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 was the highest ODI score by any batsman until Zimbabwean Charles Coventry equalled it in 2009 and Sachin Tendulkar broke it in 2010; 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 stump 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 unique 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 had 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; Wavell Hinds (1976-), West Indian batsman; and Farveez Maharood (1984-), Sri Lankan all-rounder.
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.
8 SEPTEMBER
Born on this day were: Siegfried Sassoon (1886-1967), English poet and novelist who captained his own team the Siegfried Sassoon Estate Eleven in several encounters; Douglas Linford Freeman (1914-94), Kiwi leg-spinner who played two Tests against England in 1932-33 and who was New Zealand's youngest Test player before Daniel Vettori arrived on the scene in 1996-97; Terry Jenner (1944-), Australian leg-spinner who was hit on the head by English fast bowler John Snow at Sydney, sparking a riot in 1970-71, but will always be remembered for discovering and nurturing the talent of Shane Warne; and Geoff Miller (1952-), English all-rounder; and Suraj Randiv (1989-) Sri Lankan spinner who was recently banned for bowling a deliberate no-ball to deny Virender Sehwag his century.
In 1880 the first Test ever played in England came to an end at The Oval. Billy Murdoch hit an unbeaten 153 but Australia could only set England a target of 57. They lost five wickets in reaching it. 8 September is still the latest date on which Test cricket has been played in England.
In 1966 Edward Aspey English who was once the longest-lived first-class cricketer died on this day, aged 102 years 250 days. He played 18 matches for Hampshire from 1898 to 1901.
In 1979 at long last, after defeat in two previous finals, Somerset won their first major trophy, beating Northants at Lord's to win the Gillette Cup. Vivian Richards was Man of the Match for his superb 117, and Joel Garner's haul of 6 for 29 sealed the result.
In 2001 Bangladesh batsman Mohammad Ashraful became the youngest cricketer in Test cricket history to score a century when he scored 114 against Sri Lanka in the Asian Test Championship at Colombo, one day short of his 17th birthday. He bettered the record of Mushtaq Mohammad who scored a century against India in 1960-61 aged 17 years and 81 days. He also became the youngest batsman to score a century on debut beating the mark set by Zimbabwe's Hamilton Masakadza (17 years 354 days) against the West Indies at Harare in July 2001.
In 2003 it was the last day in Test cricket for Alec Stewart. He made 38 in the fifth Test against South Africa at The Oval, a match England won by nine wickets. In a career lasting more than 13 years he scored 8,463 Test runs and made 277 dismissals. He played Test cricket till the ripe old age of 40.
In 2007 England won seventh match to take one-day series against India 4-3
9 SEPTEMBER
Born on this day were: Frederick Robert 'The Demon' Spofforth (1853-1926), Australian fast bowler who is considered one of the greatest of all time and who was the first to take a hat-trick in Test cricket (He took 94 wickets in only 18 Tests); William Albert Stanley Oldfield (1894-1976), Australian wicket-keeper who was the first to make 100 dismissals in Test cricket (52 of his 130 victims were stumped, still a world record, and his 90 dismissals against England is a record for an Australian wicket-keeper; Syed Abid Ali (1941-),who hit the winning runs at The Oval in 1971 – India's first win in a Test match and series in England; Neil Fairbrother (1963-), English batsman who was named for Australian Robert Neil Harvey; and Mohammad Ashraful (1984-), Bangladeshi batsman who scored a century on Test debut for Bangladesh one day before his 17th birthday.
In 1912 the first match of the newly formed Quadrangular Tournament started between the Hindus and the Parsees at the Marine Lines Ground, Bombay. The Parsees won the match by an innings and 40 runs. M.D. Parekh took a hat-trick in the Hindus' first innings – the first non-European to take a hat-trick and the second in first-class cricket in India. In 1921 the great C.B. Fry, Wilfred Rhodes and George Hirst appeared in this tournament for the Europeans.
In 1959 West Indies all-rounder O'Neil Gordon 'Collie' Smith died following injuries in a car crash in England. Also injured in the crash was his friend Gary Sobers. His body was later flown back to Jamaica were some 60,000 attended his funeral. In his 26 Tests he scored 1,331 runs at 31.69 and took 48 wickets at 33.85. It is said that as an all-rounder he had as much, if not more promise, than Gary Sobers.
