First week of July

29 JUNE

Born on this day were: Alan Connolly (1939), Australian seam bowler in the 1960s; Ronald George Alphonso 'Ron' Headley (1939), West Indian opener who was the son of great George and father of England seamer Dean (He played just two Tests, both in England in 1973 and played much of his cricket in England for Worcestershire and Derbyshire); and Paul Jarvis (1965), English pace bowler. 

In 1931, Les Ames and 'Gubby' Allen added 246 for the eighth wicket against New Zealand at Lord's. Allen scored his only Test hundred and Ames his first in England. At the time it was the highest for the eighth-wicket in Test history, but it was has been passed thrice in the last ten years.

In 1950, West Indies won their first Test in England, beating the hosts by 326 runs at Lord's. The spearhead of the West Indian attack were spinners Sonny Ramadhin and Alf Valentine who were both playing their second Test. Valentine's match figures were 116-75-127-7 (the 75 maidens are still a Test record), and Ramadhin's 115-70-152-11. A famous Calypso song – 'With those little pals of mine, Ramadhin and Valentine' – was born. 

In 2000, Sanath Jayasuriya and Marvan Atapattu put on 335 against Pakistan at Kandy – the fifth highest opening partnership in Test history and Sri Lanka's highest by almost 150 runs. Atapattu remained unbeaten on 207- his third Test double hundred and Jayasuriya made 188. The match was drawn.

In 2007, Sachin Tendulkar became the first player to complete 15,000 runs in one-day internationals, during India’s match against South Africa in Belfast.


30 JUNE

Born on this day were: M.J.K. Smith (1933), English batsman and captain who also once played rugby for England against Wales; Peter Pollock (1941), South African seamer who is the father of Shaun and the brother of Graeme (He became chairman of selectors when South Africa returned to the fold in 1991-92); Sanath Jayasuriya (1969), Sri Lankan opening batsman, left-arm spinner and captain who has made more than 5,000 Test runs and 9,000 ODI runs and remains an extremely destructive opener; and Dodda Ganesh (1973), Indian pace bowler.

In 1899, Englishman J.T. Hearne took the first Test hat-trick in England when he dismissed Australians Clem Hill, Syd Gregory and Monty Noble, all for ducks. The match was abandoned in a draw when rain washed out the final day. Tragically, it is best remembered for an epileptic fit suffered by Johnny Briggs on the first night of the match. He did not play Test cricket again, and was dead within three years. 

In 1924 on the second day of the second Test between England and South Africa at Lord's, England scored 503 for the loss of two wickets and became the first Test team to score more than 500 runs in one day. Jack Hobbs (211) and Herbert Sutcliffe (122) put on 268 together. Frank Woolley was undefeated on 134 and Patsy Hendren on 50 when England declared at 531 for 2 the next day. England won by an innings and 18 runs.

In 1930, Don Bradman made a glorious 254 (320 minutes and 25 fours) in his first Test innings at Lord's. It propelled Australia to 720 for 6 – the highest total in any first-class match at Lord's and ultimately a seven-wicket victory. His average at Lord's was 78 - realtively low by his standards.

In 1966, England's left-arm spinner Derek Underwood made a wicketless Test debut against West Indies in the third Test at Trent Bridge.

In 2000 for the first time in Test history, a part of all four innings took place on one day when England played West Indies at Lord's. West Indies made 267 in their first innings and the England reply was 134. England bowled out the West Indies for a partly 54 and were 0 for off 1.1 overs at close of play. A wicket fell every 22 balls. 


1 JULY

Born on this day were: Frank Lowson (1925-84), English batsman who played in seven Tests; Chester Watson (1938), West Indian batsman whose seven Tests yielded only 12 runs; and Graham Lloyd (1969), English ODI batsman.

In 1954, Khalid Hassan aged just 16 years 352 days, made his Test debut for Pakistan against England at Trent Bridge. At the time he was the youngest Test cricketer and since this was his last Test as well, his last day of Test cricket came at the tender age of 16 years 356 days. 

Three 'greats' of the game died today: In 1965, the great Wally Hammond died in Natal, South Africa, aged 62. He made 7,249 runs for England at an average of 58.45. In 1971, Lord Learie Constantine, West Indian all-rounder and captain died in London, aged 69. In 2006, Fred Trueman died at the age of 75. 

