1982
A dramatic finish at Melbourne kept England's hopes alive in the series. By the time Australia's last pair of Allan Border and Jeff Thomson had put on 70, the Ashes seemed to be on their way back Down Under. But eventually Ian Botham found the edge of Thommo's bat, Chris Tavaré spilled the catch at slip, but Geoff Miller pouched the rebound. A real Boy's Own ending had won the match by just three runs, equalling the smallest margin of victory in any Test at the time. Ultimately it didn't affect the destination of the urn: England had pulled back to 2-1 but couldn't square the series in the final Test.

1987
Another last-wicket stand at Melbourne this time brought the result Australia wanted. Craig McDermott and Mike Whitney survived the last 29 balls to draw the final Test match against New Zealand and give Allan Border his first series win as captain at the eighth attempt.

1913
Sydney Barnes completed figures of 8 for 56 and 9 for 103 at Johannesburg, the best Test return until Jim Laker took 19 against Australia at Old Trafford in 1956, and still the second-best ever. Barnes, a devastating bowler even at 40, finished with 49 wickets in only four Tests in this his last series. Typically, he refused to play in the fifth Test because accommodation hadn't been provided for his wife. Arguably the greatest bowler of all time, and very much his own man.

1932
That great Test rarity: a Donald duck. At Melbourne, facing his first ball of the infamous Bodyline series, Don Bradman dragged it onto his stumps. A stunned silence accompanied him back to the pavilion. It was the only Test wicket Bill Bowes ever took in Australia, but the one he and England wanted. Bradman hit a hundred in the second innings as Australia achieved their only win of a traumatic series.

1992
Melbourne again, this time for a matchwinning spell of legspin. Shane Warne's spell of 7 for 21 in less than 15 overs give Australia a 1-0 lead over West Indies.

1948
Indian left-hand batsman Surinder Amarnath was born into a cricketing family - to say the least. His brother Mohinder also played for India, as did their famous father Lala. Surinder was the least successful of the three: although he emulated his dad by scoring a hundred on his international debut, at Auckland in 1975-76, it was the only one of his Test career.

1919
Warwickshire wicketkeeper Dick Spooner was born. He would have played in more than seven Tests for England if Godfrey Evans hadn't been around, but nevertheless had his moments, such as scoring 71 and 92 as an opener at Calcutta in 1951-52.

Other birthdays
1959 Rod McCurdy (Australia)
1968 Adam Dale (Australia)
1975 Thiru Kumaran (India)
1981 Faisal Iqbal (Pakistan)
1984 Gerald Hartigan (South Africa)

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