This Week Those Years!
View more historical moments in cricketFirst week of February
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Let us take a trip down memory lane and recall some of the finest moments and incidents that occured during the first week of February.
29 JANUARY
Born on this day were:
Edward ‘Teddy’ Hoad (1896-1986), West Indian batsman and captain who played four Tests from 1928 to 1933;
Raman Subba Row (1932-), English opener, who was later chairman of the TCCB and also became an ICC match referee;
A.M.E. ‘Andy’ Roberts (1951-), West Indian pace bowler who was at his deadly best in the mid 1970s, and who was the fastest to take 100 wickets (two years 142 days) till Botham upstaged him.
In 1932 Bill ‘Tiger’ O’Reilly made his Test debut against South Africa at Adelaide. This was the same match where Bradman was run out on 299. In 1971 Dennis Keith Lillee made his Test debut against England at Adelaide. He struck immediately with 5 for 84. In 1955 Greg Blewett of Australia made his Test debut, also at Adelaide, with a hundred (102 not out) against England.
In 1980 the match between Pakistan and India at Calcutta ended in a draw. It was Asif Iqbal’s last Test and Viswanath’s first as captain after Gavaskar stepped down. The match had its share of scandal: Asif was accused of losing the toss under curious circumstances and suspicion was also cast on his first innings declaration – 59 runs behind India. It was thought that large bets had been placed on Viswanath winning the toss and taking a first innings lead. Viswanath claimed that Asif said ‘Congratulations’ when the coin was still in the air.
In 1986 Bruce Reid took Australia’s first ODI hat-trick, against New Zealand at Sydney in a Benson & Hedges World Series Cup match. It was the second ODI hat-trick in history and Australia won by 99 runs.
In 1991 North Zone won the Duleep Trophy beating West Zone by virtue of a first innings lead at Jamshedpur. The match is remembered today for the ugly fracas between the late Raman Lamba and Rashid Patel in which Patel attacked Lamba with a stump and both were given bans from play.
In 1993 Vinod Kambli made his Test debut in the first Test against England at Calcutta. India won by eight wickets. He made 16 and 18 not out. S. Venkataraghavan made his umpiring debut in this Test.
In 1996 it was the last day in Test cricket for David Boon and Craig McDermott in the third Test at Adelaide against Sri Lanka. Australia won by 148 runs.
In 1998 the Kingston Test match between West Indies and England was abandoned because of a rogue pitch. Only 62 balls were bowled (in 56 minutes) making it one of the shortest Test match in history.
In 2006 Irfan Pathan claimed a hat-trick in the first over of the match in the Karachi Test. Pakistan soon slipped to 39 for 6, but wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal played gem of an innings. Abdul Razzaq and Shoaib Akhtar made useful contribution and Pakistan ended with rather respectable 245. Four days later Pakistan emerged victorious by 341-run margin!
30 JANUARY
Born on this day were:
Hugh ‘Toey’ Tayfield (1929-94), South African off-spinner who took 170 wickets from 37 Test matches from 1949 to 1960 (He was known as ‘Toey’ because of a peculiar habit of stubbing his toe into the ground before bowling. He also equalled Bill Edrich’s record of marrying five times); and
David Brown (1942-), right-arm fast-medium bowler who played 26 Tests for England between 1965 and 1969.
In 1883, England under Hon. Ivo Bligh (later Lord Darnley) beat Australia by 69 runs in the third Test at Sydney. After the match some Australian ladies burned a bail, sealed the ashes in an urn and presented it to the English captain. The ‘ashes’ – the urn together with its embroidered velvet bag – is housed in the Memorial Gallery at Lord’s. In 1998 Lord Darnley’s daughter-in-law said that they were the remains of her mother-in-law’s veil, not a bail. Other evidence suggests a ball. There is thus no certainty about the origin of the Ashes.
In 1934 already the only Australian to play Test cricket in his fifties, and the second-oldest Test player of all time, left-arm spinner Herbert ‘Dainty’ Ironmonger played his last Sheffield Shield game at the age of 51 years 298 days. He was euphemistically nicknamed ‘Dainty’ because of his clumsy fielding.
In 1961 West Indian off-spinner Lance Gibbs claimed a hat-trick (K.D. Mackay, A.T.V. Grout, F.M. Misson) against Australia in the fourth Test at Adelaide.
In 1963 England batsman, captain and former president of MCC, Sir Pelham ‘Plum’ Francis Warner who played 15 Tests from 1899 to 1912, died aged 89. His ashes were scattered at Lord’s. He was the manager during the infamous ‘Bodyline’ tour in 1932-33 during which he was famously told off by Australian captain Bill Woodfull during the Adelaide Test: ‘I don’t want to see you Mr. Warner. There are two teams out there; one is trying to play cricket and the other is not.’
