17th December....

1881: South African all-rounder George Faulkner (25 Tests from 1906 to
            1924; 1754 runs and 82 wickets) was born.
1910: Indian left-arm spinner Keki Tarapore (1 Test in 1948) was born.
1914: Indian batsman Mushtaq Ali (11 Tests from 1934 to 1952; 612 runs)
            was born.
1925: England captain and batsman AN Hornby (3 Tests from 1879 to
            1884) died aged 78.
1933: New Zealand pace bowler Bruce Morrison (1 Test in 1963) was
             born.
1933: The third day of the first Test between India and England at
            Bombay was the first to be played on a Sunday.
1933: India's Lala Amarnath became the first Indian batsman to score a
            Test hundred - against England at Bombay.
1946: West Indian off-spinner Albert Padmore (2 Tests in 1976) was born.
1946: Australian Sid Barnes and Don Bradman puts on a then record
            partnership of 405 runs for the fifth wicket against England at
            Sydney.
1996: New Zealand's left-handed batsman Lawrie Miller (13 Tests from
            1953 to 1958) died aged 73.
1999: West Indies 282-1 was dismissed for 365 by New Zealand at
            Hamilton


18th December....

1899: West Indian all-rounder Mervyn Grell (1 Test in 1930) was born.
1910: New Zealand keeper-batsman Eric Tindill (5 Tests from 1937 to
            1947) was born.
1916: England pace bowler Alec Coxon (1 Test in 1948) was born.
1928: England's 636 against Australia at Sydney was then the highest
            ever score by any Test team.
1931:New Zealand batsman Noel McGregor (25 Tests from 1955 to 1965;
            892 runs) was born.
1937: England pace bowler Stanford Schultz (1 Test in 1879) died aged
            80.
1961: England pace bowler Gladstone Small (17 Tests from 1986 to 1991;             55 wickets) was born in Barbados, West Indies.
1961: Indian batsman Lalchand Rajput (2 Tests in 1985) was born.
1976: England batsman George Emmett (1 Test in 1948) died aged 64.
1982: New Zealand all-rounder Raymond Emery (2 Tests in 1952) died
            aged 67.


19th December....

1846: England batsman Henry Charlwood (2 Tests in 1877) was born.
1916: New Zealand captain and batsman Mervyn Wallace (13 Tests from             1937 to 1953) was born.
1924: The Ashes Test at Sydney was the first in which 8-ball over was
            introduced in Tests.
1930: England captain and all-rounder Johnny Douglas (23 Tests from
            1911 to 1925; 962 runs and 45 wickets) died (drowned) at sea near
            Denmark, aged 48.
1952: England batsman Harry Makepeace (4 Tests from 1920 to 1921)
            died aged 71.
1953: New Zealand batsman Paul McEwan (4 Tests from 1980 to 1984)
            was born.
1955: Sri Lankan batsman Susil Fernando (5 Tests from 1983 to 1984)
            was born.
1962: Sri Lankan left-handed batsman Charith Senanayake (3 Tests in
            1991) was born.
1966: Indian off-spinner Rajesh Chauhan (21 Tests from 1993 to 1998; 47
            wickets) was born.
1969: Indian keeper-batsman Nayan Mongia since             1994 with over 1000 runs and 100 dismissals, was             born.
1974: Australian batsman Ricky Ponting since 1995 with             over 2000 runs, was born.
1976: England's left-arm pace bowler John Lever takes             7-46 on debut against India at Delhi.
1999: Indian all-rounder HT "Bal" Dani (1 Test in 1952) died aged 66.


20th December....

1894: England beat Australia by 10 runs at Sydney to become the first
            team to win after being to forced to follow-on.
1894: Australian George Giffen against England at Sydney became the
            first Test all-rounder to score 200-plus runs (161 & 41) and capture
            8 wickets in the same Test.
1905: Australian leg-spinner Bill "Tiger" O'Reilly (27 Tests from 1932 to
            1946; 144 wickets) was born.
1935: Pakistani batsman Khalid Ibadulla (4 Tests from 1964 to 1967) was
            born.
1945: Australian pace bowler Charles Eady (2 Tests from 1896 to 1902)
            died aged 75.
1948: Indian pace bowler L Ramji (1 Test in 1933) died aged 46.
1948: England captain and pace bowler Sir C Aubrey Smith (1 Test in
            1889) died at Beverly Hills, California, USA, aged 85.
1959: Indian off-spinner Jasu Patel takes nine             Australian wickets for 69 runs at Kanpur.
1970: Zimbabwean batsman Grant Flower since 1992             with 2000 runs was born.


