8th July....

1911:
English fast bowler Ken Farnes (15 Tests from 1934 to 1939; 60 wickets) was born.

1932:
Herbert Sutcliffe scores his 100th first-class hundred of his career - for Yorkshire v Glouestershire. He then became the seventh batsman to do so in first-class history.

1938:
Was to be the opening day of the Manchester Test for the Ashes series. Match was abandoned without a ball being bowled on all the four scheduled days.

1948:
South African all-rounder Dave Nourse (45 Tests from 1902 to 1924; 2234 runs and 41 wickets) died aged 70.

1957:
West Indian off-spinner Clyde Butts (7 matches from 1984 to 1988) was born.

1958:
England's Arthur Milton became the first English player to be on the field through a completed Test match - against New Zealand at Leeds.

1961:
Bowling off-cutters at a reduced pace England's fast bowler Freddie Trueman takes 5-0 in 24 balls to rout the Aussies for a paltry 120 at Leeds.

1972:
India's left-handed batsman and captain Saurav Ganguly was born.

1973:
England's all-rounder Wilfred Rhodes (58 Tests from 1899 to 1930) and the oldest ot appear in a Test match at 52, died aged 95.

1986:
Zimbabwe retain the ICC Trophy by defeating the Netherlands by 25 runs at Lord's.

1990:
England's left arm slow bowler Malcolm Hilton (4 Tests from 1950 to 1952) died aged 61.

9th July....

1893:
English pace bowling all-rounder George Geary (14 Tests from 1924 to 1934; 249 runs and 46 wickets) was born.

1893:
English left-handed batsman William Scotton (15 Tests from 1881 to 1887; 510 runs) committed suicide, aged 37.

1930:
South African batsman Roy McLean (40 Tests from 1951 to 1965; 2120 runs) was born.

1932:
England's fast bowler Harry Howell (5 Tests from 1920 to 1924) died, aged 41.

1957:
South African batsman Fred Susskind (5 Tests in 1924; 268 runs) died, aged 66.

1960:
England's off-spinning all-rounder Vallance Jupp (8 Tests from 1921 to 1928; 208 runs and 28 wickets) died, aged 69.

1960:
South African Jackie McGlew (45) was run-out after colliding with England's pace bowler Alan Moss, was recalled by captain Colin Cowdrey, but umpire Charlie Elliott refused to change his decision.

1963:
England's fast bowler Fred Trueman (7-44) picked up his last six West Indian wickets at Birmingham, in a 24- ball spell which cost him just one scoring stroke for four runs by tail-ender Lance Gibbs.

1965:
English left-hander John Edrich scores an unbeaten 310 against New Zealand at Leeds in 532 minutes, with 52 fours and 5 sixes - the highest number of boundaries in any Test innings.

1969:
Indian left-arm spinner Venkatapathy Raju (27 Tests from 1990 to 1998; 92 wickets) was born.

1974:
England's batsman Ted Bowley (5 Tests from 1929 to 1930; 252 runs) died, aged 84.

1976:
England was dismissed for a paltry 71 by the West Indies at Manchester. Michael Holding takes 5 wickets for 17 in 14.5 overs!

1982:
English all-rounder Ian Botham blasts 208 in just 225 balls against India at The Oval. His 200 came in just 220 balls - the fastest ever on record in Test history.

1990:
New Zealand's pace bowler Sir Richard Hadlee ends his Test career of 86 Tests with a record 431 wickets; against England at Birmingham. He took a wicket off his final delivery.

1998:
West Indian fast bowler Lester King (2 Tests from 1962 to 1968) died aged 59.

10th July....

1884:
The first Test to played at Old Trafford, Manchester - between England and Australia. No play was possible on the first due to rain.

1900:
South African batsman Bob Catterall (24 Tests from 1922 to 1931; 1555 runs) was born.

1906:
English all-rounder Jim Langridge (8 Tests from 1933 to 1946; 242 runs and 19 wickets) was born.

