On This Day

[The Professor]

On this day in 2004 Nasser Hussain scores big to win against New Zealand in, what turns out to be, his last match.

The day's play began with England 8-0, needing 282 to win.

The day began poorly when opener Marcus Trescothick was out for 2 and his replacement Mark Butcher was gone for an equally disappointing 6.

This brought together debutant Andrew Strauss and Hussain who set about getting England's show back on the road. Strauss was the more confident batsman in the initial stages of the partnership however Hussain, who had been asked to up the run rate, attempted to do just that.

In the running out of Strauss is hard to pin the blame on either the newbie or the seasoned hand. A single was clearly on the cards but there appeared to be little communication between the two. Either way Strauss was walking back for 83. His team were 143-3 and 139 away from victory.

This brought Graham Thorpe to the crease, a partnership with Hussain was standard for the Englishman. The old boys stood up against whatever the New Zealand bowlers threw at them as they crept towards the total. With nine runs needed to win, Hussain was batting on 94. A four off Chris Martin took him to 98 and levelled the score with his century. Soon enough, England had won...but the drama did not stop there.

Three days later, Hussain announced his retirement from all forms of cricket for a place in the commentary box. Despite the flack he got towards the end of the career, he is oft remembered as the captain who took England out of the mediocrity of the 90s and sculpting a modern team with the potential to win.

[The Professor]

On this day in 1967 one of the most rain effected games on record was played out between Yorkshire and Cambridgeshir.

The 25th May was the fourth rescheduled date for this fixture and, perhaps with that in mind, the game was forced to be played despite the fact that conditions were still abysmal.

Headingley, the desired venue for the game, was waterlogged as was the reserve ground Harrogate. It was decided that they would play the game in Castleford.

After four potential dates and four potential venues the game was ready to start....but then the rain fell.

In a forward thinking act of limited overs cricket, it was decided that the game would become a ten an over bash. The two captains also made the unprecedented decision to continue playing irregardless of the rain. Clearly they just wanted this fixture played out.

Yorkshire won the toss and, unsurprisingly, put Cambridgeshire in. David Fairey coped well with the finites of short form batting, however the rest of the Cambridgeshire team did not. Fairey scored 22 but the next highest score was Rex Gautrey with 9. After the allocated overs Cambridgeshire had scored 43-8 with Tony Nicholson's 3-11 being the best figures for Yorkshire.

Between the innings the rain became very heavy and early on it seemed like Cambridgeshire might be able to employ this to their advantage. John Hampshire and Brian Close were out for just one each and the score was 9-2. Such was the nature of the rain that Geoffrey Boycott, due to come in at four, was told to not bother as the rain would have steamed up his glasses. Ken Taylor and Don Wilson put on a partnership of 17 and then Taylor joined up with Fred Trueman for a stand of 15 to take Yorkshire to the win.

Two very drenched teams walked off glad that this cursed fixture was finally over.

[The Professor]

On this day in 1999 records tumble as India beat Sri Lanka.

Both teams had experienced underwhelming tournaments thus far. Sri Lanka had been beaten by England and South Africa and had just about managed a win against Zimbabwe. On the other hand, India had also lost to South Africa but had been downed by Zimbabwe - their solitary win came against Kenya. It was a chance for one of them to get their tournament back on track.

India batted first and got off to a stinker after Sadagoppan Ramesh was gone after 6 runs had been scored.

Rahul Dravid then joined Sourav Ganguly and began the onslaught, although it took time for the pair to warm up. The sixth over, bowled by Praodya Wickramasinghe, was when Dravid really teed off and scorched three boundaries. From there the boundaries flew freely from Dravid's bat. Sri Lanka tried to shuffle their pack but to no avail.

Ganguly soon joined the party. He saw Dravid's fours and raised him sixes, aiding his way to his century coming off 119 balls. After he reached his century the onslaught did not stop.

Soon enough the first record had fallen, 264 - the highest second wicket stand in ODI cricket. Only two more runs from Dravid saw them register the biggest partnership for any wicket in ODIs.

Ganguly raced away to his 150, offering his first and only chance to Wickramasinghe who dropped him. Dravid seemed to be zoning in on his 150 when he was unfortunately run out on 145.

Sachin Tendulkaar, Ajay Jadeja and Robin Singh tried to continue the big hitting trend and were all out in quick succession but Ganguly was the mainstay.

