Blast from the past

In 1976 Ken Wadsworth, New Zealand wicketkeeper, died of skin cancer at only 29. He kept wicket in 33 Tests for New Zealand, making 96 dismissals. He averaged 59.00 with the bat in the Caribbean series of 1971-72, when New Zealand surprised everyone by drawing all five Tests. But his crucial dropped catch cost New Zealand their first ever win over England, at Lord's in 1973. Sadly, by the time New Zealand achieved that long-awaited victory, in 1977-78, Wadsworth wasn't around to share it.

In 1985 opening batsman Tim Robinson (148) and his captain David Gower (215) completed their partnership of 331 in only 343 minutes at Edgbaston. Gower hit the highest score by an English captain against Australia since Wally Hammond's 240 at Lord's in 1938. England won by an innings to take a 2-1 lead in the series. On the same day Ruth Preddey, pioneer of Australian women's cricket, and for whom the National League trophy is named, died in Sydney, aged 94.

In 1992 three players hit hundreds on the same day before Sri Lanka declared at 547 for 8 against Australia at Colombo's Sinhalese Sports Club. Asanka Gurusinha made 137, captain Arjuna Ranatunga 127 and new cap Romesh Kaluwitharana 132 not out. But in the second innings Sri Lanka's last eight wickets fell for 37 runs and they lost the match by 16 runs.

Awesome Work Viresh

In 1992 three players hit hundreds on the same day before Sri Lanka declared at 547 for 8 against Australia at Colombo's Sinhalese Sports Club. Asanka Gurusinha made 137, captain Arjuna Ranatunga 127 and new cap Romesh Kaluwitharana 132 not out. But in the second innings Sri Lanka's last eight wickets fell for 37 runs and they lost the match by 16 runs.

BIRTHDAYS BOYS ON AUG 19TH
COMING UP

Ian Gould (1957-), English wicket-keeper who played for England in the 1983 World Cup

Paul-Jan Bakker (1957-), Dutch seamer who played for Hampshire and is the only former ski instructor to open the bowling in a cricket World Cup.

20TH AUGUST EVENTS COMING UP

AUG 20TH



In 1900 this was the second and last day of the only cricket match ever played at the Olympic Games (Paris). Devon County Wanderers scored 117 and 145 to beat the Union des Societes Francaises de Sports Athletiques (78 and 26) by 158 runs at the Velodrome de Vincennes, a cycling track in Paris. Montague Toller took 7 for 10 in that second innings of 26, which is still the lowest in international cricket – equalled only by the New Zealand team which lost to England at Auckland in 1954-55

In 1930 Australia were eventually all out for 695 in the deciding Test at The Oval. Don Bradman top scored with 232 on his triumphant first tour of England. It was his last knock of a series in which he scored 974 runs, still a world record, including three scores of over 200. Australia went on to win by an innings and regain the Ashes. On the same day in 1930 Australian batsman Charles Bannerman died, aged 79. He had faced the first ball in Test cricket, scored the first run, the first fifty and the first hundred (against England at Melbourne in 1876-77). He retired hurt with a damaged finger scoring 165 out of Australia's total of 245, still the highest percentage of a completed innings in all Tests.

In 1934 William Ponsford was out hit wicket to 'Gubby' Allen for 266 in the fifth Test against England at The Oval. This was the second consecutive innings he was out in this fashion being dismissed for 181 off Hedley Verity in the first innings of the fourth Test at Leeds. This was his last Test.

In 1992 in their 55 overs against Pakistan at Trent Bridge, England scored 363 for 7, which was then a record for any ODI. Graeme Hick scored 50 in 34 balls and Waqar Younis' 11 overs cost him 73 runs. England won by 198 runs.

In 1996 Reetinder Singh Sodhi led India to the Under-15 World Cup, defeating Pakistan in the final at Lord's in 1996. Nine of those finalists have gone on to play international cricket: Faisal Iqbal, Bazid Khan,Kamran Akmal,Taufeeq Umar, Shoaib Malik,Yasir Arafat and Hasan Raza of Pakistan, and Reetinder Sodhi and Mohammad Kaif of India.

