First week of September

1 SEPTEMBER

Born on this day were: 

Amir Elahi (1908-80), medium pace and leg-break bowler who entered the record books as one of the few men to play Test cricket for two countries: India and Pakistan; 

Madhav Mantri (1921-), Indian wicket-keeper and batsman who played only four Tests but was a consistent performer in the Ranji Trophy and subsequently a national selector (He is Sunil Gavaskar's uncle); 

David Bairstow (1951-98), English wicket-keeper who played in four Tests and tragically committed suicide in 1998;

Clare Connor (1976-), English women's captain and slow left-arm spinner.

In 1939 Yorkshire's slow left-armer Hedley Verity finished with the amazing figures of 7 for 9 against Sussex at Hove, to give Yorkshire the County Championship. It was the last day of first-class cricket in England before the declaration of war against Germany two days later – and the last of Verity's career. He died in a Prisoner of War camp in Italy in 1943.

In 1973 Gloucestershire beat Sussex by 40 runs in the Gillette Cup final at Lord's. It was their first major trophy since the Championship back in 1877, when W.G. Grace was in the team. In 1984 in another final of the same competition, by now named the NatWest Trophy, Middlesex beat Kent off the last ball of the match after needing seven from the final over.

In 1986 Ken Rutherford (New Zealand) scored 317 in a day against D.B. Close's XI at Scarborough. In an innings of 230 minutes he hit eight sixes and 45 fours off 245 balls.

2 SEPTEMBER

© Getty Former Aussie skipper Kim Hughes became only the third batsman in Test history to bat during all five days

In 1878 Surrey bowler Edward Barratt took all ten wickets in an innings on his home ground: 10 for 43 for the Players against the touring Australia at The Oval. His victims were all caught or stumped, none bowled or lbw. Opening batsman Charles Bannerman scored 51 in a total of 77. The Australians made only 89 in their second innings – but it was enough to win the match! On a dreadful pitch typical of the time, the Players were all out for 82 and 76 and lost by eight runs.

In 1972 Lancashire won the Gillette Cup for the third successive season, beating Warwickshire in the final at Lord's by four wickets. Lancashire became the only club to win any of the major English one-day trophies three years in a row.

The 2 September jinx! In 1978 Somerset lost by five wickets to Sussex, in the Gillete Cup final. For the second time Somerset reached a Gillette Cup final due to be played on 2 September and they lost a second time.

In 1980 as the rain-hit Centenary Test petered out at Lord's, Australia's Kim Hughes became only the third man to bat on all five days of a Test match. He made 117 and 84. But the day was probably more memorable for John Arlott's final stint behind the microphone. As the famous commentator ended his long career with the BBC's Test Match Special, play stopped as the whole ground stood to applaud him. In the same match Boycott became the fourth batsman (after Hammond, Cowdrey and Sobers) to score 7,000 runs in Test cricket.

3 SEPTEMBER

Born on this day were: 

Thomas Emmett (1841-1904), fast bowler who played for England in the inaugural Test, at Melbourne in 1876-77 and who was an extremely popular player both with his fellow players and the crowd; 

J.W.H.T. Douglas (1882-1930), English all-rounder and Test captain who was called 'Johnny Won't Hit Today' Douglas, a reference to his slow batting (and who was also an Olympic gold medallist (1908) in the 75 kg class in boxing); 

Arthur Percy Chapman (1900-61), English batsman and Test captain who led England to victory over Australia at The Oval in 1926, regaining the Ashes (He was reputed to have a large gin and tonic brought out to him at drinks intervals and his later years were marred by alcoholism); 

John Mills (1905-72), New Zealand left-hander who scored 117 on debut against England at Wellington in 1929-30, and put on 276 for the first wicket with Stewie Dempster which is still New Zealand's highest stand for any wicket against England (He was also the first left-hander to score a hundred on debut); 

Basil Butcher (1933-), West Indian batsman who averaged 43.11 and scored seven centuries in Tests, including a superb 209 not out that won the Trent Bridge Test of 1966;

Rahul Sanghvi (1974-), Indian left-arm spinner whose 8 for 15 for Delhi against Himachal Pradesh at Una in Ranji One-Day North Zone League match in 1997 was the best in any limited-overs match ever till Irfan Pathan took 9 for 16 against Bangladesh in the Asian Cricket Council's Under-19 tournament at Lahore in 2003.

In 1907 Gilbert 'The Croucher' Jessop scored 191 runs in only 90 minutes for Gentleman of the South against Players of the South at Hastings.

In 1983 Somerset avenged their 1967 defeat by Kent and won the NatWest final at Lord's by 24 runs. Vic Marks was the Man of the Match for his all-round performance.

4 SEPTEMBER

Born on this day were:
 
Dennis Lindsay (1939-), South African wicket-keeper-batsman; 

Kiran More (1962-), Indian wicket-keeper who made 130 dismissals in his 49 Tests for India and whose six stumpings against West Indies at Madras in 1987-88 are still a Test record; 

Garth Le Roux (1955-), one of South Africa's fastest bowlers who was deprived of a Test career due to apartheid;

Lance 'Zulu' Klusener (1971-), South African player who was one of the most punishing all-rounders in modern cricket.

