13th May...

1870:
South African all-rounder George Glover (1 Test in 1896) was born in England.

1871:
England left-handed batsman Paul Kinneir (1 Test in 1911) was born.

1903:
England leg-break bowler Jim Sims (4 Tests from 1935 to 1937) was born.

1904:
Australian pace bowler Tim Wall (18 Tests from 1929 to 1934; 56 wickets) was born.

1914:
England captain and batsman Reg 'Tip' Foster (8 Tests from 1903 to 1907; 602 runs, including 287 on debut) died aged 36.

1944:
England batsman Clive Radley (8 Tests in 1978; 481 runs, avg. 48.10) was born.

1946:
The Indian pair of Chandu Sarwate and Shute Banerjee put a record 249 for the last wicket against Surrey at the Oval - which still remains the highest for this wicket in any first-class match in England.

1952:
West Indian all-rounder and leg-spinner Sew Shivnarine (3 Tests in 1978-79) was born.

1978:
Sri Lankan left-arm pace bowler Nuwan Zoysa since 1997 was born.

1978:
New Zealand all-rounder Albert Roberts (5 Tests from 1930 to 1937) died aged 68.

14th May...

1910:
South African batsman Ken Viljoen (27 Tests from 1930 to 1949; 1365 runs) was born.

1918:
England keeper Arthur McIntyre (3 Tests from 1950 to 1955) was born.

1933:
England off-spinner John Mortimore (9 Tests from 1959 to 1964) was born.

1941:
Pakistani all-rounder and left-arm spinner Nasim-ul-Ghani (29 Tests from 1958 to 1973; 747 runs and 52 wickets) was born in Delhi, India.

1948:
England batsman and later a successful South African coach Bob Woolmer (19 Tests from 1975 to 1981; 1059 runs) was born in Kanpur, India.

1955:
South African batsman Peter Kirsten (12 Tests from 1992 to 1994; 626 runs) was born.

1959:
West Indian batsman Carlisle Best (8 Tests from 1986 to 1990) was born.

1996:
Sri Lankan all-rounder and left-arm spinner Sridharan Jeganathan (2 Tests in 1983) died aged 44.

1998:
A three-nation tournament featuring host India, Bangladesh and Kenya began at Mohali.

1999:
The seventh edition of the World Cup began in England when host England met Sri Lanka at Lord's. England won by 8 wickets. This match also provided the earliest start to an ODI match in England.

15th May...

1875:
England batsman Joseph Vine (2 Tests in 1912) was born.

1875:
England batsman Rev. Clem Wilson (2 Tests in 1899) was born.

1917:
Australian keeper Ron Saggers (6 Tests from 1948 to 1950) was born.

1919:
England batsman Charles Palmer (1 Test in 1954) was born.

1924:
England batsman Don Kenyon (8 Tests from 1951 to 1955) was born.

1929:
England pace bowler Jack Flavell (4 Tests from 1961 to 1964) was born.

1935:
England captain, batsman and pace bowler Ted Dexter (62 Tests from 1958 to 1968; 4502 runs and 66 wickets) was born in Milan, Italy.

1948:
The touring Australians score 721 on the first day against Essex at Southend - still the maximum runs scored by a team in a single day's play. Don Bradman scores 187 in 124 minutes in this match.

1966:
The second day of the County match between Essex and Somerset at Ilford was the first to be played on a Sunday in English first-class history.

1970:
Bangladesh all-rounder and left-arm spinner Mohammad Rafique (1 Test in 2000) was born.

1999:
Indian Mohammad Azharuddin - against South Africa at Hove - emulated West Indian Clive Lloyd and Pakistani Imran Khan by leading their respective countries in three World Cup tournaments.

16th May...

1906:
Australian fast bowler Ernie McCormick (12 Test from 1935 to 1938; 36 wickets) was born.

1952:
England batsman Alec Hearne (1 Test in 1892) died aged 88.

1956:
England off-spinner Jim Laker takes all ten wickets for 88 in an innings for Surrey against the Australians at the Oval (two months later he repeated this feat in the Manchester Test match).

1962:
Zimbabwean all-rounder Gary Crocker (3 Tests in 1992) was born.

1972:
New Zealand left-arm spinner Matthew Hart (14 Tests from 1994 to 1995) was born.

1975:
Sri Lankan left-arm spinner Niroshan Bandaratillake (4 Tests from 1998 to 1999) was born.

1999:
Scotland became the 16th team to appear in an official ODI match when it took on Australia at Worcester in the World Cup.

17th May...

1888:
England leg-spinner AP Freeman (12 Tests from 1924 to 1929; 66 wickets) was born.

1895:
England's WG Grace scores his 100th first-class hundred of his career while playing for Gloucestershire against Somerset at Bristol. He becomes the first batsman in history to do so.