Ganguly eventually fell to an 158-ball 183 off the penultimate ball of the innings. He had helped his team to 373-7 the second highest score by any team in ODI cricket.

Sri Lanka were known as good chasers but 374 would look tricky for them. Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana were both out cheaply but Marvan Atapattu and Aravinda de Silva put on 51 to attempt to make a go at it. When Debasis Mohanty dismissed Atapattu for 29, the only other substantial partnership for Sri Lanka came from Arjuna Ranatunga and Roshan Mahanama which yielded 34 runs.

Singh made light work of the rest of the Sri Lankan batsmen, scoring 5-31 as Sri Lanka slumped to 216 all out.

[The Professor]

On this day in 1878 the first match between Australia and the MCC at Lord's was brought to a shockingly premature end with a One Day game.

The weather was not favourable on the match and the pitch was still soggy at the start of play which was delayed until 12.

The MCC batted first and W.G Grace was taken for just four off his second ball by Frank Allan. In the next over, Harry Boyle took the next batsman in and the MCC were 5-2.

Fellow opener, Arthur Hornby, and Arthur Ridley put on a bit of a spurt and got the score to 27-2.

Fred Spofforth came on and changed the complexion of the game even more. In just over five overs he took six wickets for just four runs. Out of these five overs he scored two wicket maidens and a hat trick maiden. By the end of this blast the MCC were 31-8 and could only manage another two more before folding to be 33 all out.

When the Australians got in they found life difficult too. The man the English most feared, Charles Bannerman, was out for a duck. It was the first wicket for Fred Morley, who was the most destructive but was accompanied by Alfred Shaw who kept his economy as low as a beagle's toe ring. It seemed like Australia might have been been on course to do worse than the MCC. At one point they were 23-8 but a heady stand of 11 between Billy Murdoch and Allan gave them an eight run lead. The top scorer for Australia was Billy Midwinter's 10.

And England were back in again. And W.G. Grace failed again. This time adding a duck to his low score from the first innings earlier that day. And things got worse from there. Boyle took Hornby (1) and Booth (0) and Spofforth dealt with Alexander Webbe to render the score 1-4. A completely torrid batting performance was held together by a princely partnership of 15 off the sixth wicket but the MCC could only muster 19. Boyle finished with figures of 6-3. Australia needed 12 to win.

Despite the easy chase, Bannerman still flattered to deceive and was out on just one but Midwinter and Tom Horan saw Australia over the line.

The game finished at 6.20 and had consisted of 103 runs off 541 balls.

[The Professor]

On this day in 1912 South Africa are all out twice in a day to hand Australia an innings victory.

South Africa started the day on 16-1 chasing Australia's first innings total of 448.

Their day started poorly when they added only a further 38 runs for the loss of four wickets with Bill Whitty taking three of those. Gordon White then joined Aubrey Faulkner in a partnership of 89 runs. White had to bat through a considerable amount of pain to get to his 22 due to splitting the webbing between his fingers when fielding. White was out just before lunch with the score on a more respectable looking 143-5.

Shortly before lunch, Faulkner was dropped. A chance that Australia would rue as he continued to bat through the rest of the innings. He lost a succession of partners but found an accomplice in Rolland Beaumont who took the team to within 30 runs of avoiding the follow on. However, Beaumont's dismissal was the first of a hat trick of wickets executed by Jimmy Matthews to end the South Africa innings on 265. Australia asked South Africa to follow on.

Their second innings was even more abject than the first and was wrapped up within an hour and a half. Strangely, despite the fact he had been at the crease for close to five hours, Faulkner was sent out as an opener. Both he and fellow opener, Gerald Hartigan, were back in short order and South Africa never looked like getting in to the game from there. At 70-5, further pressure was piled on the South African batsmen after Matthews executed another hat trick, taking the team to 70-8. Beaumont tried to fight at the death but South Africa ended all out for 95 and hand Australia an innings and 88 run victory.

Jimmy Matthews is still the only bowler to get two hat tricks in the same Test.

[The Professor]

On this day in 1953 Trinidad and Tobago and West Indies' Rangy Nanan was born.

Nanan was born in Peysal and was playing cricket from a young age. He made his debut for Central Trinidad in 1976 but really staked his claim in the following season when he returned match figures of 8-130 against Jamaica. Nanan enjoyed playing against Jamaica as, in the following season, he picked up his career best figures of 11-137 against them.

