1966
A cricketing charmer is born. Cool Carl Hooper is a real artist with the bat, but too often he lets his legions of admirers down with a loose stroke - although the captaincy does seem to have focused his mind. He has the talent to take any bowler in the world to the cleaners, but Hooper has not delivered often enough when the chips are down, although he did make a superb unbeaten 94 to take West Indies to victory over England in the first of the back-to-back Trinidad Tests in 1997-98.

1959
There was a time once, in the early 1990s, when Australian spinners didn't wreak havoc everywhere they went. The eccentric Greg Matthews, who was born today, was from the old school: an offspinner with an average of 48 and a strike rate in three figures. He never won a Test with the ball - but he did tie one, taking his only two five-fors, including the last wicket, in the tied Test at Madras in 1985-86. Where Matthews did excel was as a lower-order irritant: he averaged over 40 with the bat and made four hundreds in 33 Tests.

1977
The second day's play in the first Test between Pakistan and England at Lahore was marred by riots. Wisden reported that: "Running fights began. Police were chased across the ground, and four found refuge in the England dressing-room. Bricks and stones were hurled in the direction of the dressing-rooms and the VIP enclosure. Tea was taken during the trouble, and only twenty-five minutes of actual playing time were lost. Incredibly, the rioters voluntarily cleared the ground of debris."

1998
The day the Ashes stayed in Australia - again. England slipped to a depressing 205-run defeat in the third Test at Adelaide, which put them 2-0 down in the series with only two to play. They had a classic first-innings collapse to blame, as 187 for 3 turned into 227 all out on a featherbed, despite a long middle order that had Graeme Hick coming in at No. 7.

1982
Zaheer Abbas made his 100th hundred in a Test match - and it was a blistering affair too. He creamed India all round Lahore for 215 off only 254 balls, but the rest of the match - yet another high-scoring draw between India and Pakistan - was largely forgettable.

1982
More Adelaide Ashes misery for England. They went 2-0 down with two to play after an eight-wicket defeat at Adelaide, and even though (unlike in 1998), they could have retained the Ashes with a 2-2 draw, they could only get one Test back. This one was notable for Greg Chappell for making his first Test hundred in his home town, and Geoff Lawson, who had taken 11 wickets in the second Test, adding a further nine.

1914
An unsung Invincible is born. Left-arm medium pacer Ernie Toshack didn't have the glamour of a Bradman, a Lindwall, or a Miller, but he played a crucial role in the famous 1948 side that hammered England 4-0. Toshack played in the first four Tests, and took 5 for 40 in the second innings of the second Test rout at Lord's.

1997
Another day, another victory for Adam Hollioake's England in Sharjah, and this one clinched their place in the final. In a tense match, a fine effort in the field saw them defend 215 for 9 with eight runs to spare. Mark Ealham was the pick of the bowlers. Saeed Anwar clobbered his second over for 16, but Ealham soon settled into a groove and squeezed the life out of Pakistan - his last eight overs cost only 19 runs. He added the key wicket of Ijaz Ahmed for good measure.

1965
A glorious performance from 19-year-old Doug Walters illuminated the drawn first Test between Australia and England at Brisbane. Playing in his first Test, Walters cracked a brilliant 155 in trying circumstances. That gave Australia the whip hand but rain played its part and England got away comfortably enough with a draw.

1996
A bad day for England, who began the international section of their troubled tour of Zimbabwe with defeat in the first one-dayer at Bulawayo. The batsmen were to blame - they managed a pitiful 152 with Alan Mullally, who was amazingly let loose at No. 8, getting a first-baller. Zimbabwe made a meal of the chase, but Eddo Brandes - not for the last time in the series - had a decisive impact, smacking a six to see them home by two wickets.

1994
If it's December 15, Zimbabwe must be beating England in a one-dayer. At Adelaide, an Ashes tour that was going down the pan anyway took a less-than-amusing turn when England fell 14 runs short of the 206 they needed to beat the Zims. They had been crusing at 169 for 4, but it only took one wicket to spark an English collapse in the mid-'90s: Phil DeFreitas, Shaun Udal and, crucially, top-scorer Graeme Hick were all run out as blind panic set in.

Other birthdays
1909 Rolph Grant (West Indies)
1929 Keith Andrew (England)
1930 Alimuddin (Pakistan)
1959 Rashid Khan (Pakistan)
1963 Aasif Karim (Kenya)

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