15th July....

1850:
John Wisden, later the founder of the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, bowls all ten South of England batsmen for the North of England at Lord's. He remains the only bowler to do so in first-class history in the same innings.

1856:
Right hand batsman and South Africa's first Test captain Owen Dunell (2 Tests in 1889) was born.

1902:
KS Ranjisinhji during his unbeaten 234 for Sussex against Surrey at Hastings scored 180 before lunch on the second day. He took his score from an overnight score of 54 to 234 in 150 minutes.

1909:
South Africa's pace bowler John Cochrane (1 Test in 1930-31) was born.

1938:
Arthur Fagg for Kent scores two double hundreds in the same match - 244 and 202* - against Essex at Colchester - still the only batsman to achieve this in first-class history.

1939:
Pakistani off-spinner and later a controversial manager Haseeb Ahsan (12 Tests from 1957 to 1961; 27 wickets) was born.

1950:
Australian fast bowler Alan Hurst (12 Tests from 1973 to 1979; 43 wickets) was born.

1960:
New Zealand pace bowler Gary Robertson (1 Test in 1986) was born.

1935:
England batsman Alfred Archer (1 Test in 1899) died aged 63.

1942:
New Zealand batsman Denis Moloney (3 Tests in 1937) died in Egypt during the second World War, aged 31.

1976:
Sri Lankan left-arm spinner Dinuka Hettiarachchi (1 Test in 2001) was born.

1982:
New Zealand all-rounder Donald Beard (4 Tests from 1951 to 1956) died in England, aged 62.

16th July....

1895:
Lancashire's Archie MacLaren scores 424 against Somerset at Taunton - to become the first batsman to score a quadruple hundred in first-class cricket.

1896:
Kumar Shri Ranjitsinhji became the first Indian to appear in a Test match, for England against Australia at Manchester.

1910:
Australian batsman and all-rounder Stan McCabe (39 Tests from 1930 to 1938; 2748 at 48.21 and 36 wickets) was born

1920:
Pakistani batsman Anwar Hussain (4 Tests in 1952-53) was born.

1927:
England fast bowler and later MCC president John Warr (2 Tests in 1950-51) was born.

1929:
South African 'Tuppy' Owen-Smith, playing in his only Test series scored his maiden first-class hundred (129) against England at Leeds at the age of 20 years 148 days. He took his score from 27 to 129 before lunch.

1931:
England all-rounder Charles Studd (5 Tests from 1882 to 1883) died in Congo, Africa, aged 70.

1936:
Indian all-rounder V.Subramanya (9 Tests from 1964 to 1968) was born.

1951:
Len Hutton, who missed scoring his 100th hundred in a Test match the previous week, did so for Yorkshire against Surrey at The Oval.

1973:
South African all-rounder and captain Shaun Pollock was born.

1984:
England's defeat by eight wickets by the West Indies at Leeds was the second occasion since the first against Australia in 1921when England lost the first three matches in a home series.

1992:
Australian all-rounder Johnny Martin (8 Tests from 1960 to 1967; 214 runs and 17 wickets) died, aged 60.

17th July....

1884:
In the Ashes Test match at Lord's as many as 27 wickets fell for 157 runs in just over three hours of actual playing time on a mud pitch - still the highest number of wickets to fall in a day's play in Test cricket.

1893:
Australian umpire James Phillips became the first Test umpire to officiate in two countries when he stood in the Ashes Test at Lord's.

1893:
During his innings of 106 against Australia at Lord's England's Arthur Shrewsbury became the first batsman to aggregate 1000 runs in Test history.

1919:
New Zealand's leggie all-rounder Alex Moir (17 Tests from 1950 to 1959; 327 runs and 28 wickets) was born.

1933:
South African batsman Tony Pithey (17 Tests from 1956 to 1965; 819 runs) was born.

1941:
England's keeper Bob Taylor (57 Tests from 1970 to 1984; 1156 runs & 174 dismissals) was born.

1944:
New Zealand batsman and captain Mark Burgess (50 Tests from 1967 to 1981; 2684 runs) was born.

1956:
The innings and 42 runs win was England's first over Australia after 11 matches at at Headlingley, Leeds in 57 years.

1960:
English batsman Kim Barnett (4 Tests from 1988 to 1989) was born.

1979:
South African pace bowler Doug Meintjes (2 Tests in 1922-23) died aged 89.

1991:
England pace bowler Harold Butler (2 Tests in 1947-48) died aged 78.

18th July....

1848:
England all-rounder and captain Dr William Gilbert Grace, still considered the father of the modern game (22 Tests from 1880 to 1899; 1098 runs) was born.

1873:
South African batsman Bertie Powell (1 Test in 1899) was born.

1893:
Australian Harry Graham scores 107 on debut against England at Lord's.

1896:
Indian KS Ranjitsinhji score his maiden Test hundred (154 not out) on debut for England against Australia at Manchester after scoring a 62 in the first innings.

1896:
Australian George Giffen (1237 runs and 101 wckets in 30 Tests) became the first all-rounder to do the Test "double" of 1000 runs and 100 wickets, against England at Manchester.

1899:
Australian Monty Noble (60* and 59* out of 89) became the only batsman in Test cricket to score two fifties on the same day against England at Manchester.

1925:
England batsman and later MCC presidnet Hubert Doggart (2 Tests in 1950) was born.

1927:
Kiwi batsman Zin Harris (9 Tests from 1955 to 1965) was born.

1949:
Aussie pace bowling legend Dennis Lillee (70 Tests from 1970 to 1984; 355 wickets) was born

1963:
South African batsman Alfred Cooper (1 Test in 1913) died, aged 69.

1980:
Indian opener Naoomal Jeoomal (3 Tests from 1932 to 1934) died, aged 76.

