Let us take a trip down memory lane and recall some of the finest moments and incidents that occured during the second week of September.
4 SEPTEMBER
Born on this day were:
Dennis Lindsay (1939-), South African wicket-keeper-batsman;
Kiran More (1962-), Indian wicket-keeper who made 130 dismissals in his 49 Tests for India and whose six stumpings against West Indies at Madras in 1987-88 are still a Test record;
Garth Le Roux (1955-), one of South Africa's fastest bowlers who was deprived of a Test career due to apartheid; and
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In 1925 Jack Hobbs carried his bat in scoring 266 as captain of the Players at Scarborough – the highest score in the Gentlemen v Players fixture, which lasted from 1806 to 1962. It was also century No. 15 for that year. He went on to make 16, a record, which was broken on this day by Denis Compton in 1947.
In 1947 Lancashire made their fifth appearance in five Gillette Cup finals. Having won their previous four in the 1970s, including three in a row they lost this one. Despite 26 runs in an over by David Hughes, they made only 195 and lost to Northants by four wickets.
In 1979 needing a record 438 to win The Oval Test, India came frustratingly close. Thanks to a superb 221 by Sunil Gavaskar, they needed 49 off 7.4 overs – but finished on 429 for 8, just nine runs short. The draw gave England the series 1-0.
In 2000 when Courtney Walsh walked to the wicket at The Oval to play his last Test innings in England, Nasser Hussain's team formed a guard of honour for him. Walsh's last Test duck, lbw to Dominic Cork, gave England the match by 158 runs and their first series victory against West Indies since 1969. It was Walsh's 43rd duck in Test cricket – an unwanted record which is not likely to be broken in the near future.
5 SEPTEMBER
Born on this day were:
John Wisden (1826-84), English right-hand batsman and slow underarm bowler whose ten wickets in an innings, all bowled, is still the only such instance in a first-class match and who later achieved everlasting fame as the originator of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack;
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1888-1975), Indian philosopher and statesman who in the 1930s would sneak off from his post as Spaulding Professor of Eastern Religions at Oxford to watch C.K.Nayudu bat at Lord's and who as President of India inserted the names of C.K. Nayudu and Mushtaq Ali into those receiving India's highest civilian awards;
Archie Jackson (1909-33), brilliant Australian batsman who averaged 47.40 in eight matches before dying prematurely of tuberculosis (He died on the day Australia lost the Ashes to Jardine's 'Bodyline' team);
Phiroz Edulji Palia (1910-81), left-hand batsman and useful slow bowler whose two Tests for India were both at Lord's, four years apart (in 1932 and 36) and who was prominent in the Quadrangular Tournament in Bombay for the Parsees;
Colin 'Tich' Wesley (1937-), South African batsman who is best remembered for achieving the rare feat of suffering a 'king pair' in a Test match (Brian Statham dismissed him twice for 0 at Trent Bridge);
Bruce Yardley (1947-), Australian off-spinner who took 126 Test wickets in 33 matches and who with Bruce Reid is the only other bowler to take 100 wickets for Australia without playing a Test in England;
Mark Ramprakash (1969-), English batsman whose consistent performance in domestic cricket was not reflected in his chequered career (52 Tests and 2,350 runs) for his country;
Adam Hollioake (1971-), former Surrey captain and English batsman;
Guy Whittall (1972-), Zimbabwe batsman; and
Rawl Lewis (1974-), West Indian leg-spinner who had the dubious distinction of being the most expensive bowler in Test cricket till 2007 (126.3 overs, 388 runs and one wicket), but three wickets in his last Test (against South Africa at Cape Town in January 2008) ‘deprived’ him of his world record.
Two great batsmen died today: In 1945 Australian batsman Clem Hill who is considered one of cricket's all-time great left-handers (3,412 runs in 49 Tests at an average of 39.21) died, aged 68 in Melbourne; and in 2000 West Indian left-handed batsman Roy Fredericks, (4,334 runs in 59 Tests) who was later a West Indian selector and Minister of Sport in Guyana died of throat cancer in New York, aged 57.
In 1973 West Indies played in their first ever ODI when they met England at Headingley. Gary Sobers playing in his first and only ODI was caught off Chris Old for a duck. Sobers did manage one ODI wicket, but West Indies lost by one wicket – the first one wicket victory in ODIs.
