Second Week of March

Born on this day were:

Phil Mead (1887-1958), English batsman who holds the record for the most runs scored for one team – 48,892 for Hampshire and averaged 49 from 17 Tests;

Lee Irvine (1944-), South African batsman whose promising Test career was cut short by apartheid (He scored 102 in his last Test innings in 1970 on his 26th birthday);

Patrick E. Eager (1944-), pre-eminent English photographer who has photographed every day of every Test match in England since 1972 and also has a renowned portfolio of photographs of vineyards, chateaux and bottles;

Geoffrey Graham ‘Geoff’ Arnold (1944-), English pace bowler who played in 34 Tests (1967-75) ;

Parthiv Patel (1985-), who was the youngest player to don wicketkeeping gloves for India.

 

In 1947 Sir Francis Stanley Jackson died in London, aged 66. He was a fine all-rounder for Yorkshire and England around the turn of the century and his greatest feat was against Australia in the 1905 series when he captained the side, won all five tosses, and headed both the batting and bowling averages. Subsequently he was an MP, a president of MCC, and Governor of Bengal. In 1932 as Governor of Bengal he survived an assassination attempt by Bina Das a student at the Calcutta University convocation ceremony. She fired three shots and an ardent nationalist wryly inquired as to why the ‘over’ was not completed. Jackson called it the fastest ‘duck’ he had ever made.

 

In 1971 J.M. Noreiga took 9 for 95 for the West Indies against India in the second Test at Port of Spain – the best ever figures by a West Indian in Test cricket. It could not prevent an Indian victory by seven wickets.

 

In 1996 India knocked out Pakistan in the quarter-final of the World Cup in a dramatic clash at Bangalore. The match ultimately hinged on Waqar Younis’ last two overs, which Ajay Jadeja hit for 40. It was also Javed Miandad’s last ODI. On the same day Sanath Jayasuriya scored 82 in only 44 balls to maul England in another quarter-final in Faisalabad. Sri Lanka won with almost ten overs to spare.

 

In 1998 Sachin Tendulkar scored an unbeaten 155 in the first Test against Australia, at Madras. His innings which included four sixes and 14 fours was instrumental in an Indian victory as Australia collapsed on the final day to lose by 179 runs.

 

In 2006 India beat England in second Test at Mohali to lead series.

 

 

Born on this day were:

Spencer William Gore (1850-1906), English tennis player who won the inaugural Wimbledon in 1877 and who had played first-class cricket for Surrey in 1874-75 (His successor as Wimbledon champion, Patrick Hadow, had also played four matches for Middlesex in 1873-74);

Clement Arthur Milton (1928-), English batsman who made a century on debut at Headingley in 1958 and became the first Englishman to be on the field throughout an entire Test match (He also played football for England);

Ijaz Butt (1938-), Pakistani opening batsman in eight Tests (1958-60) and current PCB Chairman;

Greg Campbell (1964-), Australian pace bowler who played four Tests for Australia and who is Ricky Ponting’s uncle.

 

In 1907 the great Ranjitsinhji was installed as the Jam Saheb of Nawanagar. From the moment of his succession he tried his best to bury his fame as a cricketer. When with other leading men of affairs he always insisted on talking affairs of state, while they wanted to talk cricket. It stood, in the way of his being taken seriously.

 

In 1953 New Zealand were bowled out for 172 in both their innings in the first Test against South Africa at Wellington. This was the first of seven such occurrences in Test cricket. In this match South African D.J. McGlew scored an unbeaten 255 and became only the second player after Nazar Mohammad to be on the field throughout a Test match.

 

In 1970 South Africa completed their first series whitewash with another thumping victory over Australia at Port Elizabeth. Their 4-0 win was made up of four huge victories: 170 runs, an innings and 129 runs, 307 runs, and 323 runs. But thanks to apartheid South Africa would not play another Test for 22 years.

 

In 1974 Lawrence Rowe hit a triple century in the third Test against England in Barbados. His 302 included 36 fours and a six, and came off just 430 balls. In the same match Tony Greig became the first Englishman to make a century (148) and take a five-wicket haul (6 for 164) in the same Test.

 

In 1982 Salim Malik, aged 18 years 328 days, became the youngest player (at the time) to score a century on Test debut (100 not out) in the first Test against Sri Lanka at Karachi. Malik has since been usurped, first by Zimbabwe’s Hamilton Masakadza and then Bangladesh’s Mohammad Ashraful.