21st December....

1914: England captain and all-rounder AO "Arthur" Jones (12 Tests from
            1899 to 1909) died aged 42.
1927: Australian left-arm spinner Jack Saunders (14 Tests from 1902 to
            1908; 79 wickets) died aged 51.
1928: England's keeper Harry Butt (3 Tests in 1896) died aged 62.
1933: West Indian keeper-batsman Jackie Hendriks (20 Tests from 1962
            to 1969; 447 runs and 48 dismissals) was born.
1934: Pakistani captain and batsman Hanif Mohammad (55 Tests from
            1952 to 1969; 3915 runs) was born in India.
1945: Australian batsman Doug Walters (74 Tests from 1965 to 1981; 5357             runs) was born.
1959: Indian captain and batsman Kris Srikkanth (43 Tests from 1981 to
            1992; 2062 runs) was born.
1963: England's greatest opening batsman Sir Jack Hobbs (61 Tests
            from 1908 to 1930; 5410 runs) died aged 81.
1976: West Indian batsman Edward "Barto" Bartlett (5 Tests from 1928 to
            1931) died aged 70.
1977: West Indian pace bowler Corey Collymore in 1999 was born.
1979: New Zealand left-handed batsman Bill Anderson (1 Test in 1946)
            died aged 60.
1999: The scheduled third Test match between Pakistan and Zimbabwe
            at Faisalabad was abandoned on the fifth day without a ball being
            bowled because of fog!


22nd December....

1920: England's Wilfred Rhodes became the first all-rounder to do the
            double of 2000 runs and 100 wickets in Test history in the
            Test match against Australia at Sydney.
1929: Pakistani batsman Wazir Mohammad (20 Tests from 1952 to 1959;
            801 runs) was born in India.
1947: India's left-arm spinner Dilip Doshi (33 Tests from 1979 to 1983; 114
            wickets) was born.
1948: England pace bowler and left-handed batsman Chris Old (46 Tests
            from 1972 to 1981; 143 wickets and 845 runs) was born.
1954: West Indian off-spinner Derick Parry (12 Tests from 1978 to 1980)
            was born.
1963: South African all-rounder Brian McMillan (38 Tests from 1992 to
            1998; 1968 runs, 75 wickets and 49 catches) was born.
1967: West Indian batsman Roland Holder (11 Tests from 1997 to 1999)
            was born.
1986: India records its highest ever Test score of 676-7 against Sri Lanka
            at Kanpur.
1996: The Bulawayo Test match between Zimbabwe and England ends
            in an exciting draw after the scores were tied.


23rd December....

1894: England captain and pace bowler AER "Arthur" Gilligan (11 Tests
            from 1922 to 1925; 36 wickets) was born
1909: New Zealand pace bowler Don Cleverley (2 Tests from 1932 to
            1946) was born.
1913: South African slow left armer James "Bonnor" Middleton (6 Tests
            from 1896 to 1902) died aged 48
1949: Australian left-handed batsman Wally Edwards (3 Tests in 1974)
            was born.
1955: England all-rounder Len Braund (23 Tests from 1901 to 1908; 987
            runs and 47 wickets) died aged 80.
1968: England keeper Warren Hegg (2 Tests in 1998-99) was born.
1973: Australian all-rounder Arthur Richardson (9 Tests from 1924 to 1926)             died aged 85.
1977: Indian pace bowler Harvinder Singh (2 Tests in 1998) was born.
1981: England's Geoff Boycott - against India at Delhi became Test
            cricket's highest run-scorer. He went past the previous run
            aggregate of 8032 runs by West Indian Gary Sobers.
1990: West Indies fast bowler Frank King (14 Tests from 1953 to 1956)
            died in England aged 64.
1992: England captain and batsman Cyril Walters (11 Tests from 1933 to
            1934; 784 runs) died aged 87.

Mail Cricket Editor