1950
Birth of perhaps the fastest bowler of all time. When Jeff Thomson took 1 for 110 on his Test debut in 1972-73, no-one knew he had a broken toe – nor could they have suspected the havoc he would wreak on his recall against England in 1974-75. He generated terrifying pace and steep bounce from a slingshot action, and took 33 cheap wickets to help Dennis Lillee destroy England 4-1 and regain the Ashes. The following season he and Lillee had a similarly traumatic effect on the touring West Indians. Held back by assorted major injuries, Thommo nevertheless took exactly 200 Test wickets (exactly 100 of them against England) and left behind memories of one of the great fast-bowling partnerships.

1950
When Alf Valentine took his sixth wicket of the innings, his tenth of the match and 33rd of the series, West Indies had dismissed England for 103 to take the Oval Test by an innings and complete a 3-1 win, their first in a series in England. The Three Ws in their batting line-up (Frank Worrell, Everton Weekes and Clyde Walcott) were as famous as the two young spinners who were commemorated in a special calypso, "those two little pals of mine" Sonny Ramadhin and Valentine.

1982
Better known as a slow-scoring opening batsman, Mudassar Nazar shocked everyone, perhaps even himself, when his swing bowling gave him figures of 6 for 32 to help Pakistan beat England at Lord's and level the series. Extras accounted for 84 of England's 503 runs in the match. Mudassar's performance earns him a place in the Wisden 100.

2000
Australian captain Steve Waugh (103) and the man he called the best one-day batsman in the world, Michael Bevan (125), put on 222 to help beat South Africa in an ODI at Melbourne's Colonial Stadium, the first international match to be played indoors.

1860
One of the most influential cricketing figures of all time was born. Martin, Lord Hawke, averaged only 7.85 with the bat in his five Tests – but he was better known as a leader of men. He captained England in four of those matches and set an alltime record by leading Yorkshire to the County Championship eight times from 1893 to 1908. He introduced winter pay for professionals and - with the exception of John Wisden himself - was the oldest Wisden Cricketer of the Year (48 in 1909).

1985
Unsung medium-pace swing bowler Richard Ellison completed figures of 6 for 77 on his way to ten wickets in the Edgbaston Test against Australia, which England won by an innings to take a 2-1 lead in the series.

1905
At The Oval against Australia Arthur Jones became the first substitute to keep wicket in a Test, catching Warwick Armstrong off George Hirst. Jones's Test averages were nothing to write home about (13.85 with the bat, 44.33 with the ball) but he was better known as a fielder. Sensational in the slips, he was credited with inventing the gully position. He captained Derbyshire from 1900 until just before his death from tuberculosis in 1914.

Other birthdays
1944 Mufasir-ul-Haq (Pakistan)
1952 Mahes Goonatillake (Sri Lanka)
1957 Randhir Singh (India)

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