 Tendulkar became the youngest player in cricket history to play 100 Tests. © Getty Images |
In 2002 Sachin Tendulkar played in his 100th Test when he appeared for India in the fourth Test at The Oval. At 29 years 134 days he became the youngest player to achieve this feat. The previous record was held by Kapil Dev who was 30 years 313 days when he appeared in his 100th Test in 1989, which incidentally was Tendulkar's first Test match. The drawn Test is best remembered for Michael Vaughan's 195 and Rahul Dravid's 217. Vaughan's 195 came close on the heels of his 197 in the second Test at Nottingham making him the first player after Graham Gooch to pass 175 twice in the same month. He did it twice more (177 and 183) at Adelaide and Sydney in 2002-03.
In 2003 Shaun Pollock became the second South African (after Allan Donald) to take 300 Test wickets when he had Michael Vaughan caught by Herschelle Gibbs in the fifth Test at The Oval.
6 SEPTEMBER
Born on this day were:
(Francis) George Mann (1917-2001), English batsman and captain whose father Frank also captained England;
Saeed Anwar (1968-), Pakistani opening batsman whose 194 against India at Chennai in 1996-97 was the highest ODI score by any batsman until Zimbabwean Charles Coventry equalled it in 2009 and Sachin Tendulkar broke it in 2010; and
Devang Gandhi (1971-), Indian opening batsman.
In 1776 the first recorded match with a wicket of three stumps was played between Chertsey and Coulsdon at Laleham Burway, near Chertsey. The third stump was introduced probably simply to stop matches lasting too long. The world 'wicket' dates back to the time when the target for the bowler was either a tree stumps or a wicket-gate from a sheep-pen.
In 1880 on the first day of Test cricket in England, W.G. Grace scored England's first century. His 152 out of a total of 410 for 8 set England on the way to victory by five wickets. The following day, he ended Australia's first innings with a wicket off the first ball of his second over. His brothers Edward and George also played in the match – the first time three siblings played in the same Test. George died tragically a fortnight later from lung congestion.
In 1980 in the last Gillette Cup final before it changed its name to the NatWest Trophy, Middlesex beat Kent by seven wickets.
In 1990 Sir Leonard Hutton, (79 Tests, 6,971 runs at an average of 56.67) died, aged 74 in Surrey on his son Richard Hutton's (who played five Tests for England) 48th birthday. In 1952 Hutton was England's first officially appointed professional captain. He was knighted in 1956, the year that he retired from international cricket but remained active in cricket as a Test selector (1975-77), columnist, and fund-raiser.
In 1993 fast left-armer Brett Schultz achieved his best Test figures of 5 for 48 to help dismiss Sri Lanka for 168 at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo. It set South Africa on the way to their first win abroad since 1965.
In 2003 Pakistan beat Bangladesh by one wicket in the third Test at Multan. Needing 261 to win Pakistan were 148 for 6 on the third day and it was only Inzamam-ul-Haq's 138 which saved the day. This was the tenth instance of a one-wicket win in Tests and the third involving Pakistan. This was also the second time that Inzamam was involved in a one-wicket win, the first being when Pakistan beat Australia at Karachi in 1994-95. For Bangladesh it was a case of so close yet so far. It was their 23rd defeat in 24 matches thus far.
In 2007 Shoaib Akhtar was sent home from World Twenty20 championship in South Africa after hitting Mohammad Asif with a bat during a dressing-room argument.
7 SEPTEMBER
Born on this day were:
Ernest Austin 'Barberton' Halliwell (1864-1919), South African wicket-keeper credited with introducing the habit of putting raw steak in his gloves to protect the hands;
George Hirst (1871-1954), English all-rounder who is considered one of the greatest of all time (He completed a unique double of 2,000 runs and 200 wickets in 1906, and he is also the only player to achieve two hundreds and two five-wicket hauls in the same first-class match);
Victor York Richardson (1894-1969), Australian batsman and captain who captained Australia to victory in the 1935-36 series in South Africa (at Durban, in his final Test, he held five catches in an innings, a world record that had been another Test best until one of his own grandsons Greg Chappell bettered it by taking seven catches against England, at Perth in 1974-75);
Kevin Curran (1959-), Zimbabwe all-rounder;
Wavell Hinds (1976-), West Indian batsman; and
Farveez Maharood (1984-), Sri Lankan all-rounder.