 

In 1985 India won the Benson & Hedges World Cricket Championship beating Pakistan at Melbourne by eight wickets. The seven-nation tournament was held to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Victoria. Ravi Shastri was declared the ‘Championship of Champions’. During the tournament the Melbourne Cricket Ground became the second stadium to host day-night cricket under lights.

 

In 2004 Bangladesh beat Zimbabwe at Harare to register their first international win since May 1999.

 

In 2006 Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan became second bowler to take 600 Test wickets.

 

 

Born on this day were:

Vijay Hazare (1915-), pre-eminent Indian batsman and captain famous for becoming the first Indian to score a century in each innings of a Test (and the only man to do it on consecutive days) as well as being the first Indian to score two triple centuries in first-class cricket (He averaged 47 in 30 Tests);

Derek John ‘Jackie’ McGlew (1929-98), South African opening batsman and captain who batted almost ten hours for 105 against Australia at Durban in 1957-58, the slowest hundred in first-class history at the time (He is also famous for his 255 against New Zealand in 1953 and was a fine captain, author and journalist);

John Ward (1937-), New Zealand wicket-keeper in eight Tests (1964-68);

Kennedy Obuyo (1973-), Kenyan wicket-keepeer,

Hasan Raza (1982-), Pakistani batsman who became the youngest Test cricketer ever at the age of 14 years 227 days when he played against Zimbabwe at Faisalabad in 1996-97. (The validity of that age has however been challenged) ;

Ajantha Mendis (1985-) Sri Lankan mystery bowler, who recently became the fastest to take 50 wickets in ODIs.

 

In 1910 the great Jack Hobbs scored his first Test ton (187) against South Africa at Cape Town, before he was out hit wicket for the only time in his career. England beat South Africa by nine wickets.

 

In 1949 the Ranji Trophy semi-final between Bombay and Maharashtra at Poona yielded 2,376 runs for the loss of 38 wickets. This is the highest-scoring match in first-class history. In all there were 19 centuries: nine from the batsmen, ten for the hapless bowlers.

 

In 1963 Mohammad Nissar who played six Tests for India from 1932-36 (25 wickets at 28.28) died in Lahore, aged 52. Mohammad Nissar was India’s first ever pace bowler and one of the fastest ever. Of his 25 Test victims, 13 were bowled or leg before and his partnership with Amar Singh was as legendary as it was successful. In India’s maiden Test at Lord’s in 1932, he plunged the England innings into disarray by knocking over the stumps of Holmes and Sutcliffe, who only ten days earlier had added 555 for the first wicket for Yorkshire, and ended with 5 for 93. On that trip, he took 71 wickets at 18.09 to head the averages.

 

In 1980 all eleven Australians got a bowl, including Rod Marsh, who whipped off his pads for the first ten overs of his Test career, as the second Test at Faisalabad drifted to a dreary draw. A rain-affected game produced 999 runs for the loss of only 12 wickets, including double centuries for Greg Chappell and Pakistan’s Taslim Arif, whose 210 not out was the highest Test score by a wicket-keeper until Andy Flower topped it with 232 against India in 2000-01.

 

In 1983 Kapil Dev played his 50th Test when he took the field against West Indies in the second Test at Port of Spain, Trinidad. He achieved the double of 2,000 runs and 200 Test wickets in this match and at 24 years and 68 days was the youngest player to do so.

 

In 1996 Australian Mark Waugh made 110 in a World Cup match against New Zealand in Madras. It was his record third century of the tournament, as Australia beat the Kiwis by six wickets. Chris Harris’ 130, his maiden ODI hundred, was to no avail.

 

In 2001 Harbhajan Singh became the first and only Indian bowler to take a Test hat-trick in the second Test against Australia at Kolkata. He claimed three successive victims in the second, third, and fourth balls of his 16th over to claim Test cricket’s 29th hat-trick. (Tony Greig bought the hat-trick ball at an auction in Bangalore in September 2003.)

 

In 2003 Shane Bond’s 6 for 23 against Australia at Port Elizabeth was the best by a Kiwi in ODI history and equalled the fifth best (by Ashish Nehra in the same World Cup) in the World Cup. He still ended up on the losing side after Brett Lee responded in kind with 5 for 42. In the same match Glenn McGrath scored three runs in two balls – his first run in all World Cups ending a seven-year wait (and 25 appearances) to get off the mark. (He had got to the wicket only three times before.)

 

In 2008 Australia postponed their scheduled tour of Pakistan due to security concerns.

