27th May...

1852:
England all-rounder William Barnes (21 Tests from 1880 to 1890; 725 runs and 51 wickets) was born.

1863:
England fast bowler Arthur Mold (3 Tests in 1893) was born.

1863:
England batsman 'Chawles' Wright (3 Tests 1896) was born.

1870:
England batsman Lionel Palairet (2 Tests in 1902) was born.

1887:
England's all-rounder Frank Woolley (64 Tests from 1909 to 1934; 3283 runs, 83 wickets and 64 catches) was born.

1892:
England captain and all-rounder Freddy Calthorpe (4 Tests in 1930) was born.

1899:
South African pace bowler George Parker (2 Tests in 1924) was born.

1912:
The first Test triangular tournament began at Old Trafford, Manchester in England between two neutral teams - Australia and South Africa. On the first day produced 464 runs by both teams.

1926:
New Zealand batsman Gordon Leggat (9 Tests from 1952 to 1956) was born.

1955:
New Zealand batsman and keeper Jock Edwards (8 Tests from 1977 to 1981) was born.

1960:
Sri Lankan pace bowler Vinothen John (6 Tests from 1983 to 1984) was born.

1962:
India's leading all-rounder from 1980 to 1992 Ravi Shastri (80 Tests) was born.

1977:
Sri Lankan batsman Mahela Jayawardene since 1997, was born.

1989:
The Nottingham ODI match between England and Australia resulted in the first ever tie match in England.

1997:
Sri Lanka beat Pakistan by 85 runs in the final match at Calcutta to win the Indian Independence Cup.

1999:
West Indies beat Scotland, while Australia beat Bangladesh in the World Cup.

28th May...

1851:
England's best all-rounder in 1880s Dick Barlow (17 Test matches from 1881 to 1887; 591 runs and 34 wickets) was born.

1864:
England's batsman Basil Grieve (2 Test in 1889) was born.

1911:
South African fast bowler Bob Crisp (9 Tests from 1935 to 1936) was born in Calcutta, India.

1912:
Australian Jimmy Matthews remains the only bowler in Test history to achieve two hat-tricks in the same afternoon - against South Africa at Old Trafford, Manchester.

1921:
The Nottingham Test match between England and Australia was the 100th to be played between the two teams.

1929:
West Indian batsman Leslie Wight (1 Test in 1953) was born.

1934:
Englishman Jack Hobbs scored his 199th and last first-class hundred - 116 - for Surrey against Lancashire at Manchester at the age of 51 years.

1956:
West Indian keeper-batsman Jeff Dujon (81 Tests from 1981 to 1991; 3322 runs and 272 dismissals) was born.

1959:
Australian captain and batsman Herbie Collins (19 Tests from 1920 to 1926; 1352 runs) died aged 71.

1965:
England batsman Ken Barrington's 137 occupied 437 minutes against New Zealand at Birmingham, which resulted in his omission from the next Test.

1965:
The Birmingham Test between England and New Zealand was played in miserable cold weather; twice during the second day hot drinks were brought on to the field.

1966:
Australian off-spinner Gavin Robertson (4 Tests in 1998) was born.

1974:
Pakistani batsman Misbah-ul Haq was born.

1993:
English batsman Charlie Barnett (20 Tests from 1933 to 1948; 1098 runs) died aged 82.

1998:
Kenya beat India at Gwalior by 69 runs - their second win against a Test nation.

29th May...

1839:
Australian batsman Ned Gregory (1 Test in 1877) was born.

1839:
Australian all-rounder Nat Thomson (2 Tests in 1877) was born.

1902:
The England side against Australia in the Birmingham Test is usually considered the strongest batting side ever to represent England - all eleven scored centuries in first-class cricket. England scores 351-9 on the first day.

1909:
England beat Australia at Birmingham to record its first ten-wicket Test win at home.

1933:
English batsman Frank Sugg (2 Tests in 1888) died aged 71.

1950:
Pakistani batsman and currently an ICC match referee Talat Ali (10 Tests from 1972 to 1979) was born.

1953:
West Indian off-spinner Rangy Nanan (1 Test in 1980) was born.

1999:
Zimbabwe shocks their African neighbours South Africa at Chelmsford by 42 runs in the World Cup match.

2000:
After surviving for 73 minutes, the West Indian last wicket pair of Jimmy Adams and Courtney Walsh put on 19 runs to take their team to a one wicket victory over Pakistan at St John's, Antigua.

30th May...

1879:
England's left-arm spinner Charlie Blythe (19 Tests from 1901 to 1910; 100 wickets) was born.

1892:
England captain and wicket-keeper Ronald Stanyforth (4 Tests from 1927 to 1928) was born.

1895:
England's all-rounder and pace bowler Maurice Tate (39 Tests from 1924 to 1935; 1198 runs and 155 wickets) was born.

1895:
WG Grace during his innings of 169 for Gloucestershire against Middlesex at Lord's, reached his 1000th run for the season before the month of June - to become the first one to do so in an English season.

1909:
West Indies' greatest batsman George "Black Bradman" Headley (22 matches from 1930 to 1954, 2190 runs, average 60.83) was born in Panama.

1923:
South African batsman Charles Fichardt (2 Tests from 1892 to 1896) died aged 53.

1936:
New Zealand wicket-keeper Roy Harford (3 Tests in 1968) was born in London.