The day the floodgates finally opened for good. In 1994 Sachin Tendulkar scored his maiden ODI hundred. His 110 came in his 78th match in the Singer World Series against Australia at Colombo. India won by 31 runs and went on to take the trophy. He has added 41 more since then.
In 1995 Anil Kumble of Northamptonshire became the first player to take 100 wickets in a season since the Championship was cut to 17 matches in 1993.
In 2003 Inzamam-ul-Haq became the first Pakistani to reach 9,000 ODI runs when he made 56 not out in the first ODI against Bangladesh at Multan. He took 11 years and 291 days having made his debut on 22 November 1991 at Lahore against the West Indies.
10 SEPTEMBER
Born on this day were: Belinda Clark (1970-), Australian women's captain who led Australia to victory in the 1997 World Cup, during which she became the first player, man or woman, to hit a double century (229 against Denmark at Mumbai) in ODI cricket (Australia batted for more overs than Denmark scored runs! They were all out for 49, losing by 363 runs); Mohammad Akram (1974-), Pakistani pace bowler; and Eoin Morgan (1986-), England batsman who holds the unique distinction of scoring ODI hundreds for two different countries (Ireland & England).
In 1872 the great Ranjitsinhji Vibhaji, Maharaja Jam sahib of Nawanagar (1872-1933), was born. He scored 62 and 154 not out on his debut for England, against Australia at Old Trafford in 1896. He made ten centuries and headed the national averages that season. He also scored a century in his first Test in Australia, 175 at Sydney in 1897-98, the highest score for England at the time. His partnerships for Sussex with the equally classical C.B. Fry were one of the reasons this was known as the Golden Age of batting. In 1896 he became the first man to score two first-class centuries on the same day (100 and 125 not out) for Sussex against Yorkshire at Hove. India's domestic first-class championship, the Ranji Trophy, is named after him.
In 1948 in his last first-class innings in England, for the Australians against H.D.G. Leveson-Gower's XI at Scarborough, Don Bradman made 153. He shared a stand of 225 with Sid Barnes before the rain-affected match ended in a draw.
In 1948 playing for East v West at Kingston-on-Thames, Middlesex leg-spinner Jim Sims took 10 for 90 in 18.4 overs (13 in the match) to bowl East to victory by 223 runs.
In 1978 playing for National Bank against Punjab at Lahore, Taslim Arif became the first Pakistani wicket-keeper to make ten dismissals in a first-class match. Punjab were dismissed for 74 and 143 and lost by an innings. Taslim's haul remained a national record until Wasim Yousufi made 11 dismissals for Peshawar against Bahawalpur at Peshwar in 1997-98.
In 1986 Geoff Boycott played in his last first-class match – at Scarborough for Yorkshire against Northants. He was run out on 61. His 8,114 Test runs were a world record at the time, and he scored 48,426 first-class runs at 56.83, the highest average among batsmen who scored over 30,000 runs.
In 1989 West Indian Jeffrey Stollmeyer (32 Tests, 2,159 runs at an average of 42.33) was murdered in his home in Florida. An outstanding cricketer, football and cricket administrator, he captained the West Indies cricket team (1952-55) and subsequently became the president of the West Indies Cricket board of Control (1977-1982). Stollmeyer was a former president of the West Indian Tobacco Sports Foundation and when he died in very tragic circumstances, the Sports Foundation decided to honour his memory by making an award annually to the Outstanding Sports Administrator (1990-93) and from 1994, to the Outstanding Sporting Association.
11 SEPTEMBER
Born on this day were: William Henry Cooper (1849-1939), Australian bowler who played in the first of his two Tests, against England at Melbourne in 1881-82 but who is better remembered as the only player whose great-grandson (Paul Sheahan) was also a Test cricketer; Lala Amarnath (1911-2000), Indian all-rounder who made a century on debut against England in 1933-34 (India's first in Tests) and captained India in the victorious series in Pakistan in 1952-53 (He shares with Walter Hadlee the distinction of being the father of two sons who both played Test cricket, one of whom Surinder, emulated him by scoring a century on debut); James Edward 'Derrick' Sealy (1912-82), West Indies' youngest Test cricketer who was only 17 years 122 days old (the youngest Test cricketer from outside the sub-continent) when he made his debut, against England at Bridgetown in 1929-30; and Murali Kartik (1976-), Indian left-arm spinner.