19th July....

1876:
England's left-hand all-rounder John Gunn (6 Tests from 1901 to 1905) was born.

1877:
England's pace bowler Arthur Fielder (6 Tests from 1903 to 1908; 26 wickets) was born.

1893:
Andrew Staddart, England's replacement captain, became the first to declare a Test innings (234-8 dec), against Australia at Lord's.

1899:
South African left-handed batsman John Nicolson (3 Tests in 1927-28) was born.

1920:
West Indian batsman Robert Christiani (22 Tests from 1947 to 1954; 896 runs) was born.

1939:
England opener Tom Hayward (35 Tests from 1895 to 1909; 1999 runs) died, aged 68.

1952:
England's Tony Lock held a stunning catch at short leg of India's Vinoo Mankad. It was the first time he had touched a ball in a Test match.

1952:
India (58 & 82) became the first Test team to be dismissed twice on the same day, against England at Manchester.

1955:
Indian all-rounder Roger Binny (27 Tests from 1979 to 1987; 830 runs and 47 wickets) was born.

1979:
Sri Lanka's latest paceman Dilhara Fernando (debut in 2000) was born.

1993:
Lancashire's Glen Chapple against Glamorgan at Machester scores a first-class hundred in just 21 minutes, but in contrived circumstances (when runs were given from full tosses and long hops to expedite a declaration).

20th July....

1893:
Aussie batsman Tom Kelly (2 Tests from 1876 to 1879) died, aged 49.

1900:
England's left-handed batsman Maurice Leyland (41 Tests from 1928 to 1938; 2764 runs at an avg. 46.07), was born.

1909:
South African batsman Eric Rowan (26 Tests from 1935 to 1951; 1965 runs) was born.

1911:
Indian all-rounder Mohammad Baqa Jilani (1 Test in 1936) was born.

1934:
England batsman Doug Padgett (2 Tests in 1960) was born.

1942:
Barbados rout Trinidad for a paltry 16 in 69 minutes at Bridgetown - still the lowest team total in the Caribbean. Barbadian Derek Sealy who had earlier kept wickets for the West Indies claimed 8 wickets for 8 runs in just 34 balls.

1945:
South African all-rounder Arthur Seccull (1 Test in 1896) died, aged 76.

1956:
Australian batsman Ken Burn (2 Tests in 1890) died, aged 93. He toured England in 1890 as a standby keeper when he never kept wickets in his entire career.

1971:
England's pace bowler Ed Giddins (4 Tests from 1999 to 2000) was born.

1975:
Pakistan wicket-keeper Atiq-uz Zaman (1 Test in 2000) was born.

1976:
Indian paceman Debasis Mohanty (2 Tests in 1997) was born.

1976:
New Zealand's first Test captain and batsman Tom Lowry (7 Tests from 1929 to 1931) died, aged 78.

1981:
Facing a deficit of 227 runs and following-on English all-rounder Ian Botham's brilliant hundred against Australia at Leeds came in just 87 balls after he had captured six Australian wickets in the first innings.

1990:
India beat England at Nottingham by five wickets to win the Texaco Trophy one-day series two-nil.

1997:
West Indian keeper-batsman Clifford McWatt (6 Tests from 1953 to 1955) died in Canada, aged 75.

2000:
South African batsman Robert Harvey (1 Test in 1936) died age 88.

2000:
All-rounder Shaun Pollock became South Africa's 28th Test captain - against Sri Lanka at Galle.

2000:
Sri Lankan captain Sanath Jayasuriya (148) scores 96 before lunch on the first day against South Africa at Galle.

21st July....

1863:
England captain and pace bowler and later a Hollywood actor Aubrey Smith (1 Test in 1889, captured seven wickets) was born in London.

1884:
Lord's cricket ground hosts its first Test match, against Australia.

1884:
Australian captain Billy Murdoch became the first substitute fielder to take a catch in Test cricket and he did so while fielding for the opposition England (for WG Grace) at Lord's.

1895:
South African batsman and captain 'Nummy' Deane (17 Tests from 1924 to 1931; 628 runs) was born.

1927:
Australian all-rounder Jack Lyons (14 Tests from 1886 to 1898; 731 runs and 6 wickets) died, aged 64.

1934:
Indian all-rounder and captain Chandu Borde (55 Tests from 1958 to 1970; 3061 runs and 52 wickets) was born.

1945:
Aussie left-arm pace bowler Geoff Dymock (21 Tests from 1973 to 1980; 78 wickets) was born.

1945:
South African opening batsman Barry Richards (4 Tests in 1970; 508 runs at 72.57) was born.

1947:
India opener Chetan Chauhan (40 Tests from 1969 to 1981; 2084, without any hundreds) was born.

1950:
West Indian Frank Worrell scores 239 runs out of 261 on the second day in the Nottingham Test at Lord's.

1957:
England all-rounder Rockley Wilson (1 Test in 1921) died, aged 78

1964:
Surrey keeper Arnold Long became the first to take 11 catches in a match for Surrey against Sussex at Hove.

1975:
Sri Lankan paceman Ravindra Pushpakumara (22 Tests from 1994; 58 wickets) was born.

1981:
England became the only second team in Test history to win a match after being made to follow-on. Australia set 130 to win, were all out 111 at Leeds with England's paceman Bob Willis taking eight wickets for 43 runs!

1988:
Colin Cowdrey's son Chris' appointment in the Leeds Test match against the West Indies was England's second father/son captaincy double after FT and FG Mann.

1995:
England's leg-break bowler Roly Jenkins (9 Tests from 1948 to 1952) died aged 76.

Compiled by:
Mohandas Menon

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Mail Cricket Editor