 

 

Born on this day were:

Ken James (1904-76), outstanding New Zealand wicket-keeper whose Test average of 4.72 made him statistically speaking the worst keeper-batsman to have played ten or more Tests;

Vijay Mehra (1938-), Indian opening batsman who made his debut at the age of 17 years 265 days and was India’s youngest Test cricketer until Maninder Singh in 1982-83;

Eldine Baptiste (1960-), West Indian bowling all-rounder who played in ten Tests for his country;

Yasir Arafat (1982-), Pakistani pace bowler.

 

In 1889 this was South Africa’s day as a Test-playing nation. They met England at Port Elizabeth in what was later deemed to be the inaugural first-class match to be played in the country. England won easily by eight wickets after bowling South Africa out for 84 on the first morning. Nobody reached 50 in the match, which ended on the second day. England were captained by C. Aubrey Smith of Hollywood fame who remains the only player to captain England in his only appearance in Test cricket. The match was played on matting.

 

In 1982 Courtney Walsh made his first-class debut for Jamaica against the Leeward Islands at Kingston with the none too impressive figures of 10-2-52-0.

 

In 1993 Danny Morrison took 6 for 37 against Australia in the third Test at Auckland. The Aussies were out for 139, and New Zealand won by five wickets on the last day.

 

In 2001 in an extraordinary collapse at Auckland, New Zealand collapsed from 121 for 2 to 131 all out, losing by 299 runs. The last five batsmen failed to score. The Pakistani destroyers were Saqlain Mushtaq (whose figures on the final morning were 12.4-10-3-4) and Mohammad Sami (7-3-7-5). There were four debutantes for the Pakistanis and Sami was one of them.

 

In 2003 Kenya became the first team without Test status to reach a World Cup semi-final when they beat Zimbabwe in Bloemfontein. The victory could not have been better timed: it was their first victory over Zimbabwe having lost in 14 previous outings.

 

In 2004 Shane Warne became the first spinner to take 500 Test wickets when he took the wicket of Hasan Tillekeratne on the last day of the first Test against Sri Lanka at Galle.

 

In 2006 South Africa (438-9) beat Australia (434-4) in record high-scoring one-day international at Johannesburg. This remains the highest run-chase ever in ODI history.

 

 

In 1859 the Hon. Ivo Francis Walter Bligh, later the 8th Earl of Darnley, was born in London. He played four Tests for England, all in 1882-83, when he captained them to an Ashes victory. That was immediately after the famous 1882 series, in which England’s defeat sparked the Ashes legend: a famous notice in the Sporting Times mourned the death of English cricket, and said its body was to be cremated. Bligh eventually married one of the women (Florence Rose Morphy) who created the Ashes urn, and on his death in 1927 the urn was bequeathed to MCC.

 

Also born on this day were:

Clifford Roach (1904-88), West Indies’ first double-centurion who played in their first 16 Tests;

Bernard Julien (1950-), West Indian all-rounder;

Dirk Welham (1959-), Australian batsman who made a hundred on Test debut (as also for his debut for New South Wales) and who was also the first person to captain three different Sheffield Shield states – New South Wales, Tasmania and Queensland;

Robert Samuels (1971-), West Indian opening batsman;

Denesh Ramdin (1985-), whose 166 against England in the fourth Test at Bridgetown two weeks ago is the highest score by a ‘specialist’ wicketkeeper in the Caribbean.

 

A happy day for New Zealand:

in 1956 New Zealand routed West Indies for 77 at Auckland, beating them by 190 runs, their first Test victory after 45 Tests and 26 years of trying. In 1974 Glenn Turner became the first New Zealander to score two hundreds in a Test (101 and 110) and in the process set the Kiwis up for their first victory over Australia in the second Test at Christchurch.

 

In 1967 Sir Frank Worrell, great West Indian batsman and captain who was knighted for his services to the game, died of leukemia, aged only 42. Blood Donation Day in India celebrated every 3 February is called Frank Worrell Day in his honour. He had donated blood to save Nari Contractor’s life after the Indian captain had been felled by a Charlie Griffith bouncer in the Carribean. (He announced his engagement to Indian actress Anju Mahendroo during the Bombay Test in 1966-67 as part of a publicity stunt and even made a brief appearance in a Raj Kapoor film Around the World.)

 

In 1977 Dennis Lille took 6 for 26 against England in the Centenary Test at Melbourne. England were all out for 95 in the first innings and went on to lose by 45 runs.

