Let us take a trip down memory lane and recall some of the finest moments and incidents that occured during the second week of April.
8 APRIL
Born on this day were:
Edward ‘Ted’ Wainwright (1865-1919), Yorkshire all-rounder who played five Tests for England (1893-98) and who famously said that the great Ranji had ‘never made a Christian stroke in his life’; George Shepstone (1876-1940), South African fast bowler who played in two Test from 1896 to 1899;
Arthur Wellard (1902-80), English fast-medium bowler who was famous for hitting sixes (He hit 72 sixes in 1935 – a record until Ian Botham belted 80 in 1985 – and also hit five sixes in a row on two occasions);
Alec Stewart (1963-), outstanding English wicket-keeper and captain who played in 133 Test matches and scored 8,463 Test runs; and
Kenny Charlie Griffith Benjamin (1967-), West Indian fast bowler who played 26 Tests and took 92 wickets from 1992 to1998.
In 1957 Frank Chester, distinguished one-armed English Test umpire died, aged 62. He stood in 48 Tests and was considered one of the best umpires of all time (‘Doubt? When I’m umpiring, there’s never any doubt!’ – when asked if he gave the batsman the benefit of the doubt).
In 1972 West Indian Alvin Kallicharran (100 not out) made a century on debut against New Zealand in the fourth Test at Guyana. He made a century in his next innings too, in the next Test in Trinidad. After that Kallicharran did not play a Test against the Kiwis for eight years – and when he did, he made three ducks in four innings.
In 1984 in the first instance of neutral umpiring in ODIs, Harold ‘Dickie’ Bird of England and Shakoor Rana of Pakistan stood in the second Asia Cup ODI between India and Sri Lanka at Sharjah.
In 1994 Allan Border played his 273rd and final ODI match against South Africa in Bloemfontein. Border had appeared in all but 35 of Australia’s games till then.
In 1995 English pace bowler Maurice Allom (5 Tests from 1930 to 1931) died, aged 89. He is famous for taking a hat-trick on Test debut.
In 1995 in the second Test between West Indies and Australia at Antigua, Richie Richardson wore a helmet for the first time in his Test career. This was his 78th match, and it showed that West Indian cricket was not what it once used to be. Three weeks later Australia became the first side to beat them in a Test series in 15 years.
A first for wisden! In 2004 the Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack was published with an audio version featuring highlights from the Almanack and read by Christopher Martin-Jenkins, Henry Blofeld and other distinguished names.
9 APRIL
Born on this day were:
Francis MacKinnon (1848-1947), 35th MacKinnon, batsman who played for Kent, of whom he was later president, and who played for Kent, of whom he was later president, and who played for England in one Test in Melbourne in 1878-79 (He made just 0 and five, and in the first innings was the second element in the first Test hat-trick, taken by Fred Spofforth);
Dr Homi D. Kanga (1880-1945), Parsee all-rounder who made the first double hundred in the Presidency matches and was considered one of the finest players of his time (The H.D. Kanga Memorial Library at Mumbai and the Kanga League played during the monsoon in Mumbai are named in his honour);
Alan Knott (1946-), England’s most prolific wicket-keeper who made 95 Test appearances and hit five Test hundreds; and
Ehtesham-ud-din (1950-), Pakistani pace bowler in five Test (1980-82).
In 1972 New Zealand’s opener’s Glenn Turner (259) and Terry Jarvis (182) put on 387 runs for the first wicket in the fourth Test against West Indies at Georgetown. This remains the highest partnership for the opening wicket against the West Indies in Tests and the fourth-highest opening partnership in Test history. Turner’s innings was the highest by a New Zealand until Martin Crowe made 299 in 1990-91.
In 1989 pace bowler Malcolm Marshall became West Indies’ highest wicket taker when he captured his 310th wicket at Bridgetown against India. He went past Lance Gibbs’ tally of 309 wickets.
In 1995 Sachin Tendulkar cracked his fourth ODI century (112) to give India an eight-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup match at Sharjah, and in the process became the youngest man to score 3,000 runs in ODIs. He was 15 days short of his 22nd birthday at the time.
In 1998 Mohammad Azharuddin scored an unbeaten 153 not out against Zimbabwe at Cuttack. He along with Ajay Jadeja (116 not out) put on a record 275 (unbeaten) for the fourth wicket, which was then the best partnership for any wicket in a ODI match.
The Federation of International Cricketers Associations (FICA) Hall of the Fame was launched in 1999. FICA was formed to coordinate the activities of all national players associations, to protect the interests of professional cricketers throughout the world. The FICA Hall of fame was created in response to a huge number of honouring the memorable contributions many individuals had made to the game. Other major sports have similar forms of acknowledgement and it seemed appropriate for FICA to take the lead in paying tribute to the legends of world cricket. It started with a list of 50 players.
