1996
The first Test match to be drawn with the scores level is flippin' murder for the visting coach. After Zimbabwe frustrated England with a stint of legside bowling at Bulawayo, David Lloyd made it clear (in the Wisden Almanack, among other places) that he wasn't altogether sure a draw was the right result.

1963
One of South Africa's best allrounders was born. Aggressive with bat, ball and vocal chords, a stoat in the slips despite his solid frame, Brian McMillan took 75 Test wickets and hit three Test hundreds, all at home - though his drawn-out 100 at Johannesburg in 1995-96 contributed to Mike Atherton and England being able to escape with a draw.

1948
Birth of another talented allrounder - although Mike Brearley believed that "with a slightly different psychosomatic constitution, Chris Old could have been one of cricket's great players, instead of being merely an extremely good Test player." His reasons for missing Test matches were almost in the Chris Lewis class - but he nevertheless took 143 Test wickets, including four in five balls (the other was a no-ball) against Pakistan at Edgbaston in 1978, and helped Geoff Arnold dismiss India for 42 at Lord's in 1974. At Headingley in 1981 he hit a crucial 29 and then grabbed the key wicket of Allan Border as Australia fell apart in the second innings.

1929
One of four Test-playing brothers was born. Generally in the shadow of his kid brother Hanif, Wazir Mohammad scored both his Test hundreds in the Caribbean series of 1957-58 - but even then his 189 which won the fifth Test was eclipsed by Hanif's 337 at Bridgetown (see 21 December).

1986
The loss of a complete day's play made a draw inevitable, but India used the time to pile up their highest total against any country: 676 for 7 against Sri Lanka at Kanpur. Three batsmen made hundreds, but Mohammad Azharuddin must have had mixed feelings about being one of the few to be out for 199 in a Test.

1947
A late starter was born. Although he didn't play for India till he was 31, Dilip Doshi's slow left-arm brought him 114 Test wickets. Bespectacled and patient, he took 6 for 103 on his debut against Australia at Madras in 1979-80 and 6 for 102 at Old Trafford in 1982. He and Australian legspinner Clarrie Grimmett are the only men to take 100 Test wickets having debuted after their 31st birthday.

1951
A solitary success for West Indies on their disastrous tour Down Under. Frank Worrell, better known as a stylish batsman, took 6 for 38 to dismiss Australia for 82 at Adelaide. West Indies won by six wickets but lost the series 4-1.

1954
Birth of Derick Parry, who had no luck at the top level. An offspinner in an era of all-out West Indian pace, he was dismissed by the first ball he faced in Test cricket (against Australia at Port-of-Spain in 1977-78) and missed a run-out with his last, at Dunedin in 1979-80, which cost West Indies their last series defeat before 1994-95. He did take 5 for 15 - four of them bowled - to skittle Australia for 94 in Trindad in 1977-78.

1923
More mammoth batting by Bill Ponsford (see 18 and 19 December). He and Edgar Mayne put on 456 for Victoria v Queensland at Melbourne, still the highest opening stand in first-class cricket in Australia.

Other birthdays
1967 Roland Holder (West Indies)

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