 

In 1981 in Barbados, Roland Butcher became the first black player to play for England in the third Test against the West Indies. Butcher played three Tests, all on this tour, with a top-score of 32. Also making his debut for England in the same match was Simla-born Robin Jackman. His debut was made possible by the Gleneagles Agreement between the concerning countries that they would not ban Jackman because of his South African connections the way Guyana had done. Jackman, aged 35, dismissed Greenidge with his fifth ball in Test cricket.

 

In 1996 Sri Lanka beat India in the World Cup semi-final at Calcutta. With India crumbling to 120 for 8 – chasing 252 – the crowd set fire to areas of the stands and started to pelt the fielders with fruit and water bottles. The riot forced Clive Llyod, the match referee, to abandon the game.

 

In 2004 India beat Pakistan by five runs in the first ODI at Karachi. Chasing a mammoth 349 Pakistan came agonizingly close, when needing nine runs from the final over, they could manage only three. This (344) is the highest total by a team chasing (win or lose) and the match aggregate of 693 runs is also a new record.

 

In 2008 Taslim Arif, the former Pakistan wicketkeeper, who played six Tests for his country, died in Karachi at the age of 53 of a lung infection.

 

 

 

 

Peter van der Merwe (1937-), South African batsman and captain in the mid-1960s who later became an ICC match referee;

Bruce Reid (1963-), Australian pace bowler who at 6 feet 8 inches is the tallest player ever to have played Test cricket and who was India’s bowling coach when they toured Australia in 2003-04;

Vijay Yadav (1967-), Indian wicket-keeper who played in his only Test against Zimbabwe in 1993.

 

In 1939 England drew with South Africa at Durban on the tenth day of the fifth Test (Timeless Test) by agreement.

 

In 1969 in his last Test innings, Seymour Nurse walloped 258 for West Indies against New Zealand at Christchurch. It was his sixth Test century, three of which came in his last four matches.

 

In 1981 Ken Barrington (6,806 runs from 82 Tests at an average of 58.67), suffered a fatal heart attack at Barbados. Barrington, who was only 50, was England’s assistant manager and coach, and hugely popular with the player.

 

In 1982 Sri Lankan opener Sidath Wettimuny made his country’s first Test hundred in the second Test against Pakistan at Faisalabad. He shared in Sri Lanka’s first century partnership with Roy Dias, who made 98. Wettimuny went on to make 157, and Sri Lanka avoided defeat for the first time in their third Test. In the same match Somachandra de Silva took 5 for 59 in the second innings to achieve Sri Lanka’s first-wicket haul.

 

In 1993 Vinod Kambli completed a score of 207 not out on the second day of the one-off Test against Zimbabwe at New Delhi. He was dismissed for 227 the next day. He had scored 224 (his maiden Test century) in the third Test against England at Bombay and this made him the first and only Indian Indian to score consecutive double centuries in Test cricket. He became only the third player after Walter Hammond of England, and Don Bradman to achieve this feat. He took his average to a formidable 136 after four Tests. This was Zimbabwe’s first overseas Test match and India won easily by an innings.

 

Four double hundreds and a hat-trick on this day in 1999: Ijaz Ahmed (211) and Inzamam-ul-Haq (200 not out) contributed to Pakistan’s total of 594 in the final of the Asian Test Championship at Dhaka. Wasim Akram took his second Test hat-trick on the same match. It was his second in only eight days and came in consecutive Tests, the first being against Sri Lanka at Lahore. Pakistan won by an innings and 175 runs. On the same day South African Herschelle Gibbs made 211 not out in the second innings against New Zealand at Christchurch. At Kingston, Brian Lara made 213 against Australia in the second Test, which West Indies won by ten wickets.

 

In 1999 Madhya Pradesh made 605 against Haryana in a Ranji Trophy match at Rajnandgoan. This was the highest total in first-class cricket not to include a century. The highest was 90 and Madhya Pradesh won the match by an innings and 24 runs.

 

In 2001 V.V.S. Laxman (275) and Rahul Dravid (155) led one of the most remarkable fight-backs in Test history, in the second Test at Calcutta against Australia. India had followed on and were 254 for 4 in their second innings, effectively minus 20 for 4. Laxman completed 281 the next day to set up one cricket’s most famous victories (and only the third victory by a team following on). His 281 was India’s highest individual Test score at the time and has since been surpassed twice only by Virender Sehwag.

