18th March...

1877
: Australian captain and left-handed batsman Clem Hill (49 Tests from 1896 to 1912; 3412 runs) was born.

1890
: South African batsman Philip “PAM” Hands (7 Tests from 1913 to 1924) was born.

1894
: South African batman LE ”Doodles” Tapscott (2Tests in 1923) was born.

1898
: England all-rounder Johnnie Clay (1 Test in 1935) was born.

1917
: South African batsman William Shalders (12 Tests from 1899 to 1907) died aged 37.

1919
: Australian pace bowler Len Johnson (1 Test in 1948; 6 wickets) was born.

1924
: Indian batsman Madhu Rege (1 Test in 1949) was born.

1935
: West Indies beat England by an innings and 161 runs at Kingston to record its first ever Test series win. The home team won by a 2-1 margin.

1947
: England left-hand batsman and later coach David Lloyd (9 Tests from 1974 to 1975; 552 runs) was born.

1948
: Indian left-handed all-rounder Eknath Solkar (27 Tests from 1969 to 1977; 1068 runs, 18 wickets) was born.

1954
: England off-spinner Walter Mead (1 Test in 1999) died aged 85.

1962
: New Zealand batsman Trevor Franklin (21 Tests from 1983 to 1991; 828 runs) was born.

1971
: England keeper George Wood (3 Tests in 1924) died aged 77.

1980
: West Indian pace bowler Herman Griffith (13 Tests from 1928 to 1933; 44 wickets) died aged 86

1992
: Zimbabwe shocked favourites England at Albury by 9 runs in the World Cup.

1993
: Sri Lanka beat England for the first time at the Sinhalese Sports Club ground at Colombo – by five wickets. This was England’s fourth successive Test loss in the sub-continent.

19th March...

1870
: England all-rounder Frank Milligan (2 Tests in 1999) was born.

1871
: England pace bower Schofield Haigh (11 Tests from 1899 to 1912) was born.

1877
: Australia win the first ever Test match at Melbourne by defeating England by 45 runs. Australian left-arm spinner Tom Kendall (7-55) became the first bowler to take seven wickets in Test cricket.

1907
: Indian batsman and keeper Dilawar Hussain (3 Tests from 1934 to 1936) was born.

1913
: England batsman William Chatterton (1 Test in 1892) died aged 51.

1915
: England captain and all-rounder Norman Yardley (20 Tests from 1938 to 1950; 812 runs, 21 wickets) was born.

1928
: South African captain, all-rounder and leg-spinner Clive Van Ryneveld (19 Tests from 1951 to 1958) was born.

1939
: Indian batsman Abbas Ali Baig (10 Tests from 1959 to 1966) was born.

1946
: Pakistan batsman Mohammad Ilyas (10 Tests from 1964 o 1969) was born.

1952
: New Zealand keeper-batsman Warren Lees (21 Tests from 1976 to 1983; 778 runs and 59 dismissals) was born.

1954
: For the second and last time, all the three famous ‘Ws’ – Weekes (206), Worrell (167) and Waclcott (124) scored hundreds in the same innings for the West Indies – against England at Port of Spain.

1958
: Australian left-handed batsman Vernon Ransford (20 Tests from 1907 to 1912; 1211 runs) died aged 72.

1958
: West Indian left-hander Gary Sobers scores 109 not out against Pakistan at Georgetown after scoring 365 not out and 125 against this team in the previous two innings to bring his aggregate to 599 runs in three innings.

1973
: England left-arm spinner Ashley Giles since 1998, was born.

1977
: Pakistani batsman Ali Naqvi (5 Tests from 1997 to 1998) was born.

1978
: sri-lanka left-arm spinner Rangana Herath since 1999 was born.

20th March...

1866
: South African batsman Major Robert Poore (3 Tests in 1896) was born in Dublin, Ireland.

1870
: South African batsman Charles Fichardt (2 Tests from 1892 to 1896) was born.

1885
: Australian left-handed batsman Vernon Ransford (20 Tests from 1907 to 1912; 1211 runs) was born.

1936
: South African medium-pacer Dante Parkin (1 Test in 1892) died aged 63.

1951
: Indian all-rounder and pace bowler and later coach Madan Lal (39 Tests from 1974 to 1986; 1042 runs and 71 wickets) was born.

1973
: South African left-arm spinner and all-rounder Nicky Boje was born.

1994
: At 20 years 331 days Sachin Tendulkar became the youngest batsman to reach 2000 Test runs – against New Zealand at Hamilton.

1995
: Australian batsman Mervyn Harvey (1 Test in 1947) died aged 76.

1998
: India scores 633-5 decl. its highest ever against Australia at Calcutta, as Mohammad Azharuddin makes an unbeaten 163 – his fifth three-figure score at this venue in six matches.

2000
: Needing just 99 runs to win Zimbabwe were dismissed for 63 by West Indies at Port of Spain as the latter won the Test by 35 runs to record a sensational victory.