In 2008 Jacques Kallis was named the Leading Cricketer in the World for 2007 by Wisden. Kallis made 1210 Test runs at 86.42 and took 42 wickets at 25.75 in 2007.
10 APRIL
Born on this day were:
E.A.V. (‘Foffie’) Williams (1914-97), West Indian all-rounder (1939-48);
Jack Badcock (1914-82), who was the second youngest Australian to play first-class cricket when he made his debut for Tasmania at the age of 15 and who went on to play seven Tests as a middle-order batsman (He was known as Musso because of a resemblance to Benito Mussolini);
John Cecil Watkins (1923-), South African all-rounder who played in 15 Tests between 1949-50 and 1956-57;
Shuja-ud-Din (1930-), Pakistani batsman who played in 19 Tests (1954-62); and
Ian Harvey (1972-), Australian all-rounder.
In 1949 the BCCI president Anthony de Mello charged Lala Amarnath with serious breach of discipline and suspended him from playing any representative cricket for India or for any province in India, at an Extraordinary General Meeting of the Board. Of the 23 charges, the most serious was that he had been bribed Rs. 5,000 to include Probir Sen of Bengal in the team. This ballooned into a huge controversy which ranks a close second to the match fixing scandal of recent years. Amarnath went on the offensive and charges and counter charges were traded. In the end Amarnath apologized and the relevant portion of the minutes was deleted.
In 1986 the inaugural Australasia Cup tournament began at Sharjah with India beating New Zealand by three wickets.
In 1990 West Indies beat England by 164 runs to gain their ninth consecutive victory at the Kensington Oval, Bridgetown. Curtly Ambrose took 8 for 45 in the second innings – his best figures in Test.
In 2003 Steve Waugh became Test cricketer’s most capped player when he played in his 157th Test – the first Test against the West Indies at Guyana. He beat Allan Border’s record of 156 Tests. On the same day and in the same Test, Shivnarine Chanderpaul hit the third fastest century in Tests (69 balls). The fastest is Richards’ 56 ball blast in Antigua in 1986.
In 2005 Australia beat India by 98 runs in Women’s World Cup final at Centurion.
In 2008 Shivnarine Chanderpaul guided West Indies to a thrilling last-ball win against Sri Lanka in the first ODI at Port-of-Spain when he hit Chaminda Vaas for a six over mid-wicket. He then helped them seal a series win two days later.
11 APRIL
Born on this day were:
Arthur Shrewsbury (1856-1903), English middle-order batsman who played 23 Tests and hit three centuries and was considered by W.G. Grace to be one of the very best (‘Give me Arthur’);
Jeffrey Stollmeyer (1921-89), West Indian opening batsman and captain who played over a third of his 32 Tests as captain (He died in a Florida hospital in 1989 after being shot by armed robbers at his Trinidad home);
Gavin Briant (1969-), Zimbabwe Test batsman ; and
Ian Bell (1982-), England batsman.
In 1955 Gary Sobers began a run of 85 consecutive appearances for West Indies, in the second Test against Australia at Port of Spain. It was also the first Trinidad Test to be played on a turf pitch.
In 1998 Wasim Akram took his 350th wicket in ODIs in a match against South Africa in East London. He reached 500 in the 2003 World Cup.
12 APRIL
Born on this day were:
Geoff Chubb (1911-82), South Africa’s opening-batsman-turned-seamer and its oldest debutante – he had crossed 40 – when he made his debut against England at Trent Bridge in 1951;
Mulvantrai Himatlal ‘Vinoo’ Mankad (1917-78), pre-eminent Indian all-rounder who was the first Indian to take five wickets and also score a century in the same Test match (He batted at each position from No. 1 to No. 11 in Tests and he completed the double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in only 23 Tests, a record until Ian Botham bettered it by two Tests in 1979);
Raphick Jumadeen (1948-), West Indian slow left-armer of the 1970s;
Kabir Khan (1974-), Pakistani slow left-arm spinner; and
Dwayne Smith (1983-), West Indian all-rounder.
In 1930 Wilfred Rhodes became the oldest man to play in a Test match, aged 52 years and 165 days, when he played for England against the West Indies in Kingston, Jamaica. This was the end of the longest Test career of all. His Test career had spanned an amazing 30 years 315 days – he had made his debut in W.G. Grace’s last match, in 1899. Also making his final appearance was the third-oldest Test player, George Gunn (50 years 303 days).
In 1976 India beat the West Indies by six wickets at Port of Spain, scoring what was till 2003, a record match winning fourth innings total of 406 for 4 (Sunil Gavaskar 102, Mohinder Amarnath 85 and Gundappa Viswanath 112). Veteran cricket writer Phil Thomson was present on this occasion as well as the first time when Australia chased a 400-plus total at Leeds in 1948.