 

In 2004 Jacques Kallis became only the second player after Don Bradman to score centuries in five consecutive Tests, when he made 150 in his second innings in the first Test against New Zealand at Cape Town. Bradman had hit six consecutive centuries in Test matches ranging from 1936-38. This gave him an incredible average of 190.80 from his five most recent matches. On the same day West Indies were bowled out for their lowest ever score (47), losing the first Test at Kingston, Jamaica against England by ten wickets. Their previous lowest was 51 against Australia in 1999.

 

In 2004 Steve Harmison took seven for 12 at Kingston to skittle West Indies for 47, their record low.

 

 

Born on this day were:

Colin Croft (1953-), West Indian fast bowler (1977-82) who courted controversy when he barged into umpire Fred Goodall in New Zealand in 1979-80 (he is a qualified airline pilot and settled in the USA before returning to the Carribbean as a journalist and commentator on radio and TV);

Mohsin Khan (1955-), Pakistani opening batsman who in 1982 became the first Pakistani to make 1,000 runs in a calendar year and who is one of only seven men to be out ‘handled the ball’ in a Test ;

Kyle Mills (1979-) New Zealand pace bowler.

 

In 1877 Australia played England at Melbourne in the first ever cricket Test amtch. Australia’s Charles Bannerman faced the first ball from Alfred Shaw, scored the first run off the next ball, and the first hundred (165 on the next day). Australia eventually won by 45 runs. It was debut day for all the players including James Southerton who remains the oldest debutante at 49 years 119 days. The phrase ‘Test match’ was coined during the very first cricket tour of Australia, when in 1861-62, games between H.H. Stephenson’s team and each of the Australian colonies were described as ‘Test matches’. Those early contests were played against odds, i.e. with the opposition batting and fielding more than 11 players. It was not until James Lillywhite’s professionals visit to Australia in 1876-77, that an English team played on level terms and this encounter against a combined eleven from Melbourne and Sydney, has become accepted as the first Test match. Bizarrely, on the same ground 100 years later, they beat England by exactly the same margin in the Centenary Test, which was arranged to celebrate this inaugural match.

 

Rise Sir Don! In 1949 Donald Bradman was knighted by governor-general W.J. McKell in Queen’s Hall, Parliament House, Melbourne. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation acknowledged this event by changing its Post Box address to 9994 as recognition of the master’s fantastic Test average (99.94). (In 1997 when Australi Post introduced its Legends series the first choice was the Don – the first living Australian to be honoured with his nation’s stamp.)

 

In 1979 in one of the most stunning spells of bowling in Test history Pakistan’s Sarfraz Nawaz took seven wickets for one run in 33 balls to end with 9 for 86 in the first Test against Australia at Melbourne. Australia collapsed to 310 all out after being 305 for 3, chasing 382. It was Test cricket’s first great reverse-swing-included collapse: Australia’s Nos. 6 to 11 managed just a solitary run between them. It was also Pakistan’s 100th Test.

 

In 1986 Tim Zoehrer of Australia became the first batsman to officiate as night-watchman in both innings of a Test – in the third Test against New Zealand at Auckland. New Zealand won by eight wickets and became the first side to defeat Australia in two rubbers in the same season.

 

In 1987 New Zealand beat the West Indies by five wickets in only three days in the third Test at Christchurch. West Indies’ score of 100 was the second lowest against the Kiwis and in the same match Richard Hadlee became the third bowler (at the time) to claim 350 Test wickets. He also took his world record five-wicket haul to 29. Haynes and Dujon reached 4,000 and 2,000 test runs respectively and it was the last day in Test cricket for West Indians Larry Gomes and Joel garner and for Kiwi captain Jeremy Coney.

 

In 1995 Sri Lanka won an overseas Test for the first time in 32 attempts when they beat New Zealand at Napier by 241 runs. Chaminda Vaas grabbed five-wickets hauls in both innings (5 for 47 and 5 for 43) to become the first Sri Lankan to take ten wickets in a Test.

 

In 1999 Pakistan won the inaugural Asian Test Championship, defeating Sri Lanka by an innings and 175 runs in the final at Dhaka.

 

In 2000 Shane Warne surpassed Dennis Lillee’s Australian record of 355 Test wickets when he had Paul Wiseman caught by Adam Gilchrist in the first Test against New Zealand at Auckland.

 

In 2003 Brett Lee took a hat-trick against Kenya in a World Cup match at Durban. It was the second hat-trick of the 2003 World Cup and the fourth overhall. He took those three wickets with his first 12 balls without conceding a run. He had ended his previous appearance against New Zealand with a burst of five wickets in 15 balls at cost of three runs – giving him a composite eight wickets for three runs in 27 deliveries.