18th June....

1896:
India's left-handed batsman Cota Ramaswamy (2 Tests in 1936) was born. He remains the only Test cricketer to appear in the Davis Cup for his country.

1898:
England's first genuine Test all-rounder in 1880s, George Ulyett (25 Tests, 949 runs, 50 wickets) died, aged 46.

1914:
South African wicket-keeper-batsman Billy Wade (11 Tests from 1938 to 1950) was born.

1915:
English batsman (5 Tests from 1936 to 1939) and later Test umpire (18 Tests) Arthur Fagg was born.

1958:
Bombay born English Test captain Douglas Jardine (22 Tests from 1928 to 1933-34), died in Switzerland, aged 57. He was the England captain during the in-famous Bodyline series of 1932-33.

1971:
New Zealand's opening batsman Blair Pocock (15 Tests from 1993 to 1997; 665 runs) was born.

1975:
Australia beat England in a low scoring semi-final by four wickets at Leeds to enter the final of the first Prudential World Cup. West Indies beat New Zealand at The Oval by five wickets in the other semi-final match.

1983:
India's Kapil Dev scores an unbeaten 175 against Zimbabwe at Tunbridge Wells, with his side at one stage being 5 for 17!

1998:
The Duke of Edinburgh opened the new Grand Stand at the Lord's Cricket Ground on the first day of the Test match between England and South Africa.

19th June....

1851:
All-rounder Billy Midwinter who appeared for both Australia (8 Tests from 1877 to 1887) and England (4 Tests from 1881 to 1882) was born in England.

1867:
Australian batsman Frank Iredale (14 Tests from 1894 to 1899) was born.

1903:
England batsman and all-rounder Walter Hammond from 1927 to 1947 (85 Tests; 7249 runs; 110 catches and also 83 wickets) was born.

1912:
England fast bowler Dick Pollard (4 Tests from 1946 to 1948) was born.

1934:
West Indian batsman Hammond Furlonge (3 Tests from 1955-1956) was born.

1936:
England fast bowler John Sharpe (3 Tests from 1890 to 1892) died, aged 69.

1944:
England pace bowler Bill Bradley (2 Tests in 1899) died, aged 69.

1952:
Godfrey Evans became the first England wicket-keeper to make a hundred dismissals and to complete a keepers' double, at Lord's against India.

1978:
England's Ian Botham takes 8-34 against Pakistan - the best figures in a Lord's Test match.

1996:
New Zealand's all-rounder Eric Fisher (1 Test in 1952) died, aged 71.

1998:
India beat Sri Lanka at Colombo by 8 wickets in the opening match of the Nidahas Trophy.

20th June....

1856:
England batsman GF George Vernon (1 Test in 1882) and who brought the first English side to India in 1889 was born in London.

1897:
Cyril "Froggy" Francois, the South African all-rounder (5 Tests in 1922-23), was born in England.

1939:
Ramakant "Tiny" Desai, Indian fast bowler (28 Tests from 1958 to 1968; 74 wickets) was born.

1950:
Australian batsman during the 1912 triangular tournament Claude Jennings (6 Tests), died, aged 66.

1954:
English batsman Allan Lamb (79 Tests from 1982 to 1992; 4656 runs) was born in South Africa.

1972:
Indian paceman Paras Mhambrey (2 Tests in 1996) was born.

1979:
West Indies and England win their respective World Cup semi-final matches.

1983:
India beat Australia by 118 runs at Chelmsford to reach the World Cup semi-final for the first time.

1997:
Mike Atherton against Australia at Lord's was leading England for the 42nd time, the most by any Englishman in Tests.

1997:
Arnos Vales in Kingstown at St Vincent, became the first Windward Island to stage Test match in the Caribbean, in the match between the West Indies and Sri Lanka.

1999:
Australian trash Pakistan by 8 wickets and with nearly 30 overs to spare in the most one-sided World Cup final at Lord's.

21st June....

1861:
Australian batsman Jack Worrall (11 Tests from 1884 to 1899) was born.

1922:
English offie Jim McConnon (2 Tests in 1954) was born.

1929:
Pakistani batsman Agha Saadat Ali (1 Test in 1955) was born.

1937:
England left hander John Edrich (77 Tests from 1963 to 1976; 5138 runs) was born.

1938:
South African pace bowler Jackie Botten (3 Tests in 1965) was born.

1952:
New Zealand captain and all-rounder Jeremy Coney (52 Tests from 1974 to 1987; 2668 runs and 27 wickets and 64 catches) was born.

1975:
West Indies beat Australia by 17 runs to win the first World Cup at Lord's. West Indies skipper Clive Lloyd was the man of the match with a brilliant 102 in 85 balls, 12 fours and 2 sixes.

1979:
Sri Lanka became the winner of the first ICC Trophy by beating Canada by 60 runs at Worcester. Both teams had already qualified for the 1979 World Cup.

1997:
England was dismissed for 77 at Lord's as Australian pace bowler Glenn McGrath takes 8-38 in 20.3 overs.

1998:
South Africa beat England by ten wickets as they gained their third victory in 12 Tests at Lord's.