1909:
South African leg-spinner Vlooi Du Toit (1 Test in 1892) died aged 41.

1926:
Australia's replacement captain Warren Bardsley against Engalnd at Leeds lost the toss and was out first ball of the match, while next batsman Charlie Macartney (151) scored 112 before lunch.

1928:
South African batsman Jack Nel (6 Tests from 1949 to 1958) was born.

1934:
Pakistan's pace bowler Munir Malik (3 Tests from 1959 to 1962) was born.

1940:
Australian opening batsman Keith Stackpole (43 Tests from 1965 to 1974; 2807 runs) was born.

1949:
India's greatest batsman and opener Sunil Gavaskar (125 Tests from 1970 to 1987; 10122 runs) was born.

1951:
England's Len Hutton (98 not out) against South Africa at Manchester missed the opportunity of being the first batsman to score his 100th first-class hundred in a Test match.

1971:
Only 159 runs were scored off 107.4 overs on the third day (Pakistan 142-6, England 17-1) at Leeds - then the slowest full day of Test cricket in England.

1974:
New Zealand pace bowler Chris Drum was born.

1975:
England's highest Test run scorer Graham Gooch makes his debut, against Australia at Birmingham. He bags a pair (zeros in each innings) on debut!

11th July....

1869:
Australian batsman Peter McAlister (8 Tests from 1903 to 1909; 252 runs) was born.

1893:
English fast bowler Jack Durston (1 Test in 1921) was born.

1913:
England's batting-keeper Paul Gibb (8 Tests from 1938 to 1947; 581 runs) was born.

1930:
New Zealand leg-spinner Jack Alabaster (21 Tests from 1955 to 1972; 49 wickets) was born.

1930:
Australian Don Bradman scores 309 in a day against England at Leeds - still the only batsman to score over 300 runs in a day's play.

1950:
Australian leg-spinner and then later a selector Jim Higgs (22 Tests from 1977 to 1981; 66 wickets) was born.

1951:
Sri Lankan all-rounder Sridharan Jeganathan (2 Tests in 1983) was born.

1959:
English left-arm spinner Charlie Parker (1 Test in 1921) died, aged 76.

1970:
Sri Lankan wicket-keeper Pubudu Dassanayake (11 Tests from 1993 to 1994) was born.

1971:
Australian fast medium bowler Scott Muller (1 Test in 1999) was born.

1993:
South Africa leg-spinner Denis Tomlinson (1 Test in 1935) died, aged 82.

12th July....

1932:
Yorkishire's Hedley Verity claims all ten for just ten runs against Nottinghamshire (19.4-16-10-10) at Leeds - the most outstanding bowling figures in all first-class cricket.

1935:
South African batsman Chris Burger (2 Tests in 1957-58) was born.

1943:
New Zealand all-rounder Bruce Taylor (30 Tests from 1964 to 1973; 898 runs and 111 wickets) was born.

1946:
England's right hand batsman Graham Roope (21 Tests from 1972 to 1978; 860 runs) was born.

1947:
Indian keeper P Krishnamurthy (5 Tests in 1971) was born.

1955:
Needing 145 runs to win in 135 minutes at Manchester, South Africa gained its third victory in England, by three wickets and with just nine balls to spare!

1955:
England's Alec Beder ended his Test czareer of 51 matches with a then world record total of 236 wickets.

1956:
England selector Cyril Washbrook, recalled to the England side after five years, joined cpatain Peter May with the score 17 for three scored an umbeaten 90 while putting on 187 in 287 minutes for the fourth wicket against Australia at Leeds. He was dismissed for 98 on the next day.

1964:
South African batsman William Solomon (1 Test in 1899) died, aged 92.

1965:
Indian right-hander Sanjay Manjrekar (37 Tests from 1987 to 1996; 2043 runs) was born.

