1982
The fastest-recorded authentic century in first-class history. They were no joke bowlers on show when David Hookes smashed 100 from just 34 balls for South Australia against Victoria at Adelaide. A stingy declaration left SA needing 270 off 30 overs, and Hookes took out his frustration by spanking most of the 128 that came from the first 10 overs. But his dismissal for 107 (made in only 55 minutes) ended South Australia's hopes of victory. It's enough to make you wonder why Hookes didn't play more than 23 Tests at a time when Australia weren't exactly top of the tree.

1991
A sensational performance from Aqib Javed gave Pakistan victory by 72 runs against India in the Wills Trophy final at Sharjah. Aqib took 7 for 37 - the best figures in one-day international history until Muttiah Muralithran grabbed 7 for 30 v India in October 2000 - including a hat-trick of lbws (Ravi Shastri, Mohammad Azharuddin and Sachin Tendulkar) in his third over. A matchwinning total of 262 for 6 had been set up by Zahid Fazal, who had to retire with cramp on 98. A cruel blow this: in nine Tests and 19 one-dayers, it was the closest Fazal got to a century for his country.

1929
Birth of Peter Loader, who with Alec Bedser was the spearhead of the great Surrey side of the 1950s. He was genuinely quick and his 1326 first-class wickets came at a cost of less than 20 apiece. He was good enough to play 13 Tests too, and was probably unlucky not to play more, although there were occasional murmurs about his bowling action. At Headingley in 1957 he took the first post-war Test hat-trick, and the first by an Englishman at home since 1899, as West Indies were hammered by an innings. When he finished with Surrey, Loader emigrated to Australia in 1963.

1958
Birth of the New Zealand offspinner Dipak Patel, who was born in Kenya and came close on more than one occasion to being picked by England during his time with Worcestershire. He is best remembered for his part in the 1992 World Cup, when he opened the bowling as an antidote to the emergent culture of pinch-hitting. The tactic was so unusual as to confound most sides - only in the semi-final, when New Zealand lost to Pakistan, did a side get after him. At Test level Patel never quite fulfilled his potential with bat or ball. The closest he came to a Test ton was a glistening 99 against England at Christchurch in 1991-92, when he paid the price for taking a third run to the lumbering Derek Pringle.

1993
The highest first-class score in South Africa. Daryll Cullinan stroked a chanceless unbeaten 337 for Transvaal in their Castle Currie Cup match against Northern Transvaal at Johannesburg. It confirmed the potential of a man labelled "the new Graeme Pollock" as a schoolboy, but Cullinan's penchant for record-breaking innings - he also has the highest Test score by a South African - were a bit of a millstone round his neck. A Test average of 44 would be good enough for most mortals, but some observers still think Cullinan underachieved.

1936
Birth of the ultimate jack of all trades. Alan "AC" Smith was a very handy wicketkeeper-batsman for Warwickshire and England who also took 131 first-class wickets with his bandy-legged medium-pacers. Against Essex at Clacton in 1965 he took off his pads and claimed a hat-trick in a spell of 4 for 0 in 34 balls. He played six Tests, all in 1962-63, and added an English-record 163 for the ninth wicket with Colin Cowdrey at Wellington. He later served a number of prominent roles in the game, most famously as chief executive of the TCCB. At various stages he has also been a director of Aston Villa football club, a Test selector, manager of England's tours of West Indies in 1980-81 and New Zealand in 1983-84, secretary of Warwickshire and an ICC match referee.

1989
England were mugged at Kanpur, where an astounding innings from India's Chetan Sharma sent them to their first defeat of the Nehru Cup. Normally a tailender, Sharma was promoted to No. 4 to inject some momentum into India's innings, and he slogged his way to an unbeaten 101 off only 96 balls. It helped India overhaul England's 255 for 7 with six wickets and 11 balls to spare, although had Robin Smith caught Sharma when he only had 3, it could have been a different story. It was a startling performance and entirely out of character: in his other 64 one-dayers, Sharma only once passed 25.

Other birthdays
1927 Headley Keith (South Africa)
1933 Roy Swetman (England)
1933 Ron Archer (Australia)
1953 Les Taylor (England)
1967 Mazhar Hussain (UAE)
1973 Russel Arnold (Sri Lanka)

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