1949:
English fast bowler and now a television commentator Bob Wills (90 Tests from 1971 to 1984; 325 wickets) was born.

1966:
Zimbabwe pace bowler Gary Martin (5 ODI matches from 1994 to 1995) was born.

1966:
England all-rounder Ian Austin (9 ODI matches from 1998 to 1999) was born.

1980:
The last over bowled by England fast bowler in West Indies innings in the Lord's ODI match produced four wickets (including two run-outs) and four runs.

31st May...

1902:
Australia was dismissed for a paltry 36 (still its lowest total in Tests) in just 80 minutes thanks to England's Wilfred Rhodes' 7 for 17 in 11 overs at Birmingham.

1908:
South African pace bowler CL 'Boy' Johnson (1 Test in 1896) died aged 37.

1924:
South African keeper-batsman Russell Endean (28 Tests from 1951 to 1958; 1630 runs and 41 catches) was born.

1926:
Indian wicket-keeper Probir Sen (14 from 1948 to 1952; 31 dismissals) was born in Comilla (now in Bangladesh).

1928:
India's Test opener Pankaj Roy (43 matches from 1951 to 1960; 2442 runs) was born.

1935:
New Zealand batsman Bruce Bolton (2 Tests in 1959) was born.

1938:
Bill Edrich scored 1000 runs before the end of May - all his runs were scored at Lord's!

1946:
West Indian international umpire Steve Bucknor with over 50 Test matches since 1989, was born.

1950:
Off-spinner Jim Laker captured 8 wickets for just two runs off 14 overs in a Test trial match for an England XI against the Rest at Bradford.

1966:
Sri Lankan batsman Roshan Mahanama (52 Tests from 1986 to 1998; 2576 runs) was born.

1979:
England captain and batsman Nigel Howard (4 Tests in 1951-52) died aged 54.

1984:
West Indian Viv Richards scores an unbeaten 189 (in 170 balls, 21 fours, and 5 sixes) against England at Manchester, which was then the highest ever score by a batsman in a ODI match.

1994:
New Zealand leg-spinner Doug Freeman (2 Tests in 1933) died in Sydney aged 79.

1998:
New Zealand beat Sri Lanka by 167 runs at Premadasa Stadium, Colombo. After gaining victories in the previous two Test matches against Zimbabwe at home, New Zealand for the first time won three Test matches in a row.

1999:
Bangladesh created an upset when it beat Pakistan by 62 runs at Northampton in the World Cup match.

1st June...

1899:
The first Test match to be played at Trent Bridge, Nottingham in 1899.

1922:
Australian batsman Frank Walters (1 Test in 1885) died at sea, near Bombay, aged 62.

1919:
South African batsman Owen Wynne (6 Tests in 1948 to 1950) was born.

1930:
New Zealand all-rounder and off-spinner Matt Poore (14 Tests from 1952 to 1956) was born.

1932:
New Zealand's paceman Frank Cameron (19 matches from 1961 to 1965; 62 wickets) was born.

1933:
New Zealand off-spinner Ian Sinclair (2 Tests in 1956) was born.

1962:
Pakistan keeper Imtiaz Ahmed did not concede any byes in England's large total of 544-5 decl. at Birmingham.

1964:
Indian left-arm pace bowler Rashid Patel who in his only Test (in 1988) bagged a pair and went wicket-less, was born.

1971:
Australian Bert 'Dainty' Ironmonger (14 Tests from 1928 to 1933 between the age of 46 and 50 years; 74 wickets) died aged 89.

1976:
Bangladesh batsman Shahriar Hossain 'Bidyut' was born.

1978:
England pace bowler Chris Old takes four Pakistani wickets off five balls (WWnbWW) at Birmingham.

1985:
West Indian Viv Richards for Somerset blasted 322 in a day against Warwickshire at Taunton.

2nd June...

1865:
English pace bowler George Lohmann (18 Tests from 1886 to 1896; 118 wickets) was born.

1908:
New Zealand all-rounder Lindsay Weir (11 Tests from 1930 to 1937) was born.

1929:
England batsman Hon. Charles Coventry (2 Tests in 1889) died aged 62.

1948:
England ODI all-rounder Trevor Jesty (10 matches in 1983) was born.

1965:
Australia's famous twins - Steve and Mark Waugh - were born.

1971:
Kenyan pace bowler Martin Suji since 1996 was born.

1973:
Sri Lankan left-arm spinner Jayantha Silva (7 Tests from 1995 to 1998) was born.

1974:
South African batsman and all-rounder Eric Marx (3 Tests in 1921) died aged 78.

1977:
England beat Australia in the Manchester one-day match by two wickets on a pitch that was under-prepared following the head groundsman's unheralded departure a few days before the match.

1982:
India's Kapil Dev scored a quick-fire 60 in just 37 balls (with 3 sixes and five fours) against England at Leeds in the one-day series.

1988:
The Nottingham Test between England and the West Indies was in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Trent Bridge Cricket Ground.

1989:
Australian pace bowler Ted a'Beckett (4 Tests from 1928 to 1931) died aged 81.

1994:
West Indian umpire Steve Bucknor in the Nottingham Test match between England and New Zealand became the first overseas umpire to officiate in a Test in England, since Australian Jim Phillips who stood in Tests from 1893 to 1905.

2000:
South African off-spinner Martin Hanley (1 Test in 1949) died aged 81.

Compiled by
MOHANDAS MENON

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