1st April...

1861:
England batsman Major EG "Teddy" Wynyard (3 Tests from 1896 to 1906) was born in India.

1902:
Indian batsman LP Jai (1 Test in 1933) was born.

1933:
England's Walter Hammond scores a then record unbeaten 336 - against New Zealand at Auckland. His third hundred coming in just 47 minutes. He also hit a then record 10 sixes during his innings.

1935:
England keeper-batsman John Murray (21 Tests from 1961 to 1967; 506 runs and 55 dismissals) was born.

1941:
Indian captain and left-handed batsman Ajit Wadekar (37 Tests from 1966 to 1974; 2113 runs) was born.

1953:
Pakistani batsman and off-spinner Aftab Baloch (2 Tests from 1969 to 1975) was born.

1954:
England pace bowler Arnie Sidebottom (1 Test in 1985) was born.

1954:
Len Hutton's 205 against West Indies at Kingston was the first double hundred by an England captain away from home.

1957:
England captain and left-handed batsman David Gower (117 Tests from 1978 to 1992; 8231 runs) was born.

1964:
England batsman John Morris (3 Tests in 1990) was born.

1973:
New Zealand captain and left-handed batsman Stephen Fleming since 1994 with over 3000 Tests runs and over 50 Tests was born.

1973:
England keeper-batsman Arthur Wood (4 Tests from 1938 to 1939) died aged 74.

1981:
Zimbabwean pace bowler Mluleki Nkala since 2000 was born.

2nd April...

1875:
England fast bowler Arnold Warren (1 Test in 1905) was born.

1906:
South Africa beat England by an innings and 16 runs at Cape Town to record its first ever innings win in Tests.

1932:
Pakistani pace bowler Mahmood Hussain (27 Tests from 1952 to 1962; 68 wickets) was born.

1933:
England batsman KS Ranjitsinhji (15 Tests from 1896 to 1902; 989 runs) died at Jamnagar aged 60.

1946:
New Zealand's left-arm pace bowler Richard Collinge (35 Tests from 1965 to 1978; 116 wickets) was born.

1947:
England batsman and later a Test umpire Joe Hardstaff sr. (5 Tests in 1907-08) died aged 64.

1953:
Indians Pankaj Roy (150) and Vijay Manjrekar (118) put on a then record of 237 runs for the second wicket in 255 minutes against West Indies at Kingston.

1956:
Pakistani left-arm spinner Farrukh Zaman (1 Test in 1976) was born.

1963:
England all-rounder Dermot Reeve (3 Tests in 1992) was born in Hong Kong (now in China).

1968:
Gary Sobers during his unbeaten innings of 95 against England at Georgetown became the first West Indian to reach 6000 Test runs.

1979:
West Indian batsman and keeper Ivan Barrow (11 Tests from 1930 to 1939) died aged 68.

1980:
England all-rounder and left-arm spinner Dick Howorth (5 Tests from 1947 to 1948) died aged 70.

3rd April...

1884:
Australian leg-spinner Jackie Matthews (8 Tests in 1912; 16 wickets, including two hat-tricks in the same Test match) was born.

1899:
All-rounder Jimmy Sinclair (106) scored South Africa's first ever Test hundred - against England at Cape Town. Sinclair also became the first player in Test history to score a hundred and take six wickets (6-26) in the same Test match.

1915:
England captain and batsman Andrew Stoddart (16 Tests from 1888 to 1898; 996 runs) died (suicide) aged 52.

1916:
England all-rounder and pace bowler Clif Gladwin (8 Tests from 1947 to 1949) was born.

1930:
Sabina Park at Kingston, Jamaica hosted its first ever Test match - against England.

1963:
Pakistani pace bowler Zakir Khan (2 Tests from 1986 to 1989) was born.

1964:
Indian all-rounder and batsman Ajay Sharma (1 Test in 1988) was born.

1964:
Pakistani Hanif Mohammad (203 not out) scores his highest in a home Test - against New Zealand at Lahore.

1973:
Indian left-arm spinner Nilesh Kulkarni (3 Tests from 1997) was born.

1977:
Australian captain and all-rounder Jack Ryder (20 Tests from 1920 to 1929; 1394 runs, avg. 51.63 and 17 wickets) died aged 87.

1984:
England batsman Johnny Arnold (1 Test in 1931) died aged 76.

4th April...

1877:
England batsman George Ulyett (52 & 63) against Australia at Melbourne - became the first batsman to score fifties in each innings of a Test match.

1877:
England beat Australia by four wickets at Melbourne - to record its first ever Test win.

1895:
England's left-handed batsman Charlie Hallows (2 Tests from 1921 to 1928) was born.

1899:
South African batsman William Brann (3 Tests in 1922-23) was born.

1899:
South Africa was dismissed for 35 in 114 balls by England at Cape Town.