In 1871 the Scarborough Festival was launched when a local team played a Holidaymakers XI at Castle Hill.
In 1905 Dr. H.D. Kanga, playing for Parsees, became the first and only batsman to score a double century (233) in the Presidency matches against the Europeans at Poona. The Parsees won by an innings and 226 runs. Kanga is however best remembered for an unbeaten 24 despite a sprained ankle in the final of the Quadrangular tournament against the Hindus which helped draw the match for the Parsees.
Two historic firsts for Sri Lankan cricket: In 1985 Sri Lanka beat India by 149 runs at Colombo to register their first Test win. Rumesh Ratnayake returned match figures of 9 for 125, the best figures for Sri Lanka at the time, and Amal Silva became the first wicket-keeper to score a hundred and make nine dismissals in the same Test, and the first to make 18 dismissals within two successive Tests. The next day was proclaimed a national holiday. In 1999 Sri Lanka beat Australia in the Kandy Test by six wickets. It was Sri Lanka's first win over Australia at the 11th attempt.
In 1999 Tasmanian batsman Jamie Cox scored a double century and a century in the same first-class match, making 216 and 129 not out for Somerset against Hampshire at Southampton.
In 2001 Andy Flower was stranded on 199 not out in the first Test against South Africa at Harare. He had earlier made 142 in the first innings and became the first wicket-keeper to hit a hundred in each innings of a Test. He also became only the second player after South Africa's Jimmy Sinclair to score more than half his team's aggregate over two innings in a Test (142 out of 286 and 199 out of 391). South Africa won by nine wickets.
12 SEPTEMBER
Born on this day were: 1st Marquess of Willingdon (1866-1941), Viceroy of India (1931-36), who as Thomas Freeman, later Freeman-Thomas played for Cambridge University and Sussex (1886-90) and reappeared in first-class matches in India (1916-19) when he was Governor of Bombay; Wesley Hall (1937-), West Indian fast bowler who terrorized batsmen along with his bowling partner Charlie Griffith (He bowled the last over of the first tied Test, at Brisbane in 1960-61); Max 'Tangles' Walker (1948-), Australian pace bowler who bowled first-change after Lillee and Thomson and whose 8 for 143 in the sixth Test at Melbourne in 1974-75 is the most expensive eight-wicket haul in Test history. (He was known as 'Tangles' because he bowled off the wrong foot.); and Nathan Bracken (1977-), Australian left-arm pacer.
In 1901 C.B. Fry while playing for the Rest of England against Yorkshire at Lord's, scored 105 – his sixth consecutive first-class century, setting a record equaled only by Don Bradman in 1938-39 and mike Procter in 1970-71. The Rest made 526 and won by an innings.
In 1912 the Muslim played their first match in the newly formed Quadrangular Tournament at the Marine Lines Ground, Bombay. They beat the Europeans by seven wickets.
In 1925 in the season in which he passed W.G. Grace's total of 126 first-class hundreds, Jack Hobbs set another record right at the end. Playing for the Rest of England against the champions Yorkshire, he made 106 in the first innings. It was his 16 th first-class century of the season, a record until Denis Compton hit 18 in 1947.
In 2002 Pakistani batsman Shoaib Malik became the first batsman to be given out lbw by the third umpire Rudi Koertzen in the opening match of the ICC Champions Trophy between Pakistan and Sri Lanka at Colombo. It was implemented on an experimental basis for the first time during this tournament. Sri Lanka won by eight wickets.
In 2005 England secured draw at The Oval to regain the Ashes after 16 years. Huge crowds throng streets of London to salute the England team.
In 2007 Zimbabwe beat Australia in World Twenty20.
In 2007 Daniel Vettori was appointed New Zealand Test captain.
