1901
Of Englishmen who have played ten Test innings or more only Herbert Sutcliffe (60.73) averages more than Eddie Paynter (59.23), who was born today. But Paynter, a left-hander, didn't make his Test debut until he was 29, and only played 20 matches in all. Seven of those were against Australia, and in Ashes Tests Paynter averaged a mighty 84 - a figure no other Englishman approaches. He hammered two double-centuries, 216 against Australia at Trent Bridge in 1938, and 243 v South Africa at Durban the following winter. But Paynter's finest hour came at Brisbane in 1932-33, when he defied tonsillitis and the doctors to make 83 (batting at No. 8) before hitting the Ashes-winning six in the second innings. Paynter was a perennial success for Lancashire, and scored 322 for them against Sussex in 1937. He died in Yorkshire in 1979.

1994
A frustrating day for Australia, who went into the last day of the third Test against Pakistan at Lahore poised for a series-levelling victory (Pakistan were only 55 ahead with five second-innings wickets left), only to be denied again by their bête noir - Salim Malik, Pakistan's captain. Fresh from a match-saving 237 in the second Test, and an alleged attempt to bribe Shane Warne and Tim May, Malik made an imperious 143, putting on 196 for the sixth wicket with Aamir Sohail, to send the Australians into increasing apoplexy. The Wisden Almanack said that "Australia won everywhere but on the scoreboard", but that's where it matters, and their wait for a Test win in Pakistan - 14 Tests, 35 years and counting - went on until 1998-99.

1999
Fireworks at Rajkot, where New Zealand posted their highest-ever one-day score (349 for 9) in the first ODI against India. Craig Spearman got them going with a thunderous 44-ball 68 that included 15 fours. He added 115 for the first wicket in 15 overs with Nathan Astle, who went on to hammer 124 - in fact, from 224 for 1 in the 32nd over, NZ should probably have made even more. But it was enough for a 43-run victory, even though India made a decent fist of things. Shayne O'Connor's three overs went for 42, and after 11 overs India were 82 for 0. As usual the dismissal of Sachin Tendulkar changed things, and though Ajay Jadeja flayed 95 India were never really in the hunt after that.

1993
Basit Ali and Brian Lara put the fizz into a blistering Pepsi Champions Trophy final, in which West Indies beat Pakistan by six wickets. Basit smote an unbeaten 129 off 79 balls, including five sixes, with his century coming up in 67 balls, the fifth-fastest of all time. Even the giant metronome Curtly Ambrose (10-2-64-1) could not stem the flow as Pakistan romped to 284 for 4. But Lara made sure the match would not go flat with a regal 153 that led West Indies to victory with almost five overs to spare. He hit 21 fours, equalling Viv Richards's world record for a one-day innings, although Saeed Anwar topped that with 22 in his 194 against India at Chennai in 1996-97.

1956
You wait 27 years to make your Test debut and then Malcolm Marshall puts you in hospital with a bang on the head within half-an-hour. That's the fate which befell left-hand opener Andy Lloyd, who was born today. After top-scoring for England in two of the three one-dayers that preceded the 1984 Test series against West Indies, Lloyd was picked for the first Test on his home ground at Edgbaston, but he'd made only 10 when Marshall pinned him with a short one. He was hospitalised for over a week with blurred vision, and didn't play first-class cricket again that summer. And Lloyd never played for England again, despite an enduring consistency for Warwickshire that brought him over 17,000 first-class runs.

1916
The life of an English legspinner rarely runs smoothly, and Len Wilkinson, who was born today, is one of a long list of bowlers who failed to fulfil their early promise. When he took 151 first-class wickets in 1938 - only his second season - a rich talent had apparently emerged. He played three Tests in South Africa that winter with mixed success, but struggled thereafter and didn't play for England again after the Second World War. Wilkinson was also a splendidly inept batsman who was close to taking more first-class wickets (282) than he made runs (321).

1987
The day when Graham Gooch got down on one knee to take England to the World Cup final. He swept India to distraction in the semi-final at Bombay, carrying out a preconceived plan against Maninder Singh and Ravi Shastri to make a brilliant 111. Allan Lamb's late flourish took England to 254 for 6, and though India kept the asking rate in check, they kept losing wickets at crucial times. Eddie Hemmings took the big one, trapping Mohammad Azharuddin lbw for 64, and he ended with a one-day best 4 for 52 as England booked a date with Australia in the final with a 35-run victory. It was also the last international appearance of the great Sunil Gavaskar. He was bowled by Phil DeFreitas for four, after scoring over 13,000 runs for India.

1964
Death of the only animal to receive a Wisden Almanack obituary. Peter the cat was a popular cricket-watcher at Lord's - where he spent 12 of his 14 years - and his ninth life ended on this day. His obituary said that "his sleek, black form could often be seen prowling on the field of play when the crowds were biggest".

Other birthdays
1861 Sir Timothy O'Brien (England)
1905 George Bissett (South Africa)
1937 David Allan (West Indies)
1939 Ken Walter (South Africa)
1977 Shiv Sunder Das (India)

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd