1898
Big in frame and heart, Australian fast bowler Ernie Jones is famous for two things. Sending a bouncer through WG Grace's beard ("Sorry, Doc, she slipped") - and becoming the first bowler to be called for throwing in a Test, which happened today against England at Melbourne. "Jonah", who was no-balled by umpire Jim Phillips, the scourge of all chuckers, took 64 Test wickets, some of them possibly kosher.

1975
A rare instance of a captain dropping himself. A shell-shocked Mike Denness left himself out of the England side for the fourth Test against Australia at Sydney after scoring 65 runs in six innings. The ploy didn't work as England lost the match by 171 runs and with it the Ashes. Denness's replacement as captain, John Edrich, was struck by Dennis Lillee with the first ball he received and was taken to hospital with a broken rib. Denness returned with a half-century in the fifth Test and a hundred in the final game of the series.

1929
The first of too many in English eyes. Here at Melbourne, Don Bradman made his maiden Test century, one of 19 against England, a record for any batsman against any one country.

1902
More Melbourne misery for England as Hugh Trumble finished off their second innings with the first of his two Test hat-tricks. After this and Reggie Duff's feat with the bat (see January 3), England lost by 229 runs.

1906
England on the receiving end again. It was only by one wicket, but that was enough to give South Africa their first ever Test victory. They needed a last-wicket stand of 48 between Percy Sherwell, their captain, wicketkeeper and No. 11, and AW "Dave" Nourse, to beat a scandalously weak England team. South Africa won the next two Tests as well, and took the series 4-1.

1936
And another Englishman bites the dust, or at least his world record does. Clarrie Grimmett's 190th Test wicket, for Australia v South Africa at Cape Town, overtook the total reached by the great Sydney Barnes, also in South Africa, in 1913-14.

Other birthdays
1937 Surendranath (India)
1979 John Blain (Scotland)

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