In 1988 Chris Broad was fined $500 when he smashed down his stumps after being bowled by Steve Waugh in the Bicentennial Test at Sydney. Broad had made 139, his fourth ton in six Tests in Australia, when he smashed the stumps in disgust before departing from the pitch.
In 1994 Kapil Dev equalled Sir Richard Hadlee’s world record tally of 431 wickets when he dismissed Don Anurasiri to wrap up India’s innings victory over Sri Lanka at Bangalore. Nine days later Kapil overtook Hadlee when he snared Hashan Tillekeratne at Ahmedabad.
In 1998 Ian Healy became the first wicket-keeper to play 100 Tests when he played against South Africa in the third Test at Adelaide. He completed the century of Test appearances in the second shortest time – nine years 138 days.
In 2000 Mark Ealham took 5 for 15 against Zimbabwe at Kimberley in South Africa’s Standard Bank Tournament. These were then the best figures in England’s ODI history and all of them were lbws, which is also a record. All the decisions (and all supposedly plumb) were given by umpire Dave Orchard.
31 JANUARY
Born on this day were:
John Inverarity (1944-), Australian batsman and left-arm spinner who led Western Australia to the Sheffield Shield four years in five;
Subrata Guha (1946-2003), Indian pace bowler who played in only four Tests for India but played Ranji Trophy for Bengal for over a decade; and
Faoud Bacchus (1954-), who played 19 Tests for West Indies in the late 1970s and early 1980s and returned 15 years later, at 43, to play ICC Trophy cricket for USA.
In 1890 G.F. Vernon’s XI lost to the Parsees by four wickets at Bombay. The first overseas team to visit India, they had been unbeaten on the tour thus far. The captain of the Parsees team was J.M. Framjee Patel who is now more famous for his pioneering book Stray Thoughts on Indian Cricket. The visitors were feted by a reception organised by a committee headed by Sir Jamsetjee Jeejebhoy and hosted by Sir Dinshaw Petit in his mansion. Framjee Patel described this as the advent of the golden age of Parsee cricket.
In 1961 West Indian Rohan Kanhai completed twin tons (117 and 115) in the fourth Test against Australia at Adelaide. He was the first West Indian to score a hundred in each innings of a Test in Australia. He became Richie Benaud’s 200th Test victim in the second innings.
In 1976 Michael Holding caught Ian Redpath off the bowling of Lance Gibbs to give him his 308th Test wicket and the world record, surpassing Fred Trueman’s record of 307 Test wickets. It was his 26,853rd ball in Tests. This was Gibb’s last Test – and Redpath’s – and Gibbs took one more wicket to end with 309 at an average of 29.09.
In 1999 the first Test between Pakistan and India for nine years ended today at Chennai. Pakistan won a cliffhanger by 12 runs in a match, which saw Shahid Afridi hit 141. Venkatesh Prasad took 5 for 0 in 18 balls, and Tendulkar scored 136 as India chasing 271, fell agonisingly short.
In 2002 Sharjah hosted its first ever Test match – between Pakistan and the West Indies. Pakistan won by 170 runs. They won the next Test by 244 runs, also at Sharjah, to take the series 2-0.
1 FEBRUARY
Born on this day were:
Mohammad Jahangir Khan (1910-88), Indian all-rounder who stayed on in Pakistan after independence, becoming a member of the Pakistan Cricket Board and a Test selector (He was Majid Khan’s father and killed a sparrow with one of his deliveries in the Cambridge University – MCC match at Lords’s. The ball and its victim are preserved in the Long Room at Lord’s);
Ajay Jadeja (1971-), Indian batsman who was banned from cricket for match fixing; and
Franklyn Rose (1972-), West Indian fast bowler.
In 1932 Don Bradman remained unbeaten on 299, while his partner Hugh ‘Pud’ Thurlow (the only Test of his career) was run out against South Africa at Adelaide. This is the only instance of a batsman remaining undefeated on 299. Martin Crowe the only batsman to make 299 was dismissed on this score.
In 1981 Trevor Chappell bowled the infamous underarm ball to New Zealand tail-ender Brian McKechnie in the third match of the Benson & Hedges Cup between Australia and New Zealand. With only one ball remaining and seven runs more to get for victory Greg Chappell asked his brother Trevor to bowl underarm to ensure victory. Ian Chappell, brother of Trevor and Greg, was commentating at the time and said: ‘No Greg, you can’t do that.’ Quantas ran an ingenious advertisement a little after the incident featuring a picture of the underarm delivery along with the captain: ‘NZ $299 return. Once again the opposition will accuse us of cheating.’ Prime Minister Robert Muldoon of New Zealand said, ‘It was an act of cowardice and I consider it appopriate that the Australians are wearing yellow.’ It also turned out to be McKechnie’s last ODI.