In 1977, Glenn Turner scored 141 for Worcestershire against Glamorgan at Swansea. His 141 out of a total of 169 was a world record 83 per cent of the innings total. Other contributions were 1,3,3,0,4,0,4,7,5 and 0 with 1 extra. He broke Vijay Hazare's record of 79.8 per cent in 1943-44.

In 1996, Hampshire's Kevin James became the only man to take four wickets in four balls and also score a century in a first-class match against India at Southampton. He took 5 for 74 and scored 103. 

In 1999, Javagal Srinath married Jyotsna, and Anil Kumble, Chethana on the same day in Bangalore. They had made their first-class debut on the same day, for Karanataka against Hyderabad at Secunderabad in a Ranji Trophy match.

In 2000, England beat West Indies by two wickets at Lord's. Chasing 188, England were 160 for 8, but Dominic Cork, who already had match figures of 7 for 52, saw them through to victory. 


2 JULY

Born on this day were: Reginald Allen (1858-1952), Australian pace bowler who played in only one Test and who was the uncle of 'Gubby' Allen; and Sir Alec Douglas-Home (1903-95), British prime minister (1963-64), who as Lord Douglas played first-class cricket for Middlesex and went on MCC's tour to South America in 1926-27 under Pelham Warner.

In 1951,  Worcestershire wicket-keeper Hugo Yarnold dismissed seven Scotland batsmen at Dundee, stumping six of them. His six stumpings are still a first-class record.

Two double hundreds were also scored on this day: In 1954, Denis Compton scored 278 against Pakistan at Trent bridge – his highest Test innings. England won comfortably by an innings. In 1966, Basil Butcher made 209 not out in the second innings of the third Test against England also at Trent Bridge. It took West Indies to 483 for 5 declared, and eventually a 139-run victory. 

In 1969, Ireland bowled out West Indies for 25 at Londonderry. Ireland's captain Dougie Goodwin took 5 for 6 and Alec O'Riordan 4 for 18. The West Indies were 12 for 9 at one point before a last-wicket stand of 13 got them to 25. Ireland made 125 for 8 and West Indies lost by nine wickets. Goodwin's match figures were an astonishing 14.5-9-7-7.

 

In 1981, Geoff Boycott made his 100th Test appearance against Australia at Lord's, becoming the second man after Colin Cowdrey to achieve this feat. When he reached his half century in the second innings he also equaled Cowdrey's record of 60 scores of 50 and more. 

In 1994, Richard Johnson took 10 for 45 for Middlesex against Derbyshire at Derby. Middlesex won by an innings and 96 runs.

In 1998, the Old Trafford Test between England and South Africa was the first to introduce a speed gun at Test level.

In 2005, the NatWest Series final at Lord's between England and Australia ended in a thrilling tie.

In 2006, India beat West Indies in the fourth Test at Kingston to take series 1-0.


3 JULY

Born on this day were: Joe Hardstaff Jr. (1911-90), Nottinghamshire middle-order batsman who played 23 Tests for England and averaged 46.74; Sir Richard Hadlee (1951), New Zealand all-rounder who was the first bowler to take 400 Test wickets and also held the record for the most five-wickets hauls in Test cricket; Ewen Chatfield (1950), New Zealand medium pacer who survived a horrific injury on his Test debut; Wasim Raja (1952), Pakistani all-rounder who played for Pakistan in the 1970s and 1980s and is now an ICC match referee (He is the elder brother of Ramiz and both brothers have played 57 Tests each); Henry Olonga (1976-), Zimbabwe pace bowler who was the first black to play Test cricket for Zimbabwe; and Harbhajan Singh (1980-), Indian off-spinner who is the only Indian to take a hat-trick in Tests and whose 32 wickets against Australia in the 2000-01 series is an Indian record.

In 1776, the first printed score-cards were those for Hampshire against Kent at Broadhalfpenny Down, Hambledon which were advertised in a Kentish newspaper a few days before the match.

In 1936, a sparrow was killed while in flight by a ball bowled by Mohammad Jahangir Khan (Cambridge University) to T.N. Pearce (MCC). This sparrow was mounted on the ball which killed it and is displayed in the Lord's Museum.

In 1984, Gordan Greenidge scored 214 against England – the first West Indian double hundred at Lord's. West Indies won the match by nine wickets. On the same day Derek Underwood finally made his first, and only first-class hundred for Kent against Sussex at Hove, at the grand old cricketing age of 39.

England's pace bowler Dean Headley, whose father and grandfather had represented West Indies, provided the first instance of three generations of a family appearing in Test cricket, when he made his Test debut against Australia at Manchester in 1997. 