In 1980, Nanan was picked for the West Indies team to tour Pakistan and started the warm up matches well, getting 14 wickets in the three friendly games. He was duly selected for the first Test. West Indies batted first and Nanan contributed a 27 ball 8. With the ball he then claimed the scalps of Wasim Raja and Abdul Qadir. Pakistan did not bat again. Despite the fact he ended that match with the most economical figures of all West Indian bowlers, Nanan was never selected for the national team again.

Nanan returned to Trinidad and continued to tear up the domestic scene. In 1984-5, he led Trinidad and Tobago to their first domestic title in 14 years.

He retired from the game in 1991 and became a police officer. He died aged 63 of a stroke.

[The Professor]

On this day in 2011 England pull off an unlikely victory against Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka had put on 400 in the first innings but England put some wobbles behind them to end Day Four on 491-5 and the draw seeming inevitable. This result seemed even more likely when rain delayed any play until 2.20 on the final day.

Ian Bell got the two runs he needed for his hundred and Andrew Strauss declared with a lead of 96 runs.

Stuart Broad and Chris Tremlett took the new ball and started economically and soon the latter had the wicket of Tharanga Paranavitana for 0 in the second over. Tillakaratne Dilshan came out swinging and was nearly out third ball and was actually out off the 17th ball he faced - another victim of Tremlett.

The tried and tested duo of Kumar Sangakara and Mahela Jayawardene got Sri Lanka through to tea but after the break, Andrew Strauss brought on the spin of Graeme Swann but it was that man Tremlett who broke up the partnership of 23 when he sent back Jayawardene.

Swann continued alongside Tremlett and the pair unsettled the experienced Sangakara but it was Thilan Samaraweera, usually such a good batsmen to spin, who was next down - the first victim of Swann. Sri Lanka were 36-4.

Things got worse for Sri Lanka when Swann returned in his next over and displaced Sangakara for 14. Next in, Farveez Maharoof did not put up much of a fight and was out for no run.

Prasanna Jayawardene had top-scored for the Sri Lankans in the first innings but was then sent packing for just three runs after a combination of good bowling from Tremlett and good use of the referral from Strauss saw him adjudged caught behind.

With the score on 43-7, the Sri Lankan batsmen, Thisara Perera and Rangana Herath decided to up the run rate to try and drag their score over the 54 required to ask England to bat again. This seemed ill judged when Swann bowled Herath when he was going for a big slog with a mere 3 runs to his name. The big hitting tactic seemed to be a more successful venture for Perera who managed a few boundaries in the next few overs. This confidence rubbed off on his partner Ajantha Mendis and the pair got Sri Lanka into the eighties. Confidence quickly gave way to over confidence, however when Perera went for another boundary and made no contact whatsoever to be sent back for 20.

Suranga Lakmal never looked comfortable batting at the best of times and looked downright awkward today. He was out to a golden duck to seal one of the most unlikely victories in English cricketing history. Tremlett and Swann shared 8 wickets.

[The Professor]

On this day in 1950 England beat the Rest of England in anticlimactic last day.

After the heroics of Jim Laker yesterday, the play today was relatively sanguine.

Yet again the England B team failed to turn up although, in contrast to yesterday, there were some decent scores. Coming in at 42-5, a 42 run partnership between Eric Bedser and *modded* Spooner swelled the score to just marginally embarrassing.

A late show of defiance from Bob Berry took the score over the 100 mark but the B team were soon out for just 113, handing an innings and 89 run victory to England.

It was Eric Hollies' turn to shine with the ball with figures of 6-28 but no one would come parallel with Laker's match figures of 10-46.

[The Professor]

On this day in 1994 Warwickshire's game against Durham begins with the visiting side in supremacy.

The day, most emphatically, belonged to John Morris who batted for the majority of the day alongside Stewart Hutton.

The opening pair of Wayne Larkins and Mark Saxelby were out in quick succession and left their side on 39-2. This brought Morris and Hutton together who batted through the whole of the afternoon session in a partnership of 186. When Hutton was bowled for 61 by Richard Davis, Phil Bainbridge came out and helped Morris to another century partnership with a spell of quick fire batting. The pair were still in at the close with Durham being 365-3. Morris was on 204 and Bainbridge on 50.

[The Professor]

On this day in 1994 Durham continue to pile on runs against Warwickshire.