In 1998 Sri Lanka defeated England by five wickets in the final of the Emirates Triangular Tournament at Lord's. This series which also included South Africa was the first to feature players wearing coloured clothing in England.

In 2006 umpires awarded the Oval Test to England after Pakistan walked off in protest against being penalized by umpire Darrell Hair for alleged ball-tampering: England thus took the series 3 – 0. The following day Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq was charged with bringing the game into disrepute and "changing the condition of the ball" .Two years later the ICC was persuaded by Pakistan to show this match as “Drawn”, but upon the insistence of MCC – the guardians of cricket laws- it was again changed to the earlier result.

21st aug 1986
Nobody had a greater sense of theatre than Ian Botham. Restored to the England side after a ban for admitting to the use of marijuana, he took a wicket with his first ball against New Zealand at The Oval, having Bruce Edgar caught by Graham Gooch, whose remark said it all: "Who writes your scripts?" Botham had just taken his 355th Test wicket, equalling the then world record. Naturally, he soon got the 356th, Jeff Crowe lbw, and followed it up with a rapid fifty. Beefy was well and truly back.

Shabbir Ahmed

Aug 21 1975
Ever since he was included in Western Australia's state squad in 1994-95, Simon Katich, born today, looked destined for bigger things. Katich was on the brink of a Test call-up in Sri Lanka when he contracted chicken pox and was quarantined. But after a stellar 2000-01 - 1282 first-class runs and a century against every state - he was picked for the 2001 Ashes tour. Replacing the injured Steve Waugh for the fourth Test, he made 15 and 0 not out on debut and had to wait two years for another opportunity. It came against Zimbabwe, against whom he took 6 for 65 with his chinamen in the second innings in Sydney, which became his home when he switched to New South Wales and accepted the captaincy. Returning to the SCG later in the summer against India, he registered his maiden Test century. He was in and out of the side in the next couple of years, but his vicious first-class assault in 2007-08 helped cement his Test spot. But he was one of the casualties of the 3-1 Ashes loss in 2010-11 - despite missing three Tests due to injury - and not given a Cricket Australia contract for the next season.

1914
One of England's most prominent and controversial legspinners was born. Doug Wright was prominent because he took seven hat-tricks - still a record in first-class cricket - and had his moments in the Test team too, including 7 for 105 in Sydney in 1946-47. But controversial because his 108 Test wickets cost 39.11 each: he simply bowled too many bad balls. Against the strong Australian teams he faced, this was asking for trouble. He was on the winning side only once in 14 Ashes Tests

22 Aug 1896
Aristocratic strokemaker KS Ranjitsinhji achieved the unique feat of scoring two first-class hundreds on the same day, for Sussex against Yorkshire at Hove. A month earlier, the Indian-born Ranji had made an unbeaten 154 on his debut for England, against Australia at Old Trafford. His county partnerships with the equally cultured CB Fry were legendary.

Aug 22 2009
Debut Test matches rarely get better than the one Jonathan Trott had against Australia at The Oval. He became the 18th England batsman to score a century on debut. What made Trott's effort all the more special was that his 119 came in the deciding Test of an Ashes series and helped clinch the rubber 2-1. Trott, who grew up in South Africa before moving to England, was picked at The Oval at the expense of Ravi Bopara after England's middle order had failed repeatedly in the previous Tests of the series.

AUG 23
1938
England captain Wally Hammond finally deigned to declare the innings closed - although if he'd let it run its course it might have really amounted to something. As it was, 903 for 7 was quite enough to destroy an injury-hit Australia by the ludicrous margin of an innings and 579 runs. The head groundsman at The Oval, "Bosser" Martin wasn't impressed. In a Test with no time limit, he thought England should have gone for the 1000. Instead, that 903 was a Test record until Sri Lanka amassed 952 for 6 against India in 1997-98.

Great Thread