1990
The cricket world received its first introduction to the deadliest old-ball partnership of them all. Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram shared 10 wickets in a Test for the first time, taking 15 in all as Pakistan thrashed New Zealand by an innings and 43 runs at Karachi -- and 11 of the 15 were out lbw or bowled. It started a run in which Wasim and Waqar took 10 or more wickets between them in 18 of the 24 Tests that they played in together between 1990 and 1994.

1945
Birth of Steve Camacho, a decent Test opener and a pioneer in West Indies cricket administration. He was the WICB's first full-time employee and was at various stages secretary, chief executive and a Test selector. He played 11 Tests himself, his sober style perfectly complementing the expansive batsmanship of his opening partners Roy Fredericks and Seymour Nurse. He topped the averages in England in 1969 but never made a Test hundred. The closest he came was in Trinidad in 1967-68 when he made 87, a match notorious for a generous declaration from Garry Sobers that allowed England to romp to a seven-wicket victory.

1964
A thriller at Bombay, where India grabbed only their second Test victory over Australia by two wickets. It was a result that looked unlikely when they were 122 for 6 in their second innings, with 132 still needed, but India had a few aces up their sleeve at Nos 7, 8 and 9 -- Nawab of Pataudi jr, Vijay Manjrekar and Chandra Borde, 16 Test hundreds between them, saw them to victory. It might have been different had Australia's Norm O'Neill not gone down with a stomach complaint on the first morning. He did not bat in either innings.

1999
A tie in the day-nighter between Pakistan and Sri Lanka at Sharjah, but only after a remarkable collapse from the Lankans. When Romesh Kaluwitharana and Russel Arnold took them to 157 for 1 they needed only 40 off 15 overs, but that was when Abdul Razzaq started swinging the ball. He had Kaluwitharana caught behind and then returned at the death to take 4 for 0 in 8 balls -- the last three were all bowled. Sri Lanka lost their last eight wickets for 23 runs in nine sorry overs.

1958
Chris Smith, who qualified for England by virtue of his English parents, was born in Durban on this day. Though not as naturally talented as his younger brother Robin, he made himself into a very fine county batsman for Hampshire with a first-class average in the mid-forties. Smith's success was a triumph of nurture over nature, but he only played eight Tests. He went first ball to Richard Hadlee on debut at Lord's in 1983 but had a decent winter in 1983-84, hitting 91 at Auckland and 66 at Faisalabad. For some reason he wasn't picked against West Indies in 1984 and played only one more Test. He went on to become chief executive of the WACA in Perth.

2000
A historic day for New Zealand at Nairobi. They beat India by four wickets in the final of the ICC KnockOut Trophy, their first ever victory in a one-day international competition. The hero was Chris Cairns, who defied a dodgy knee to hit a brilliant unbeaten 102 as the Kiwis reached their target of 265 with two balls to spare.

1989
One-day debuts for Alec Stewart and Angus Fraser in the opening match of the Nehru Cup at Delhi, but it was Graham Gooch who stole the show -- with the ball. In the first match of his second stint as England captain, Gooch took 2 for 26 from 10 overs to restrict Sri Lanka to 193, and Robin Smith cracked an unbeaten 81 to see England home by five wickets. Wayne Larkins also set a one-day record by reappearing 9 years, 267 days and 110 matches after his last appearance, against West Indies at Sydney in 1979-80.

Other birthdays
1866 Jack Barrett (Australia)
1910 Xen Balaskas (South Africa)
1921 Gul Mahomed (India/Pakistan)
1961 Sudath Pasqual (Sri Lanka)
1973 Sean Davies (Zimbabwe)

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