2003
The day Henry Olonga and Andy Flower defied Robert Mugabe's despicable Zimbabwean regime with an act of selfless bravery and huge dignity. By taking to the field wearing black armbands to mourn "the death of democracy" in their country, they achieved the most forceful and eloquent expression of civil rights in a sporting event since Tommie Smith and John Carlos's black-power salute at the Mexico Olympics in 1968. More than anything, their quiet stand refocused an issue that had long been distracted by sordid squabbles over money and security. Both men were forced into exile and international retirement after the tournament.

1992
With England 2-0 up, the third and final Test - which was also Ian Botham's 100th - against New Zealand at Wellington was drifting away on the final afternoon, and pretty much everyone had switched off. Not Syd Lawrence, who was bowling for his country and continued to bustle in at full pelt. But in his third over he fractured his left kneecap as he was about to bowl and fell horribly, his chilling cries of pain echoing around the stadium. Spectators said the sound of his knee splitting was like a pistol shot. His Test career was over, his first-class career as good as, though he did attempt a comeback with Gloucestershire in 1997. As Lawrence was being stretchered off, the England manager Micky Stewart and Jack Russell got involved in a scuffle with a local cameraman.

1997
A rare overseas Test win for England - their first in 10 games in fact. Darren Gough and the recalled Andy Caddick inspired a rout of New Zealand at Wellington by sharing 15 wickets, while Graham Thorpe made his second consecutive century to nail England's advantage. The Kiwis never recovered from a truncated first day, which they closed on 56 for 6.

1962
An old-fashioned chunky biffer is born. West Indian Clayton Lambert's five-Test career came in two distinct parts. First he made his debut in the middle order at The Oval in 1991, and it was his preposterous heave off Phil Tufnell's first ball of the third day that kick-started a dramatic West Indian collapse. He was then recalled at the age of 36, again against England, in 1997-98, when he and Philo Wallace clouted Andy Caddick into David Lloyd's bad books. Lambert even made a hundred. But you don't pinch-hit South Africa in Tests, and the following winter Messrs Pollock and Donald found him out, even though Lambert had plenty of experience of playing in South Africa with Northern Transvaal. This time it was terminal.

1941
Birth of the only Englishman to score a Test hundred on debut at Lord's. John Hampshire, rescued England from 61 for 5 with 107 against West Indies in 1969, but it was the only hundred he made in eight Tests. A largely attacking batsman, he staged an infamous go-slow at Northampton - which cost Yorkshire a bonus point - as a protest against what he perceived to be selfish batting by one Geoff Boycott. As if. Hampshire later became a Test umpire.

1975
England captain Mike Denness ended a wretched Ashes series on a personal high, plundering 188 in the sixth Test at Melbourne off an Australian attack weakened by the absence of the injured Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson. It remains the highest score by any visiting captain in a Test in Australia and helped England to an innings victory. It wasn't enough to save Denness however, and within three Tests he had been sacked.

1978
A Wellington paint-drying marathon. After surviving a strong caught-behind appeal off the first ball of his first Test, John Wright batted 517 minutes and 349 balls for 74 runs in the match. But it was all in a good cause: he was New Zealand's top scorer, and the only man apart from Geoff Boycott to make a fifty in their first Test win over England, at the 48th attempt. It still needed England to falter in pursuit of a mighty fourth-innings target of 137. In a match played in gale-force winds, Richard Hadlee (6 for 26) blew them away for just 64.

1847
A headline writer's dream is born. Albert "Monkey" Hornby is one of only three men in Test history with a bowling average of 0. He took 1 for 0 off seven overs in his career, which spanned three Tests and five years. Hornby was a batsman by trade, but he failed to reach double figures in six innings. Clearly Monkey wasn't the solution to England's batting puzzle.

1972
Birth of Mike Kasprowicz, the Aussie seamer who might have played many more than 17 Tests but for the success of Glenn McGrath and friends. He's had his moments though: 7 for 36 against England at The Oval in 1997, and a matchwinning 5 for 28 against India at Bangalore in 1997-98. Largely as a result of that, he was brought back for the tour of India in 2000-01, but he was pretty ineffective - particularly when VVS Laxman was in full flow - and what may well have been his last act in Tests was standing at the non-striker's end at Calcutta when Glenn McGrath famously padded up to Harbhajan Singh.

1979
A captain's knock from Graham Yallop, who made 121 out of Australia's total of 198 against England at Sydney today. Nobody else passed 16, and Yallop's score accounted for 61.11% of his side's innings. It didn't do much for the result though: England won by nine wickets to seal a 5-1 series victory. Yallop had only one more match as captain before giving way to Kim Hughes.

Other birthdays
1862 Gobo Ashley (South Africa)
1883 Ranji Hordern (Australia)
1910 Paul Whitelaw (New Zealand)
1920 Don Brennan (England)
1957 Pranab Roy (India)
1962 Athar Ali Khan (Bangladesh)
1969 Salahuddin Ahmed (Bangladesh)

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