1920:
South African batsman Maitland 'Tottie' Hathorn (12 Tests from 1902 to 1911) died aged 42.

1932:
Australian batsman Peter Burge (42 Tests from 1955 to 1966; 2290 runs) was born.

1944:
Pakistani pace bowler Arif Butt (3 Tests from 1964 to 1965) was born.

1945:
Indian leg-spinner BS Chandrasekhar (58 Tests from 1964 to 1979; 242 wickets) was born.

1947:
Off-spinner John Traicos (3 Tests in 1970 for South Africa and 4 Tests in 1992-93 for Zimbabwe) was born in Egypt.

1955:
Australian all-rounder Alan Fairfax (10 Tests from 1929 to 1931) died in London, aged 48.

1955:
West Indies pace bowler Leslie Hylton (6 Tests from 1935 to 1939) died (hanged for murder of his wife), aged 50.

1955:
Australia score 668 against the West Indies, still the highest team score ever recorded in a Test match at Bridgetown, Barbados.

1965:
Australia won the six-day Port of Spain Test match inside three days by beating the West Indies by ten wickets.

1965:
Opener Conrad Hunte emulated Frank Worrell by becoming the only second West Indian to carry his bat through out an innings, while making an unbeaten 60 in a total of 131 against Australia at Port of Spain.

1969:
Zimbabwean off-spinner Ujesh Ranchod (1 Test in 1993) was born.

1996:
Indian batsman Rusi Modi (10 Tests from 1946 to 1952; 736 runs, avg. 46.00) died at the Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai, aged 71.

1997:
Sri Lankan Sanath Jayasuriya scores an unbeaten 151 in just 121 balls against India at Mumbai.

1998:
Bangladesh beat Kenya by six wickets at Hyderabad to register its first ever ODI win in its 23rd match.

18th May...

1905:
England left-arm spinner Hedley Verity (40 Tests from 1931 to 1939; 144 wickets) was born.

1925:
England captain and batsman Higel Howard (4 Tests in 1951-52) was born.

1940:
South African pace bowler Pat Trimborn (4 Tests from 1967 to 1970) was born.

1953:
England batsman Tom Killick (2 Tests in 1929) died aged 46 (while batting in a match).

1956:
England all-rounder and medium pace bowler Maurice Tate (39 Tests from 1924 to 1935; 1198 runs and 155 wickets) died aged 60.

1955:
West Indians Denis Atkinson and Claimonte Depeiza against Australia at Bridgetown became the second pair in Test history to bat through the entire day while taking the score from 187-6 to 494-6 on the fourth day. While doing so they put on a world record partnership of 347 runs for the seventh wicket.

1959:
England pace bowler Graham Dilley (41 Tests from 1979 to 1989; 138 wickets) was born.

2000:
The England-Zimbabwe Test match at Lord's is the earliest to be staged in England since the first in 1880.

2000:
Ed Giddins - against Zimbabwe at Lord's - returned the cheapest five-wicket analysis (7-2-15-5) by an England bowler since 1981.

19th May...

1874:
England all-rounder Gilbert Jessop (18 Tests from 1899 to 1912; 569 runs and 10 wickets) was born.

1876:
England keeper Joe Humphries (3 Tests in 1908) was born.

1890:
South African left-arm pace bowler Gus Kempis (1 Test in 1889) died in Mozambique, aged 24.

1903:
England captain and batsman Arthur Shrewsbury (23 Tests from 1881 to 1893; 1277 runs) died aged 47 (suicide).

1910:
South African captain and batsman Alan Melville (11 Tests from 1938 to 1949; 894 runs, avg. 52.59) was born.

1924:
South African batsman Billy Zulch (16 Tests from 1910 to 1921; 985 runs) died aged 38.

1978:
West Indian left-arm spin bowler George Gladstone (1 Test in 1930) died aged 77.

1993:
Indian all-rounder SW 'Ranga' Sohoni (4 Tests from 1946 to 1951) died aged 75.

1993:
Pace bowler Craig McDermott (3-38) against England at Manchester became the first Australian to reach 150 ODI wickets.

1993:
England needing seven runs of the final over against Australia at Manchester lost the match by four runs, as pace bowler Merv Hughes conceded just a single and leg-bye in his final over.

1994:
New Zealand's paceman Chris Pringle claimed 5-45 against England at Birmingham to become the only bowler to take a five-wicket haul in a Texaco Trophy series.

1999:
Muthiah Muralitharan became Sri Lanka's highest ODI wicket-taker when he claimed his 153rd wicket against South Africa at Northampton.

1999:
Zimbabwe beat India by 3 runs at Leicester - the first upset of the seventh World Cup.

Compiled by
MOHANDAS MENON

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