21st March...

1854
: Australian batsman Alick Bannerman (28 Tests from 1879 to 1893; 1108 runs) was born. 1870
: South African batsman Frederick Kuys (1 Test in 1899) was born.

1892
: England’s Harry Wood (134 not out) against South Africa at Cape Town became the first wicket-keeper to score a hundred in Tests.

1908
: West Indies medium pacer Berkeley Gaskin (2 Tests in 1948) was born.

1938
: Australian batsman Grahame Thomas (8 Tests from 1965 to 1966) was born.

1949
: West Indian captain and left-handed batsman Alvin Kallicharran (66 Tests from 1972 to 1980; 4399 runs, avg. 44.43) was born.

1966
: England batsman Matthew Maynard (4 Tests from 1988 to 1994) was born.

1971
: Sunil Gavaskar (116) scores his maiden Test hundred against West Indies at Georgetown - in his second Test match.

1997
: India beat Australia by an innings and 219 at Calcutta to take three-match Test series two-nil.

22th March...

1914
: New Zealand leg-spinner Cecil Burke (1 Test in 1946) was born.

1915
: New Zealand pace bowler George “Fen” Cresswell (3 Tests from 1949 to 1951) was born.

1927
: Australian batsman George Thoms (1 Test in 1952) was born.

1933
: South African batsman Chris Duckworth (2 Tests in 1957) was born.

1947
: England’s Walter Hammond (79) top-scored for his team in his last Test innings – against New Zealand at Christchurch. He extended his then record Test aggregate to 7249 runs in 85 Tests.

1965
: India needing to score 70 runs in an hour, won with 13 minutes to spare by seven wickets against New Zealand at Delhi. S Venkataraghavan who took eight wickets in the first innings claimed 12 wickets in the match.

1968
: West Indian batsman Suruj Ragoonath (2 Tests in 1999) was born.

1971
: Pakistani off-spinner Arshad Khan since 1997 was born.

1997
: Australian Ian Healy, playing in his 88th Test against South Africa at Centurion became the second keeper (after Rod Marsh) in Test history to take 300 dismissals.

1999
: Gary Kirsten (3476 runs) became South Africa’s highest run scorer in Tests – against New Zealand at Wellington. He bettered Bruce Mitchell’s aggregate of 3471 runs.

23th March...

1906
: England pace bowler Maurice Allom (5 Tests from 1930 to 1931) was born.

1906
: England batsman Victor Barton (1 Test in 1892) died aged 38.

1908
: Australian left-handed batsman and keeper Ben Barnett (4 Tests in 1938) was born.

1940
: New Zealand batsman Brian Hastings (31 Tests from 1969 to 1976; 1510 runs) was born.

1948
: Pakistani captain and keeper-batsman Wasim Bari (81 Tests 1967 1984; 1366 runs & 228 dismissals).

1950
: England’s leg-break bowler Douglas Carr (1 Test in 1909; 7 wickets) died aged 78.

1961
: England batsman CAG “Jack” Russell (10 Tests from 1920 to 1923; 910 runs, avg. 56.88) died aged 73.

1962
: Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi led India in place of injured Nari Contractor against West Indies at Bridgetown to become the youngest ever captain in Test history at 21 years and 77 days!

1968
: Indian pace bowler Atul Wassan (4 Tests in 1990) was born.

1968
: England captain and batsman Mike Atherton since 1989 was born.

1973
: Australian Doug Walter (112) scores 100 runs out of 130 runs between lunch and tea against West Indies at Port of Spain.

1980
: Australian Allan Border scores 153 in the second innings against Pakistan at Lahore after scoring 150 in the first. He became the only batsman in Test history to score 150-plus in each innings of a Test match.

1994
: Kapil Dev in his last Test match (131st ) claims his 434th wicket (Adam Parore) – against New Zealand at Hamilton.

24th March...

1871
: England batsman and keeper Leslie Gay (1 Test in 1894) was born.

1899
: England all-rounder Billy Barnes (21 Tests from 1880 to 1890; 725 runs and 51 wickets) died aged 46.

1929
: South African pace bowler Cuan McCarthy (15 Tests from 1948 to 1951; 36 wickets) was born.

1932
: England captain and batsman Lord Harris (4 Test from 1879 to 1884) died aged 81.

1933
: England opener Herbert Sutcliffe was dismissed first ball of the match at Christchurch off the bowling of New Zealand’s Indian-born pace bowler Ted Badcock.

1956
: Pakistani all-rounder Ijaz Faqih (5 Tests from 1980 to 1988) was born.

1961
: Australian batsman Dean Jones (52 Tests from 1984 to 1992; 3631 runs, avg. 46.55) was born.

1971
: West Indian Gary Sobers during his innings of 108 not out against India at Georgetown became the third batsman to score 7000 runs in Test cricket.

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Mail Cricket Editor