In 1859 George Parr's first English team to tour set sail from Liverpool, bound for North America and Canada. The side included John Wisden, John Lillywhite, H.H. Stephenson and Julius Caesar.
In 1956 C.B. Fry, Ranji's Sussex partner died, aged 84. He was probably the greatest all-rounder of his or any generation. A brilliant scholar, he was an accomplished performer in almost every branch of outdoor sport. He captained England in Test matches and also played Association Football for England against Ireland in 1901. He was at full-back for Southampton in the FA Cup Final of 1902 and his long jump record of 23 feet 5 inches set in 1892 stood for 21 years.
In 1963 the inaugural Gillette Cup final was also the first major one-day final to be played at Lord's. Sussex beat Worcestershire by 14 runs.
In 2001 Marvan Atapattu (201) became the first Test player to get into the score books as 'retired out' in the second match of the Asian Test Championship against Bangladesh at Colombo. Mahela Jayawardene's innings met a similar end when he too was 'retired out' on 150. Sri Lanka went on to make 555 for 5 and won by an innings and 137 runs. On the same day Gary Kirsten's double hundred (202 not out) in the first Test against Zimbabwe at Harare made him the first South African to reach 5,000 runs.
8 SEPTEMBER
Born on this day were:
Siegfried Sassoon (1886-1967), English poet and novelist who captained his own team the Siegfried Sassoon Estate Eleven in several encounters;
Douglas Linford Freeman (1914-94), Kiwi leg-spinner who played two Tests against England in 1932-33 and who was New Zealand's youngest Test player before Daniel Vettori arrived on the scene in 1996-97;
Terry Jenner (1944-), Australian leg-spinner who was hit on the head by English fast bowler John Snow at Sydney, sparking a riot in 1970-71, but will always be remembered for discovering and nurturing the talent of Shane Warne; and
Geoff Miller (1952-), English all-rounder; and
Suraj Randiv (1989-) Sri Lankan spinner who was recently banned for bowling a deliberate no-ball to deny Virender Sehwag his century.
In 1880 the first Test ever played in England came to an end at The Oval. Billy Murdoch hit an unbeaten 153 but Australia could only set England a target of 57. They lost five wickets in reaching it. 8 September is still the latest date on which Test cricket has been played in England.
In 1966 Edward Aspey English who was once the longest-lived first-class cricketer died on this day, aged 102 years 250 days. He played 18 matches for Hampshire from 1898 to 1901.
In 1979 at long last, after defeat in two previous finals, Somerset won their first major trophy, beating Northants at Lord's to win the Gillette Cup. Vivian Richards was Man of the Match for his superb 117, and Joel Garner's haul of 6 for 29 sealed the result.
In 2001 Bangladesh batsman Mohammad Ashraful became the youngest cricketer in Test cricket history to score a century when he scored 114 against Sri Lanka in the Asian Test Championship at Colombo, one day short of his 17th birthday. He bettered the record of Mushtaq Mohammad who scored a century against India in 1960-61 aged 17 years and 81 days. He also became the youngest batsman to score a century on debut beating the mark set by Zimbabwe's Hamilton Masakadza (17 years 354 days) against the West Indies at Harare in July 2001.
In 2003 it was the last day in Test cricket for Alec Stewart. He made 38 in the fifth Test against South Africa at The Oval, a match England won by nine wickets. In a career lasting more than 13 years he scored 8,463 Test runs and made 277 dismissals. He played Test cricket till the ripe old age of 40.
In 2007 England won seventh match to take one-day series against India 4-3
9 SEPTEMBER
Born on this day were:
Frederick Robert 'The Demon' Spofforth (1853-1926), Australian fast bowler who is considered one of the greatest of all time and who was the first to take a hat-trick in Test cricket (He took 94 wickets in only 18 Tests);
William Albert Stanley Oldfield (1894-1976), Australian wicket-keeper who was the first to make 100 dismissals in Test cricket (52 of his 130 victims were stumped, still a world record, and his 90 dismissals against England is a record for an Australian wicket-keeper;
Syed Abid Ali (1941-), who hit the winning runs at The Oval in 1971 – India's first win in a Test match and series in England;
Neil Fairbrother (1963-), English batsman who was named for Australian Robert Neil Harvey; and
Mohammad Ashraful (1984-), Bangladeshi batsman who scored a century on Test debut for Bangladesh one day before his 17th birthday.