22nd June...

1814:
The first important match to be played at Lord's.

1855:
Australian all-rounder Sam Morris (1 Test in 1884) was born. He remains the only black cricketer to appear in Tests for Australia.

1865:
The legendary William Gilbert Grace made his first-class debut, for Gentleman of the South at the age of 16 years! He made a duck but took 13 wickets in the match.

1896:
WG Grace completes his 1000 Test runs in front of 30,000 spectators, against Australia at Lord's.

1920:
Indian all-rounder Chandu Sarwate (9 Tests from 1946 to 1952) was born.

1923:
West Indian all-rounder Jimmy Cameron (5 Tests in 1948-49) was born.

1935:
Indian leg-spinner VV Kumar (2 Tests from 1960 to 1962) was born.

1940:
Australian captain and all-rounder Monty Noble (42 Tests from 1897 to 1909) died, aged 67.

1946:
Test cricket made a re-appearance after Second World War in England, when India played the opening Test at Lord's. Nawab of Pataudi sr, who had earlier appeared for England, captained the Indian team.

1947:
Kiwi fast bowler Murray Webb (3 Tests from 1970 to 1974) was born.

1955:
Indian leg-spinner Sadu Shinde (7 Tests from 1946 to 1952) died, aged 31.

1966:
South African pace bowler Meyrick Pringle (4 Tests from 1991 to 1995) was born.

1966:
New Zealand all-rounder Roger Blunt (9 Tests from 1929 to 1932) died in London, aged 65.

1983:
India beat England by six wickets at Manchester in the World Cup semi-final, while West Indies beat Pakistan by 8 wickets at The Oval in the other semi-final.

1996:
Australian fast bowling all-rounder Ray Lindwall (61 Tests from 1945 to 1960) died aged 74.

1996:
India's left-hander Sourav Ganguly scores a 131 at Lord's on debut.

23rd June....

1849:
England's wicket-keeper Edmund Tylecote (6 Tests from 1882 to 1886) was born.

1890:
Tom Richmond, England's leg-spinner in a single Test in 1921, was born.

1896:
The Australian fourth wicket pair of Harry Trott (143) and Syd Gregory (103) put on 221 runs in 161 minutes against England at Lord's, which was then the best for any wicket in Test cricket.

1904:
South African leg-spinner Quintin McMillan (13 Tests from 1929 to 1932) was born.

1916:
England's captain and batsman Len Hutton (79 Tests from 1937 to 1955; 6971 runs)was born.

1925:
New Zealand batsman Trevor Barber (1 Test in 1956) was born.

1928:
West Indies played their maiden Test match at Lord's against England. They conceded 382 runs on the first day.

1932:
New Zealand pace bowler Bob Blair (19 Tests from 1953 to 1964; 43 wickets) was born.

1934:
Australian Bert Oldfield became the first wicket-keeper in Test history to take 100 dismissals - against England at Lord's. He also became the first to do the keeper's-double of 100 dismissals and 1000 runs in Tests.

1940:
New Zealand all-rounder Mike Shrimpton (10 Tests from 1963 to 1974) was born.

1957:
Zimbabwe's first Test captain and batsman Dave Houghton (22 Tests from 1992 to 1997; 1464 runs) was born.

1979:
West Indies won the World Cup final for the second time at Lord's beating England by 92 runs.

1980:
West Indian batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan since 2000 was born.

1986:
India beat England by 279 runs at Leeds, their last Test win outside the sub-continent for 15 years.

1997:
West Indian tailender Courtney Walsh recorded his 25th Test duck against Sri Lanka at Kingstown, to became the batsman with maximum ducks in Test cricket history.

2000:
Pakistan record 600-8 decl - at Galle - the highest ever by a visiting team in Sri Lanka.

24th June....

1896:
Australians Harry Trott and Syd Gregory put on a partnership of 221 runs for the fourth wicket in 161 minutes at Lord's, which was then the highest for any wicket in Test cricket.

1938:
Australian leggie Bill "Digger" Robertson (1 Test in 1884) died, aged 76.

1941:
Australia's pace bowler Graham "Grath" Mckenzie (60 Tests from 1961 to 1971; 246 wickets) was born.

1960:
South African pace bowler Geoff Griffin claims a hat-trick at Lord's. But he was no-balled 11 times for throwing during the Test and did not appear again for his country.

1971:
New Zealand off-spinner John Dunning (4 Tests from 1933 to 1937) died in Adelaide, Australia, aged 68.

1974:
India was dismissed for 42 in just 77 minutes and 17 overs against England, which is still the lowest by any Test team at Lord's.

1978:
Zimbabwean batsman Doug Marillier was born.

1987:
West Indian fast bowler Hines Johnson (3 Tests from 1948 to 1950) died in Miami, Florida (USA), aged 76.

1992:
Australian left-handed batsman Len Darling (12 Tests from 1933 to 1937) died aged 82.

1995:
West Indian spinner Inshan Ali (12 Tests from 1971 to 1977) died aged 45.

Compiled by
MOHANDAS MENON

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