1975
The first World Cup final, and a Caribbean coronation. West Indies were always in control against Australia once their captain Clive Lloyd belted 102 off only 85 balls, an innings that is ninth in the Wisden 100. Chasing 291, Australia's work was undone by a succession of run-outs. Three alone came from brilliant work by Viv Richards in the covers, including both Chappells. At 233 for 9 it was as good as over, but Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson jangled one or two nerves until the fifth and final run-out finished things at 8.42 pm, on the longest day of the year. The winning margin was 17 runs, 13 of which came from Thomson no-balls. The Wisden Almanack recorded that "Prince Philip presented the Cup amidst hilarious scenes."

1937
One of England's most resilient openers is born. John Edrich's unswerving concentration and fierce self-restraint made him the perfect old-fashioned opener, whose purpose was to see of the new ball and a lay a base for the team. Then he would play his strokes. In only his ninth Test, he cracked 310 not out against New Zealand at Headingley, which included a staggering 52 fours and five sixes. No batsman has scored more than Edrich's 238 in boundaries in one Test innings. He also possessed a bravery that at times bordered on the indecent: at Lord's in 1965 he was knocked out cold by a bumper from South Africa's Peter Pollock, and at Sydney in 1974-75, when Edrich captained England for the one and only time, he made 33 not out in almost three hours despite having his ribs broken by the first ball he received, from Dennis Lillee. Edrich was only the third left-hander (after Phil Mead and Frank Woolley) to score 100 first-class hundreds. His cousin Bill played 39 Tests for England.

1981
The most famous summer in English cricket history began ignominiously, with Australia winning a first Test dogfight by four wickets at Trent Bridge. The key moment came when Paul Downton dropped an absolute sitter off Allan Border. Australia also unleashed a secret weapon in their debutant Terry Alderman, who took nine wickets and ended up with 42 in the six-match series. As for Downton, he was dropped and didn't play again for three years.

1954
Birth of the New Zealand captain Jeremy Coney, who fitted more into 15 Tests as captain than most people would in 50. In 1985-86 he led the Kiwis to their first series victory over Australia, and later that winter they became the first side to beat Australia in two series in the same season. In 1986 New Zealand then won their first series in England, and the following winter, in Coney's last series, they held a rampant West Indies side to a 1-1 draw. As a batsman he was technically correct, although it took him 25 Tests to get a century. Then he saved the Wellington Test against England in 1983-84 with an eight-hour 174 not out. He went on to make three Test hundreds, all of them unbeaten.

1997
England's lowest 20th-century score at Lord's. It didn't take Australia long to recover from being mauled in the first Test at Edgbaston - all of 42.3 overs, in fact, as Glenn McGrath routed England for 77 with 8 for 38 on a juicy wicket. But the rain that had brought about such a merciless interrogation from McGrath ultimately saved England. Only 104 overs were possible on the first four days, and England comfortably batted out the last, once Mark Butcher was dropped early on by Mark Taylor. With scores of 8, 14 and 5, Butcher's place had been under serious threat. But he went on to get 87, and his Test career was underway.

1998
Another year, another Lord's humilation for England, who were thrashed by South Africa by ten wickets. The catalyst was Allan Donald, who bulldozed them in the first innings with 5 for 32, when extras (20) was the top-scorer. If anything, England were even worse second time round. Nasser Hussain had dragged England to 222 for 3, but in the bink of an eye they were 233 for 9. In a decade notable for spectacular England collapses, this one was right up there.

1993
Another Lord's defeat. England were battered by an innings and 62 runs, having taken only four Australian wickets in the whole match. The lowlight was Chris Lewis's pathetic dance down the track at Tim May just before lunch on this the final day, when England were batting to save the game. He was stumped to complete a pair. In Wisden Cricket Monthly, David Frith described it as "a rather absurd defensive stroke". This was England's seventh Test defeat in a row, and a nadir in a period that was full of them.

1992
Yet another Lord's defeat. But at least England came out of this one with honour, after a classic Sunday's play on which 17 wickets fell. Chasing 138 to win, Pakistan collapsed to 95 for 8 against Chris Lewis and Ian Salisbury, only for Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis to drive them over the winning line as a three-man England attack (Phil DeFreitas and Ian Botham were injured) tired at the death. Wasim and Waqar also took 13 wickets between them, nine of them bowled or lbw as England became acquainted with the demons of reverse swing for the first time. It was all very harsh on Alec Stewart, who carried his bat for a wonderful 69 in the second innings, when no other Englishman passed 15. It was also the end of the line for Botham and Allan Lamb. This was their last Test appearance.

1988
Just to round off a great day for English cricket, another Lord's defeat. In this one, West Indies had been 54 for 5 on the first morning, but Gus Logie and Jeff Dujon drove England to distraction with a typically bold counter-attack, and then Malcolm Marshall (6 for 32) secured a first-innings lead with a fast-bowling masterclass. England were eventually left to chase 442. Miracles do happen in cricket - but not against Marshall, Patterson, Ambrose and Walsh, and despite Allan Lamb's defiant 113 (not to mention a last-wicket partnership of 53 between Graham Dilley and Paul Jarvis), West Indies eased home.

Other birthdays

1922 Jim McConnon (England)
1929 Agha Saadat Ali (Pakistan)
1938 Jackie Botten (South Africa)

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