1908:
West Indian pace bowler Vincent Valentine (2 Tests in 1933) was born.

1930:
England opener Andy Sandham became Test cricket's first triple centurion when he reached 309 not out at the end of the second day of the Kingston Test match against West Indies.

1932:
Indian left-arm slow bowler and batsman 'Bapu' Nadkarni (41 Tests from 1955 to 1968; 1414 runs and 88 wickets) was born.

1935:
West Indian batsman Easton McMorris (13 Tests from 1958 to 1966; 564 runs) was born.

1938:
West Indian keeper Cyril Christani (4 Tests in 1935) died aged 24 (malaria fever).

1944:
West Indian leg-spinner Arthur Barrett (6 Tests from 1971 to 1975) was born.

1945:
New Zealand paceman Bryan Andrews (2 Tests in 1973-74) was born.

1953:
After being set 181 runs in 145 minutes by India at Kingston, West Indies (92-4) settled for a draw.

1957:
England keeper-batsman Paul Downton (30 Tests from 1981 to 1988; 785 runs and 75 dismissals) was born.

1959:
South African batsman Stanley Snooke (1 Test in 1907) died aged 80.

1960:
England pace bowler and now BBC commentator Jonathan Agnew (3 Tests from 1984 to 1985) was born.

1999:
West Indian captain Brian Lara scores 100 in 82 balls (second fifty in 21 balls) against Australia at St John's.

5th April...

1868:
South African leg-spinner JF Du Toit (1 Test in 1868) was born.

1882:
Australian offie Don Blackie (3 Tests in 1928-29) was born.

1909:
South African batsman Gerald 'Boysie' Bond (1 Test in 1938) was born.

1921:
England pace bowler Leslie Jackson (2 Tests from 1949 to 1961) was born.

1928:
England's left-handed all-rounder Roy Kilner (9 Tests from 1924 to 1926) died aged 37.

1938:
South African batsman and perhaps the best fielder of all time Colin Bland was born(21 Tests from 1961 to 1966; 1669 runs, avg. 49.09).

1939:
Australian leg-spinner William Cooper (2 Tests from 1881 to 1884) died aged 89.

1985:
West Indian left-arm pace bowler Tyrell Johnson (1 Test in 1939) died aged 68.

1986:
Australian all-rounder and leg-spinner Colin McCool (14 Tests from 1946 to 1950; 459 runs and 35 wickets) died aged 69.

6th April...

1937:
Australian off-spinner and left-handed batsman Tom Veivers (21 Tests from 1963 to 1967; 813 runs and 33 wickets) was born.

1949:
England pace bowler Stanley Christopherson (1 Test in 1884) died aged 87.

1956:
Indian captain and batsman Dilip Vengsarkar (116 Tests from 1976 to 1992; 6868 runs) was born.

1956:
Pakistani batsman and medium pacer Mudassar Nazar (76 Tests from 1976 to 1989; 4114 runs and 66 wickets) was born.

1984:
The Pakistan-Sri Lanka one-day encounter was the first to be played at Sharjah, UAE. This also marked the first match for the Asia Cup tournament.

1986:
Sri Lanka beat Pakistan by five wickets to win the second Asia Cup tournament at Colombo.

1991:
Australian batsman Bill Ponsford (29 Tests from 1924 to 1934; 2122 runs, avg. 48.23) died aged 90.

1995:
Pace bowler Saiful Islam claims 4-36 against Sri Lanka at Sharjah, which remains the best bowling figures for Bangladesh in ODIs.

7th April...

1878:
South African batsman CMM 'Tottie' Hathorn (12 Tests from 1902 to 1911) was born.

1882:
Australian left-arm slow bowler Bert 'Dainty' Ironmonger (14 Tests from 1928 to 1933; 74 wickets, avg. 17.97) was born.

1918:
West Indian leg-spinner 'Bertie' Clarke (3 Tests in 1939) was born.

1930:
England captain Freddy Calthorpe did not enforce follow-on on West Indies at Kingston despite a first innings lead of 563 runs.

1943:
England batsman Dennis Amiss (50 Tests from 1966 to 1977; 3612 runs, avg. 46.31) was born.

1962:
Indian all-rounder Polly Umrigar scores an unbeaten 172 against West Indies at Port of Spain, which was his (then record) twelfth and final Test hundred. It was his penultimate Test match of his career.

1965:
Sri Lankan pace bowler Kaushik Amalean (2 Tests from 1986 to 1988) was born.

1972:
South African batsman Gerry Liebenberg (5 Tests in 1998) was born.

1993:
England keeper and batsman SC "Billy' Griffith (3 Tests from 1948 to 1949) died aged 78.

1999:
Australia beat West Indies by 176 runs at St. John's to square the series two-all.

Compiled by
MOHANDAS MENON

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