1965:
England's off-spinner Fred Titmus (26-17-19-5) takes four New Zealand wickets for no runs in his 21st over (WOWWOW) at Leeds.

1968:
England's Colin Cowdrey became the first player to appear in 100 Test matches; against Australia at Birmingham. He also became the second batsman after Walter Hammond to aggregate 7000 Test runs.

1969:
English left arm pace bowler Alan Mullally from 1996 was born.

1971:
Pakistani wicket-keeper Wasim Bari held a (then) record eight catches in the Leeds Test against England.

1972:
West Indian left-arm spinner Neil McGarrell was born.

1977:
Surrey's John Edrich scores his 100th hundred against Derbyshire at The Oval.

1996:
Pakistani opener Nazar Mohammad (5 Tests in 1952-53) died, aged 75.

13th July....

1910:
West Indian fast bowler Hines Johnson (3 Tests from 1947 to 1950) was born.

1926:
England's Jack Hobbs (88) at Leeds overtook Australian Clem Hill's record aggregate of 2660 runs in the Ashes Test series.

1934:
West Indian keeper Ivor Mendonca (2 Tests in 1962) was born.

1941:
Australian fast bowler Graeme Corling (5 Tests in 1964) was born.

1944:
Australian fast bowler Eric Freeman (11 Tests from 1967 to 1970; 345 runs, 34 wickets) was born.

1945:
Australian off-spinner Ashley Mallett (38 Tests from 1968 to 1980; 132 wickets) was born.

1947:
Australian all-rounder and captain Warwick Armstrong (50 Tests from 1901 to 1921; 2863 runs and 87 wickets) died, aged 68.

1953:
West Indian left handed batsman and occasional off-spinner Larry Gomes (60 Tests from 1976 to 1987; 3171 runs and 15 wickets) was born.

1954:
Australian left arm spinner Ray Bright (25 Tests from 1977 to 1987; 53 wickets) was born.

1974:
India played its first limited-over international; against England at Leeds.

1975:
South African batsman Owen Wynne (6 Tests from 1948 to 1950) died (drowned), aged 56.

14th July....

1863: Australia's left arm pace bowler Arthur Coningham (1 Test in 1894) was born. He took a wicket of his first ball, which incidentally was the first ball of the Test match against England at Melbourne in December 1894.

1937:
Pakistan's leg-spinner at 16 years Khalid Hassan (1 Test in 1954) was born.

1953:
On the last day of the rain-interrupted Manchester Test match, England's left arm spinner Johnny Wardle (5-2-7-4) and offie Jim Laker (9-5-11-2) reduced Australia to 35 for eight wickets!

1957:
New Zealand batsman Peter Webb (2 Tests in 1979-80) was born.

1967:
Sri Lanka keeper-batsman and captain Hashan Tillekeratne (56 Tests from 1989 to 1999; 2972 runs and 87 catches, 2 stumpings) was born.

1930:
South African left arm medium pace bowler Gobo Ashley (1 Test in 1889) died, aged 68.

1938:
South African batsman Robert Poore (3 Tests in 1895) died in England, aged 72.

1940:
Australian pace bowler Bill Howell (18 Tests from 1897 to 1904; 49 wickets) died, aged 70.

1949:
English and South African batsman Frank Hearne (2 Tests in 1889 for England and 4 Tests from 1891 to 1896 for South Africa) died at Cape Town, aged 90.

1951:
Australian all-rounder Sammy Jones (12 Tests from 1881 to 1888; 428 runs and 6 wickets) died at Auckland, aged 89.

1967:
In the Birmingham Test match 20 wickets fell on the second day as India made 92, while England was dismissed for 203.

1982:
Bangladesh's left-arm Test pace bowler Bikash Ranjan Das was born.

1983:
English batsman Jack MacBryan who appeared in a single Test match against South Africa at Manchester in 1924, died, aged 90. He did not bat, bowl or take any catch in his only match.

Compiled by:
Mohandas Menon

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Mail Cricket Editor