4 JULY

Born on this day were: Sir Alec Bedser (1918), one of England's greatest post-war bowlers (236 Test wickets at 24.89) who was later an England selector for a record 23 years; Ghulam Ahmed (1922-98), one of India's premier spinners in the 1950s (22 Tests) and later secretary of the BCCI between 1975 and 1980; Peter Richardson (1931), English left-handed opener who played in 34 Tests; Cyril Mitchley (1938-), South African player who was Transvaal wicket-keeper and is now a Test umpire; Jan Brittin (1959), English player whose 1,935 runs, made in 27 Tests for England between 1979 and 1996 are a Test record in women's cricket (as are her five hundreds); and Craig Spearman (1972), New Zealand opener who has played 19 Tests.

In 1955, Baloo Palwankar died in Bombay, aged 80. Famous as the 'Rhodes of India', Baloo was a left-hand spinner whose heyday was between 1900 and 1920. He was an untouchable by caste but played for the Hindus in the Presidency as well as Quadrangular matches. He was 'discovered' by Col. J.G. 'Jungly' Grieg and once took all ten wickets in an innings while playing for BB&CI Railway against Poona Gymkhana. He was a member of the team that toured England under the Maharaja of Patiala which included players like Col. K.M. Mistry and Dr. H.D. Kanga. He had four brothers all of who played cricket.

In 1974, Sunil Gavaskar was out to the first ball of the third Test at Edgbaston against England. He was caught behind off the bowling of G.G. Arnold. He suffered this ignominy two more times to become the only batsman in the history of the game to be dismissed in such a manner three times.

In 1981, Clive Rice scored 105 not out for Nottinghamshire against Hampshire at Bournemouth. His team was dismissed for 143 and this is the lowest completed first-class innings in England to contain a century.

In 1984, Warwickshire thrashed Oxfordshire by 277 runs in a natWest Trophy match at Edgbaston. Alvin Kallicharran scored 206 – the first double hundred in a one-day match in England and then took 6 for 32 with his off-spinners.

In 1987, Imran Khan took his 300th Test wicket in the third Test against England at Headingley, becoming the first Pakistani to achieve this feat. He took ten wickets in the match which Pakistan won by an innings and 18 runs.

In 2006, Sri Lanka established a new world record for the highest total in an official one-day international, 443-9 against Holland at Amstelveen. 


5 JULY

Born on this day were: Jock Cameron (1905-35), South African wicket-keeper-batsman and captain who was only 30 when he died of enteric fever in Johannesburg in 1935; Graham Anthony Richard 'Tony' Lock (1929), English left-arm spinner (49 Tests) who was Jim Laker's bowling partner for Surrey and England and generally remembered as the man who took the only wicket Jim Laker did not take in the Old Trafford Test in 1956; and John Wright (1954), New Zealand batsman who scored 12 Test hundreds and was the first Kiwi to reach 5,000 Test runs and is also a former India coach.

In 1957, at Trent Bridge, Tom Graveney scored 258 in the third Test against West Indies. England reached 619 for 6, but were denied victory by Frank Worrell who carried his bat for 191 in the first innings. Collie Smith scored a Test-best 168 in the second innings after West Indies followed on.

In 1973, Harold 'Dickie' Bird made his Test umpiring debut in the third Test between England and New Zealand at Headingley. He retired 23 years later having stood in what was at the time a record 66 Tests.

In 1986, India were dismissed for 390 in their first innings in the third Test at Edgbaston against England. England too had made an identical score in their first innings and this was only the fourth instance since 1877 that both sides were dismissed for identical first-innings scores. It was Sunil Gavaskar's 115th Test – a record at the time and the match in which he played his 200th innings and took his 100th catch.

In 1988, West Indies beat England by an innings at Old Trafford. England were bowled out for 135 and then 93, with Malcolm Marshall taking a career best 7 for 22 in the second innings. England started this final day on 60 for 3 but Marshall ended the innings in just over an hour.

In 2001, Channel 4 introduced Hawk-Eye as a TV tool for the first time in the Ashes Test at Edgbaston. Hawk-Eye uses six cameras placed around the ground to track the ball's speed, trajectory and direction. These 3D images are processed by a central computer, which predicts the exact point where the ball would have passed the stumps or hit them. The results were revealing: of the 20 lbw decisions in the series, eight were wrong.