1965
A magician was born in Colombo. The hugely popular Aravinda de Silva has virtually every shot in the book and has been one of the most charming batsmen in world cricket over the past 20 years. He peaked during three glorious years in the mid-1990s. In 1995 he had a remarkable season with Kent, the highlight of which was 112 off 95 balls in a losing cause in the Benson & Hedges Cup final against Lancashire -- the Wisden Almanack said the ball was "feathered, not bludgeoned, persuaded, not carved". It was one of the finest one-day innings ever played at Lord's. In 1996 he was Man of the Match in the World Cup final, with 3 for 43, two catches and a wonderfully restrained 107 not out, and in 1997 he hit six centuries in consecutive innings in Tests in Colombo.

1970
It seems improbable that a legspinner could take 340 Test wickets without turning the ball prodigiously, but Anil Kumble, who was born today, has done precisely that. His control and bounce make him a fearsome proposition, especially on the Indian dustbowls -- his average at home (21.38) is almost half his overseas average (39.46). Highlights of his career include 21 wickets in three matches against England in 1992-93 (before the tour Keith Fletcher, England's manager, famously wrote him off as not being a threat), 32 in four Tests at home to Australia between 1996 and 1998, and most famously of all, 10 for 74 against Pakistan at Delhi in 1998-99. Kumble was only the second person after Jim Laker to take all ten wickets in a Test innings, and that performance lies second in the Wisden 100.

1917
Birth of the brilliant New Zealander Martin Donnelly, who immediately after the Second World War had few peers among batsmen. He was a brilliant strokemaker who lit up Lord's with a scintillating 206 in the second Test against England in 1949. That completed an unlikely treble (which only he and Percy Chapman, another left-hander, have completed) for Donnelly, who also made Lord's hundreds for Gentlemen against Players and Oxford against Cambridge. In addition to that he made a famous ton at Lord's for the Dominions against England -- after which, a probably apocryphal story runs, a spectator went into a nearby pub, said "I have just seen the most marvellous day's play," drank a double whisky and dropped dead. But the tour of England in 1949 (when he scored 2287 runs) was his last as a Test player. Donnelly went into business in Sydney, where he died in 1999. He also played rugby for England, against Ireland in 1946-47.

1999
Australia's record-breaking run of 16 consecutive Tests started with a ten-wicket win over Zimbabwe in a one-off Test at Harare. Steve Waugh was once again their main man. At the first time of asking he completed a full set of hundreds against every Test nation, and his unbeaten 151 was his 20th Test hundred. The match was also the last of Ian Healy's luminous career. With his batting form in decline he was usurped by Adam Gilchrist. He ended with a record number of Test dismissals (395) and catches (366).

1991
A real captain's innings from Richie Richardson led West Indies to a one-wicket victory over Pakistan at Sharjah. In his first match as skipper Richardson overcame cramp to make 106 not out (nobody else managed 50 in the match) and lead West Indies from almost-certain defeat at 158 for 8 to 217 for 9, sealing an unlikely victory with 15 balls to spare.

1955
Pakistan and New Zealand met for the first time at Karachi, and offspinner Zulfiqar Ahmed took advantage of a matting pitch to lead Pakistan to victory by an innings and one run. He returned match figures of 83.5-40-79-11, grabbing the only two five-fors of his nine-Test career. In the end the performance of Pakistan's lower order -- they turned 144 for 6 (a deficit of 20) into 289 (a lead of 125) -- was decisive.

Other birthdays
1878 Barlow Carkeek (Australia)
1890 Roy Kilner (England)
1935 Alan Brown (England)
1960 Mandy Yachad (South Africa)
1963 Vijay Mehra (UAE)

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