In 1983 Mudassar Nazar scored his third consecutive hundred (109 not out) in the sixth Test against India at Karachi. (He went on to score 152 the next day.) His aggregate of 761 set a Pakistan record for any rubber beating the previous best by Hanif Mohammad (628 against the West Indies in 1957-58). Mudassar (761), Zaheer Abbas (650) and Javed Miandad (594) provided the first instance of any three batsmen from any country sharing an aggregate of 2,000 runs or of averaging over 100.
In 1985 Mohammad Azharuddin set a world record when he hit his third century in his first three Tests, scoring 122 against England at Kanpur. Not content with his this unique feat, Azharuddin’s first three centuries in ODIs ended on the same score – 108.
In 1995 the Flower brothers, Andy and Grant put on 269 for the fourth wicket against Pakistan at Harare – the highest ever for any wicket by two brothers in Test history, beating the previous best of 264 by Ian and Greg Chappell. Grant Flower went on to make an unbeaten 201, as Zimbabwe won three days later by an innings and 64 runs, registering their first Test victory in 11 outings.
In 1998 England won the under-19 World Cup beating New Zealand in the final in Johannesburg by seven wickets, with Essex's Stephen Peters making 107. The squad had the would be international cricketers Robert Key, Chris Schofield, Owais Shah, Graeme Swann and Paul Franks.
2 FEBRUARY
Born on this day were:
James Joyce (1882-1941), Irish author who eagerly followed the careers of Ranjitsinhji, Fry, Trumper and Spofforth and got his brother Stanislaus to bowl to him in their back garden (Ranjitsinhi appeared in his book Finnegans Wake as ‘ringeysingey’);
Mohammad Aminul Islam (1968-), Bangladeshi batsman who made a century (145) in his country’s inaugural Test (He became the third player to do so, after Australia’s Charles Bannerman and Zimbabwe’s Dave Houghton);
Ijaz Ahmed Jr. (1969-), Pakistani batsman who played one Test for Pakistan in 1995; and
Upul Tharanga (1985-) Sri Lankan opening batsman.
In 1892 Johnny Briggs took a hat-trick for England against Australia at Sydney. Exactly 40 years later in 1932 Australian leg-spinner Clarrie Grimmett took 14 wickets against South Africa (7 for 116 and 7 for 83), figures that still remain the best by any bowler at Adelaide.
In 1973 the great Sir Richard Hadlee, New Zealand’s greatest cricketer, made his Test debut with 2 for 112 in the first Test against Pakistan at Wellington.
A day of centuries for Australian David Boon: In 1988 David Boon saved the Bicentennial Test with an unbeaten 184 against England at Sydney. In 1992 he got yet another Test ton scoring 107 against India at Perth, his third in successive Tests.
In 1991 Sri Lankan Arvinda de Silva scored 267 against New Zealand at Wellington. This remains the best by a Sri Lankan batsman abroad.
In 1995 Zimbabwean paceman Henry Olonga was no-balled once for throwing by umpire Ian Robinson against Pakistan at Harare. He became the first serious bowler to be no-balled in a Test in 32 years.
In 1998 Australian captain Mark Taylor (169 not out) carried his bat though Australia’s innings of 350 against South Africa at Adelaide. His score was the highest by a Test captain while carrying his bat.
3 FEBRUARY
Born on this day were:
George Robert Canning, the 4th Lord Harris (1851-1932), English batsman and administrator who is better known as the world’s leading cricket missionary, was born on this day in 1851. An Oxford blue, he captained England in all four Tests in which he took part, including the first Test ever played in England. He also was president of the MCC. However it was as Governor of Bombay (1890-95) that he is best remembered as cricket’s greatest missionary, a friend of cricket in general and Parsee cricket in particular. He was the father of the Parsee-Presidency matches and was also instrumental in persuading the MCC to send out the first official team to tour India. It was this tour led by A.E.R. Gilligan, which paved the way for India’s entry into the then Imperial Cricket Conference and her subsequent elevation to Test status.
Chandrasekhar Gadkari (1928-98), Indian all-rounder who represented Services and who played six Tests for India (1953-55);
Robert Baddeley ‘Booby’ Simpson (1936-), Australian batsman, leg-spinner, captain, manager and coach;
Gary Bartlett (1941-), New Zealand pace bowler;
Danny Morrison (1966-), New Zealand pace bowler who once held the record for the most ducks in Test cricket (24) apart from his 160 Test wickets. (He is now a popular TV commentator.)
In 1892 Australia won the Ashes 2-1 for the first time when they beat England by 72 runs in the second Test at Sydney. They had won the earlier Test at Melbourne by 54 runs. R. Abel became the first English player to carry his bat through a completed Test innings. In the same match Johnny Briggs ended Australia’s second innings with a hat-trick. A.C. Bannerman scored only 67 in the complete third day’s play.