In 1912 the first match of the newly formed Quadrangular Tournament started between the Hindus and the Parsees at the Marine Lines Ground, Bombay. The Parsees won the match by an innings and 40 runs. M.D. Parekh took a hat-trick in the Hindus' first innings – the first non-European to take a hat-trick and the second in first-class cricket in India. In 1921 the great C.B. Fry, Wilfred Rhodes and George Hirst appeared in this tournament for the Europeans.
In 1959 West Indies all-rounder O'Neil Gordon 'Collie' Smith died following injuries in a car crash in England. Also injured in the crash was his friend Gary Sobers. His body was later flown back to Jamaica were some 60,000 attended his funeral. In his 26 Tests he scored 1,331 runs at 31.69 and took 48 wickets at 33.85. It is said that as an all-rounder he had as much, if not more promise, than Gary Sobers.
The day the floodgates finally opened for good. In 1994 Sachin Tendulkar scored his maiden ODI hundred. His 110 came in his 78th match in the Singer World Series against Australia at Colombo. India won by 31 runs and went on to take the trophy. He has added 41 more since then.
In 1995 Anil Kumble of Northamptonshire became the first player to take 100 wickets in a season since the Championship was cut to 17 matches in 1993.
In 2003 Inzamam-ul-Haq became the first Pakistani to reach 9,000 ODI runs when he made 56 not out in the first ODI against Bangladesh at Multan. He took 11 years and 291 days having made his debut on 22 November 1991 at Lahore against the West Indies.
10 SEPTEMBER
Born on this day were:
Belinda Clark (1970-), Australian women's captain who led Australia to victory in the 1997 World Cup, during which she became the first player, man or woman, to hit a double century (229 against Denmark at Mumbai) in ODI cricket (Australia batted for more overs than Denmark scored runs! They were all out for 49, losing by 363 runs);
Mohammad Akram (1974-), Pakistani pace bowler; and
Eoin Morgan (1986-), England batsman who holds the unique distinction of scoring ODI hundreds for two different countries (Ireland & England).
In 1872 the great Ranjitsinhji Vibhaji, Maharaja Jam sahib of Nawanagar (1872-1933), was born. He scored 62 and 154 not out on his debut for England, against Australia at Old Trafford in 1896. He made ten centuries and headed the national averages that season. He also scored a century in his first Test in Australia, 175 at Sydney in 1897-98, the highest score for England at the time. His partnerships for Sussex with the equally classical C.B. Fry were one of the reasons this was known as the Golden Age of batting. In 1896 he became the first man to score two first-class centuries on the same day (100 and 125 not out) for Sussex against Yorkshire at Hove. India's domestic first-class championship, the Ranji Trophy, is named after him.
In 1948 in his last first-class innings in England, for the Australians against H.D.G. Leveson-Gower's XI at Scarborough, Don Bradman made 153. He shared a stand of 225 with Sid Barnes before the rain-affected match ended in a draw.
In 1948 playing for East v West at Kingston-on-Thames, Middlesex leg-spinner Jim Sims took 10 for 90 in 18.4 overs (13 in the match) to bowl East to victory by 223 runs.
In 1978 playing for National Bank against Punjab at Lahore, Taslim Arif became the first Pakistani wicket-keeper to make ten dismissals in a first-class match. Punjab were dismissed for 74 and 143 and lost by an innings. Taslim's haul remained a national record until Wasim Yousufi made 11 dismissals for Peshawar against Bahawalpur at Peshwar in 1997-98.
In 1986 Geoff Boycott played in his last first-class match – at Scarborough for Yorkshire against Northants. He was run out on 61. His 8,114 Test runs were a world record at the time, and he scored 48,426 first-class runs at 56.83, the highest average among batsmen who scored over 30,000 runs.
In 1989 West Indian Jeffrey Stollmeyer (32 Tests, 2,159 runs at an average of 42.33) was murdered in his home in Florida. An outstanding cricketer, football and cricket administrator, he captained the West Indies cricket team (1952-55) and subsequently became the president of the West Indies Cricket board of Control (1977-1982). Stollmeyer was a former president of the West Indian Tobacco Sports Foundation and when he died in very tragic circumstances, the Sports Foundation decided to honour his memory by making an award annually to the Outstanding Sports Administrator (1990-93) and from 1994, to the Outstanding Sporting Association.
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