In 1925 Jack Hobbs carried his bat in scoring 266 as captain of the Players at Scarborough – the highest score in the Gentlemen v Players fixture, which lasted from 1806 to 1962. It was also century No. 15 for that year. He went on to make 16, a record, which was broken on this day by Denis Compton in 1947.

In 1947 Lancashire made their fifth appearance in five Gillette Cup finals. Having won their previous four in the 1970s, including three in a row they lost this one. Despite 26 runs in an over by David Hughes, they made only 195 and lost to Northants by four wickets.

In 1979 needing a record 438 to win The Oval Test, India came frustratingly close. Thanks to a superb 221 by Sunil Gavaskar, they needed 49 off 7.4 overs – but finished on 429 for 8, just nine runs short. The draw gave England the series 1-0.

In 2000 when Courtney Walsh walked to the wicket at The Oval to play his last Test innings in England, Nasser Hussain's team formed a guard of honour for him. Walsh's last Test duck, lbw to Dominic Cork, gave England the match by 158 runs and their first series victory against West Indies since 1969. It was Walsh's 43rd duck in Test cricket – an unwanted record which is not likely to be broken in the near future.

5 SEPTEMBER

Born on this day were: 

John Wisden (1826-84), English right-hand batsman and slow underarm bowler whose ten wickets in an innings, all bowled, is still the only such instance in a first-class match and who later achieved everlasting fame as the originator of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack; 

Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1888-1975), Indian philosopher and statesman who in the 1930s would sneak off from his post as Spaulding Professor of eastern Religions at Oxford to watch C.K.Nayudu bat at Lord's and who as President of India inserted the names of C.K. Nayudu and Mushtaq Ali into those receiving India's highest civilian awards; 

Archie Jackson (1909-33), brilliant Australian batsman who averaged 47.4 in eight matches before dying prematurely of tuberculosis (He died on the day Australia lost the Ashes to Jardine's 'Bodyline' team); 

Phiroz Edulji Palia (1910-81), left-hand batsman and useful slow bowler whose two Tests for India were both at Lord's, four years apart (in 1932 and 36) and who was prominent in the Quadrangular Tournament in Bombay for the Parsees;
 
Colin 'Tich' Wesley (1937-), South African batsman who is best remembered for a achieving the rare feat of suffering a 'king pair' in a Test match (Brian Statham dismissed him twice for 0 at Trent Bridge); 

Bruce Yardley (1947-), Australian off0spinner who took 126 Test wickets in 33 matches and who with Bruce Reid is the only other bowler to take 100 wickets for Australia without playing a Test in England; 

Mark Ramparkash (1969-), English batsman whose consistent performance in domestic cricket was not reflected in his chequered career (52 Tests and 2,350 runs) for his country; 

Adam Hollioake (1971-), former Surrey captain and English batsman; 

Guy Whittall (1972-), Zimbabwe batsman;

Rawl Lewis (1974-), West Indian leg-spinner who had the dubious distinction of being the most expensive bowler in Test cricket ( 97.3 overs, 318 runs and one wicket).

Two great batsmen died today: In 1945 Australian batsman Clem Hill who is considered one of cricket's all-time great left-handers (3,412 runs in 49 Tests at an average of 39.21) died, aged 68 in Melbourne; and in 2000 West Indian left-handed batsman Roy Fredericks, (4,334 runs in 59 Tests) who was later a West Indian selector and Minister of Sport in Guyana died of throat cancer in New York, aged 57.

In 1973 West Indies played in their first ever ODI when they met England at Headingley. Gary Sobers playing in his first and only ODI was caught off Chris Old for a duck. Sobers did manage one ODI wicket, but West Indies lost by one wicket – the first one wicket victory in ODIs.

© Getty Tendulkar became the youngest player in cricket history to play 100 Tests

A unique coincidence in ODIs took place today: In 1999 S. Ramesh and W.W. Hinds both took a wicket with their first ball in ODI cricket in the match between India and the West Indies at the Kallang Ground, Singapore. In the third match of the Coca-Cola Singapore Challenge, Ramesh claimed N.A.M. McLean and Hinds M.S.K. Prasad as his first victim. Ramesh and hinds were the sixth and seventh players to perform this feat (out of a total of eight). This was also the first instance of two players performing this feat in the same match. It was Hinds' debut in ODIs, and the first time Ramesh bowled in a ODI, having made his debut earlier.

In 2002 Sachin Tendulkar played in his 100th Test when he appeared for India in the fourth Test at The Oval. At 29 years 134 days he became the youngest player to achieve this feat. The previous record was held by Kapil Dev who was 30 years 313 days when he appeared in his 100th Test in 1989, which incidentally was Tendulkar's first Test match. The drawn Test is best remembered for Michael Vaughan's 195 and Rahul Dravid's 217. Vaughan's 195 came close on the heels of his 197 in the second Test at Nottingham making him the first player after Graham Gooch to pass 175 twice in the same month. He did it twice more (177 and 183) at Adelaide and Sydney in 2002-03.

