsman and captain who in a 15-year career, set world records for most Tests (156), Test catches (156), consecutive Tests (153) and Tests as captain (93), and most runs (11,174) and is now an Australian selector; and Collins Obuya (1981-) leg-spinner who played a major role in Kenya’s grand success in 2003 World Cup when they reached the semi-finals.

In 1936, a record total of 588 runs was made in the second Test at Old Trafford between India and England. Mushtaq Ali's 105 not out overnight (he was out for 112 the next day) was the first away century by an Indian and was rewarded by a gold watch by the Maharajkumar of Vizianagram who was the captain. India made 190 for no loss at close after England had added 398 runs on the same day. Vijay Merchant made 114 and the match was drawn.

In 1948, Don Bradman scored his 29th and last Test hundred. Chasing a record 404 in the fourth Test at Headingley against England, Bradman's unbeaten 173 in partnership with Arthur Morris who made 182, enabled Australia to canter home by seven wickets. 

In 1956, Jim Laker took 9 for 37 for England against Australia in the first innings at Old Trafford. His spin twin, Tony Lock, also conceded 37 runs in the innings, but had only Jim Burke's wicket to show for it. 

In 1959,Oxford University student Abbas Ali Baig scored 112 at Old Trafford on his Test debut for India. It was the first overseas century on debut by an Indian.

In 1974, John Jameson (240 not out) and Rohan Kanhai (213 not out) compiled an unbroken world record stand of 465 for Warwickshire against Gloucestershire at Edgbaston. It started and finished on the same day.

In 1990, Graham Gooch completed an innings of 333 against India at Lord's. It is the highest Test and first-class score on this ground.

In 2003, Steve Waugh's 156 not out against Bangladesh in the second Test at Cairns made him the first player to score 150 against all Test playing nations. It was his 32nd Test century.