1951
An England spinner is born - in Zambia. Phil Edmonds was one of England's last Test-class slow men, and formed the ultimate chalk-and-cheese spin double act with John Emburey for county (Middlesex) and country: one was born and raised for a time in Lusaka by his English father and Belgian mother, the other in Peckham; one was called Phillippe-Henri, the other John Ernest; one was erudite, educated at Cambridge, the other earthy and full of expletives. Edmonds had a dream start to his Test career - 5 for 28 against Australia at Headingley in 1975 - but after two five-fors in his first four Tests, he managed none in 47 thereafter. Edmonds was more like a quick bowler in nature, but he had a textbook action for a slow left-armer. He'd probably have played more than 51 Tests were he not so outspoken, but in the end he retired in 1987, although he made a brief comeback for Middlesex in 1992, when he took 4 for 48 at Trent Bridge and could hardly walk for a week afterwards.

1999
A new nadir for a desperate West Indies side - their lowest Test score. Glenn McGrath and Jason Gillespie bowled unchanged in Trinidad to skittle them for a miserable 51, giving Australia victory by the little matter of 312 runs. Between 1963 and 1969, West Indies were only once bowled out in double figures; this was the first of five times it happened in 18 months, including twice against England at Lord's and Headingley in 2000. After this one, an Aussie whitewash looked a banker. Enter Brian Lara, who hit centuries of jaw-dropping brilliance in each of the remaining three Tests to give the Windies a share of a classic series.

1992
A legend is born. Jonty Rhodes was quickly earning a reputation as a top-notch fielder, but today he confirmed his status among the world's best, and most spectacular, with a flying run-out of Inzamam-ul-Haq in the World Cup match at Brisbane. With Inzamam lumbering towards safety, Rhodes charged in from point and dived full-length with ball in hand to shatter the stumps. It turned the game, and with Pakistan losing again - they'd beaten only Zimbabwe in their first five games - Imran's tigers were boxed firmly into a corner.

1992
On the same day, in the same tournament, the last game of the late, great Malcolm Marshall's international career. Though he was only 33, Macko's star was fading by now, and after four wickets in 10 games the match against New Zealand at Auckland was his last. The Kiwis won it comfortably, with Mark Greatbatch launching one of his trademark assaults.

1928
Jack Hobbs scored 142 on the first day of the fifth Test between England and Australia at Melbourne. At 46 years and 82 days he became the oldest man to score a Test hundred, a record which is unlikely ever to be broken. England lost the match by five wickets but won the series 4-1, Hobbs scoring 451 runs at 50.11.

1931
Birth of the first South African quick bowler to take 100 Test wickets. Unlike Procter, the Pollocks and Donald, Neil Adcock did not have the benefit of world-class support, but he still managed 104 wickets at an average of only 21. He used his height to make the ball lift alarmingly off a length. In England in 1960 Adcock was a revelation, brushing off the controversy surrounding his new-ball partner Geoff Griffin - who was no-balled for throwing - to take 26 wickets in the Tests, even though South Africa lost the series 3-0. On the whole tour, he took 108 wickets at an average of 14, and was named as one of Wisden's Cricketers of the Year in 1961 as a result.

1997
A red-letter day for New Zealand opener Bryan Young, who smacked an unbeaten 267 against Sri Lanka at Dunedin. This innings, which is 66th in the Wisden 100, was one of only two Test hundreds Young made, and it led the Kiwis to 586 for 7 declared, a position from which they romped to an innings victory.

1854
Birth of arguably Ireland's finest cricketer. Not Martin McCague, but Tom Horan, who was born in Cork and after being taken to Australia as a child, played 15 Tests for them between 1876-77 and 1884-85, two as captain. As well as being a dogged scrapper of a batsman, Horan was a handy round-arm medium-pacer, and ended with 11 Test wickets at an average of 13. That was thanks mainly to the 6 for 40 he took in Australia's six-run victory over England at Sydney in 1884-85. He died in Victoria in 1916.

1995
His reputation ended in tatters, but it's easy to forget just what a terrific captain Hansie Cronje was before he was seduced by the lure of the lucre. Today it was New Zealand who gave in to temptation, after Cronje's brave declaration left them needing 275 off 63 overs to win the one-off Centenary Test at Auckland. They went for it, but Cronje's men pulled off a tremendous victory, achieved with 43 balls to spare.

1981
Everyone knows about Lillee c Willey b Dilley, but in a Sheffield Shield match at Perth today, Dennis Lillee was out caught … by Dennis Lillie. Dennis John Lillie, Queensland's 12th man in this one, was a legspinner with a first-class bowling average of 51. His victim, Dennis Keith Lillee, did slightly better …

Other birthdays
1945 Graeme Watson (Australia)
1946 Mohammad Nazir (Pakistan)
1957 Ervin McSweeney (New Zealand)
1961 Kevin Arnott (Zimbabwe)
1963 Gursharan Singh (India)

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