In 2003 Shaun Pollock became the second South African (after Allan Donald) to take 300 Test wickets when he had Michael Vaughan caught by Herschelle Gibbs in the fifth Test at The Oval.

6 SEPTEMBER

Born on this day were: 

(Francis) George Mann (1917-2001), English batsman and captain whose father Frank also captained England; 

Saeed Anwar (1968-), Pakistani opening batsman whose 194 against India at Chennai in 1996-97 is the highest ODI score by any batsman; and Devang Gandhi (1971-), Indian opening batsman.

In 1776 the first recorded match with a wicket of three stumps was played between Chertsey and Coulsdon at laleham Burway, near Chertsey. The third stumps was introduced probably simply to stop matches lasting too long. The world 'wicket' dates back to the time when the target for the bowler was either a tree stumps or a wicket-gate from a sheep-pen.

In 1880 on the first day of Test cricket in England, W.G. grace scored England's first century. His 152 out of a total of 410 for 8 set England on the way to victory by five wickets. The following day, he ended Australia's first innings with a wicket off the first ball of his second over. His brothers Edward and George also played in the match – the first time three siblings played in the same Test. George died tragically a fortnight later from lung congestion.

In 1980 in the last Gillette Cup final before it changed its name to the NatWest Trophy, Middlesex beat Kent by seven wickets.

In 1990 Sir Leonard Hutton, (79 Tests, 6,971 runs at an average of 56.67) died, aged 74 in Surrey on his son Richard Hutton's (who played five Tests for England) 48th birthday. In 1952 Hutton was England's first officially appointed professional captain. He was knighted in 1956, the year that he retired from international cricket but remained active in cricket as a Test selector (1975-77), columnist, and fund-raiser.

In 1993 fast left-armer Brett Schultz achieved his best Test figures of 5 for 48 to help dismiss Sri Lanka for 168 at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo. It set South Africa on the way to their first win abroad since 1965.

In 2003 Pakistan beat Bangladesh by one wicket in the third Test at Multan. Needing 261 to win Pakistan were 148 for 6 on the third day and it was only Inzamam-ul-Haq's 138 which saved the day. This was the tenth instance of a one-wicket win in Tests and the third involving Pakistan. This was also the second time that Inzamam was involved in a one-wicket win, the first being when Pakistan beat Australia at Karachi in 1994-95. For Bangladesh it was a case of so close yet so far. It was their 23rd defeat in 24 matches thus far.

In 2007 Shoaib Akhtar was sent home from World Twenty20 championship in South Africa after hitting Mohammad Asif with a bat during a dressing-room argument.

7 SEPTEMBER

Born on this day were: 

Ernest Austin 'Barberton' Halliwell (1864-1919), South African wicket-keeper credited with introducing the habit of putting raw steak in his gloves to protect the hands; 

George Hirst (1871-1954), English all-rounder who is considered one of the greatest of all time (He completed a uniqe double of 2,000 runs and 200 wickets in 1906, and he is also the only player to achieve two hundreds and two five-wicket hauls in the same first-class match); 

Victor York Richardson (1894-1969), Australian batsman and captain who captained Australia to victory in the 1935-36 series in South Africa (at Durban, in his final Test, he held five catches in an innings, a world record that has been another Test best until one of his own grandsons Greg Chappell bettered it by taking seven catches against England, at Perth in 1974-75); 

Kevin Curran (1959-), Zimbabwe all-rounder; and Wavell Hinds (1976-), West Indian batsman.

In 1859 George Parr's first English team to tour set sail from Liverpool, bound for North America and Canada. The side included John Wisden, John Lillywhite, H.H. Stephenson and Julius Caesar.

In 1956 C.B. Fry, Ranji's Sussex partner died, aged 84. He was probably the greatest all-rounder of his or any generation. A brilliant scholar, he was an accomplished performer in almost every branch of outdoor sport. He captained England in Test matches and also played Association Football for England against Ireland in 1901. He was at full-back for Southampton in the FA Cup Final of 1902 and his long jump record of 23 feet 5 inches set in 1892 stood for 21 years.

In 1963 the inaugural Gillette Cup final was also the first major one-day final to be played at Lord's. Sussex beat Worcestershire by 14 runs.

In 2001 Marvan Atapattu (201) became the first Test player to get into the score books as 'retired out' in the second match of the Asian Test Championship against Bangladesh at Colombo. Mahela Jayawardene's innings met a similar end when he too was 'retired out' on 150. Sri Lanka went on to make 555 for 5 and won by an innings and 137 runs. On the same day Gary Kirsten's double hundred (202 not out) in the first Test against Zimbabwe at Harare made him the first South African to reach 5,000 runs.