In 1994 Alec Stewart scored 143 in the second innings of the fourth Test at Barbados. This added to his 118 in the first innings made him the first English batsman to score a century in each innings of a Test against West Indies. He became only the fourth player to do it after Doug Walters, Greg Chappell and Sunil Gavaskar. It was the eighth time an English batsman has made twin centuries in a Test. England won the Test by 208 runs.
Test cricket’s first quadruple century! In 2004 Brian Lara became the first player to score 400 runs in Test cricket when he made 400 not out in the fourth Test against England at St. John’s, Antigua. He did it in 13 hours, in 582 balls and with the help of 43 fours and four sixes. With this mammoth score he regained his lost crown from Matthew Hayden who had made 380 against Zimbabwe in October 2003 to displace him as Test cricket’s highest score. With this effort Lara became only the second player after Bradman to score two triple centuries in Test and the second after Bill Ponsford to record two quadruple centuries in first-class cricket. West Indies declared on 751 for 5 and England who followed on after making 285 in their first innings managed to hold on for a draw and take the series 3-0.
13 APRIL
Born on this day were:
Samuel Moses James ‘Sammy’ Woods (1867-1931), Englishman who played Test cricket for both England and Australia, and also won 13 Rugby caps for England;
Samuel Beckett (1906-89), Nobel Prize winning Irish author, critic, and playwright who is the only laureate to have appeared in Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack (He opened both the bowling and batting for Dublin University against Northamptonshire in 1926); and
Everton Matambanadzo (1976-), Zimbabwe pace bowler.
In 1962 Lester King of West Indies took five wickets in his first four overs in his first Test in Jamaica, against India. India were tottering at 33 for 5 and eventually crawled to 178. After West Indies made 283, headed two more wickets to his tally in the second innings as well, and West Indies won by 123 runs to take the series 5-0. King however played only one more Test: he had the misfortune to be playing at the same time as Wesley Hall and the Charlie Griffith.
In 1971 a mix-up occurred at the start of the fifth Test between West Indies and Indian in Trinidad, when both captains, Gary Sobers and Ajit Wadekar, thought they had won the toss. Both wanted to bat first, but Sobers eventually relented. Gavaskar made 124 and 220 in this match to take his tally for the series to 774 at an average of 154.80. A staggering achievement by any standard, it was only his first series as a Test player.
In 1984 India won the inaugural three-nation Asia Cup in Sharjah defeating Pakistan by 54 runs. Set modest 188, Pakistan could manage only 134.
In 1994 an inaugural ODI for the United Arab Emirates. They took their bow in the Australia Cup in Sharjah, and were beaten by 71 runs in this match by India. Ten of the UAE team were recent immigrants from the Indian subcontinent; one of them, Mazhar Hussain, made a brisk 70, their first half-century. Sultan Zarawani, their only native-born player, captained the side.
In 2008 India levelled the Test series 1-1 against South Africa at Kanpur, winning by eight wickets. It was Dhoni’s first match as captain.
14 APRIL
Born on this day were:
Sydney Edward ‘Syd’ Gregory (1870-1929), Australian batsman and captain who played in 58 Tests of which a record 52 were against England (He played in Sydney’s inaugural Test against England in 1894-95 and made a memorable 201);
C.R. Rangachari (1916-93), Indian fast-medium bowler who played four Tests for India (He is better remembered for a dubious record of opening his account in Tests only in his sixth innings where he managed his highest score of 8 not out );
Gogumal Kishenchand (1925-97), Indian wicket-keeper batsman who played five Tests for India (He made a duck in each of the five Tests and curiously enough all four against Australia were in the second innings);
Bruce Pairaudeau (1931-), West Indian batsman who scored a century on debut (115) for West Indies against India in Trinidad in 1952-53;
Robert Arnold Lockyer ‘Bob’ Massie (1947-), Australian pace bowler whose 16 wickets (16 for 137) on debut against England at Lord’s in 1972 were a record till Narendra Hirwani (16 for 136) bettered his analysis by one run against the West Indies in 1987;
Patrick Leonard ‘Pat’ Symcox (1960-), South African off-spinner who became only the third No. 10 to make a Test hundred against Pakistan at Johannesburg in 1997-98; and
Craig McDermott (1965-), Australian pace bowler (1984-96) whose 291 Test and 203 ODI wickets makes him one of Australia’s most successful bowlers.
In 1995 India beat Sri Lanka by eight wickets to win the Asia Cup final in Sharjah. Azharuddin’s 90 off 87 balls clinched the issue for India. In 1996 the Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium became the first venue to host 100 matches when India played South Africa in Sharjah Cup game.
In 2000 Adam Gilchrist of Australia became the first wicket-kipper to make six dismissals in an innings when he caught six victims in the ODI against South Africa at Cape Town. Gilchrist achieved this feat on no less five other occasions.
Compiled by Mohammed Sohail
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