In 1937 Don Bradman scored 212 (in 441 minutes) in the fourth Test against England at Adelaide. This was the third time that he had scored a double century in two successive Test matches (all against England) having scored 270 in the third Test, at Melbourne. Ten years later he was not so lucky: In 1947 Alec Bedser bowled him for a duck in the fourth Test at Adelaide.
In 1968 the first ‘Frankie’ was sold at the Brabourne Stadium in Bombay. The brainchild of Amarjit Tibb, it took its name from Sir Frank Worrell whose West Indian side had toured India in 1966-67.
In 1974 controversy erupted in Trinidad when non-striker Alvin Kallicharran (142 not out) strode off the field after Bernard Julien played the last ball of the second day of the first Test between England and West Indies, gently down the pitch. Tony Greig threw down the stumps and appealed, and the umpire ruled Kallicharran run out. It caused a huge furore, and after lengthy off-field discussions, Greig retracted his appeal.
In 1977 Yajurvendrasinh equalled Grg Chappell’s record of seven catches in a match in the fourth Test at Bangalore. He took five in the first and two in the second innings. The chance for a record-breaking eighth came when a ball from Bedi took Roger Tolchard’s glove and flew to short-leg. Sadly he had just been moved to silly mid-on and the chance went a begging.
In 1978 needing to score 493, India were dismissed for 445 in the fifth and deciding Test against Australia at Adelaide – at the time the biggest ever total by a team to lose a match and the second highest ever total to be achieved in the fourth innings of a Test match. The Australians won on their captain Bobby Simpson’s birthday and Bishen Bedi set a record for either side by taking 31 wickets in the rubber. Simpson’s hundred in the first innings made him the oldest Australian (41 years 360 days) to score a century in a home Test.
In 1997 West Indian Curtly Ambrose’s ninth over in Australia’s second innings at Perth was the longest ever in Tests and included nine no-balls and lasted 12 minutes.
In 1998 South Africa failed to register a win against Australia at Adelaide that would have squared the series. Mark Waugh batted for 404 minutes for his unbeaten 115 that saved the day for the Aussies. He, however, was lucky not to be ruled out hit-wicket, when one ball after hitting him on the elbow, hit his own wicket. The umpires ruled him not out since he was not playing a shot.
4 FEBRUARY
Born on this day were:
Rolland Beaumont (1884-1958), South African batsman who played in five Tests from 1912 to 1914;
Wallis Mathias (1935-94), Pakistani batsman who was the first non-Muslim to play for Pakistan;
Rakesh Shukla (1948-), Indian leg-spinner and all-rounder who played only one Test in 1982.
In 1895 Australia beat England by an innings and 147 runs on the third day of the fourth Test at Sydney. England were dismissed twice on the third day for 65 and 72. This was the first of two such instances in which a side has been dismissed twice in the same day. The other involved India who were dismissed on the third day of the Old Trafford Test in 1952 for 58 and 82 – the only instance in the 20th century. (It is a general but erroneous belief that India’s is the only instance in Test cricket.) In the same match Johnny Briggs of England became the first player to take 100 Test wickets. C.T.B. Turner of Australia also achieved this feat on this the third and final day. (No play was possible on the second day.)
In 1949 Everton Weekes of West Indies completed a record run of seven Test fifties when he made 56 against India at Bombay. In the second innings he nearly made it eight but was bowled by Vijay Hazare for 48. This feat has since been equalled by Andy Flower of Zimbabwe.
In 1988 Australia and England played a one-off game at the Melbourne Cricket Ground to celebrate Australia’s bicentenary. Australia won by 22 runs.
In 1989 Australian Dean Jones scored 216 in the fifth Test against West Indies at Adelaide. It was Australia’s seventh double century against West Indies and the first at Adelaide. On the same day West Indian bowlers conseded a record 40 no-balls.
In 1990 playing in his 80th Test match Richard Hadlee took his 400th Test wicket (of Sanjay Manjrekar) against India in the first Test at Christchurch. He became the first bowler in Test history to achieve this milestone.
In 1991 New Zealand’s Andrew Jones and Martin Crowe put on a world record partnership of 467 runs for the third wicket against Sri Lanka at Wellington. Crowe scored 299 – only the second such score in Test history and the only one to be dismissed on this score. It is the highest for the third wicket in first-class cricket as well and at that time was record for any wicket in Tests. Apart from being their highest total, the Kiwi’s 671 for 4 is the highest second-innings score in Test history.
In 1995 Zimbabwe defeated Pakistan by an innings and 64 runs at Harare to gain its first ever Test win. It was Zimbabwe’s 11th Test and it came within three years of their introduction to Test cricket.
In 2001 Pankaj Roy, Indian Test batsman famous for the record opening stand of 413 with Vinoo Mankad died, aged 72.
Compiled by Rajneesh Gupta