The star of yesterday, John Morris, bowed out off the first ball of the morning with his score on an impressive 204. A clatter of wickets then went down over a short period of time. The other overnight batsman, Phil Bainbridge, added a further 17 runs to his overnight half century before he was sent back by Neil Smith. Jonathan Longley (24) and Chris Scott (13) were also sent back cheaply.

If Warwickshire thought this was a precursor to a collapse they were proved wrong when David Graveney and Anderson Cummins put on an eighth wicket stand that took up the best part of the morning session and the start of the afternoon. The pair put on 134 between them and took the Durham score over 500. When Roger Twose displaced Cummins on 62, Bainbridge called his team in with the score on 556.

Cummins continued his good day's work when he dismissed the Warwickshire opener Dominic Ostler after he scored all 8 of Warwickshire's runs. This brought Brian Lara to the crease. Lara faced a blessed life off the first few overs. He faced his first ball and was nearly out caught and bowled for a duck off the bowling of Cummins. Ten balls later, Cummins had the better of his countryman again and displaced his leg stump...only for the delivery to be judged a no-ball. Eight balls later, Scott, so unimpressive with the bat earlier, dropped a catch and gave Lara his third life.

This shaky start was reprieved by tea. Lara refused to rest and went to the nets to sort out his rhythm.

After tea, Lara seemed a different man and picked up the 82 runs he needed to get to his hundred. A hundred that meant he had bagged seven centuries in his last eight innings. He ended the day on 111 and was partnered by Trevor Penney who was on 17. Warwickshire were 210-2 - still 346 behind Durham.

[The Professor]

On this day in 1994 no play was possible between Durham and Warwickshire due to rain so we will take the chance to linger on what was a golden year for Brian Lara.

Just before the start of the County season, Warwickshire's acquisition of Lara seemed even more of a coup when he bagged a world record Test score of 375. His performance was sublime and only had one chance off of it.

He took this form into the County season and had begun with six centuries in seven innings - 147 against Glamorgan, 106 and 120* against Leicestershire, 136 against Somerset and 26 and 140 against Middlesex. His over night (and now over weekend) 111 rounded off his 7/8th century record.

By the end of the year, Lara had an average of 71.14 in all long form cricket.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Always thought I'd never see a better player than Viv. But BCL might well have been.

[The Professor]

On this day in 1994 there was a rest day between Warwickshire and Durham...kind of.

During the mid 1990s, County Cricket retained the rather quaint notion of the rest day for games that fell over a Sunday. This quaint slice of nostalgia, however, was eroded by the fact they took this opportunity for a day of rest and religious reflection....to play out games contributing to the one day trophy.

As if to heighten the ludicrousness of this, Lara, overnight/weekend on 111 in the main game, came out at first drop and was out for 6 - seemingly an end to his run of good form. The opening partnership of Dominic Ostler and Mike Burns put together a 60 run partnership together and Ostler went on to top score for Warwickshire with a score of 83. After Burns and Lara were dismissed, it seemed that Warwickshire were in danger of disintegrating but a string of three scores of 27 from Asif Din, Roger Twose and Trevor Penney took Warwickshire to 236-8. Anderson Cummins continued his fine spell with the ball with 3-40.

Durham got themselves off to a poor start when they found themselves 2-2. From there on single figure scores were the order of the day for Durham. Mark Saxelby partnered with Jonathan Longley (12) and Phil Bainbridge (29) to get them back in the game....and then Cummins and Shaun Birbeck were out for 8 and 0. Bainbridge and Chris Scott put on 28 together before they both fell in short order and only David Graveney from the tail could put up any resistance. Durham were all out for a mere 152. Neil Smith was the bowler who had the best afternoon with figures of 3-27.

And then there was the matter of the real game...

[The Professor]

On this day in 1994 Brian Lara breaks the record for most runs in a first class innings.

The monumental nature of the day's play could have been ruined by his own captain. Dermot Reeve offered the Durham captain, Phil Bainbridge, the opportunity for a double declaration allowing for a Warwickshire run chase of 356. Bainbridge declined and set the day up for a draw.

The only thing worth keeping an eye on was Lara's score - which skyrocketed in the first session. The West Indian put on 174 before lunch - taking his overall score to 285. Reeve had toyed with declaring at lunch but was persuaded otherwise due to the fact that Lara was twenty runs away from the Warwickshire all time highest score. Lara polished this off shortly after lunch - getting his third century in just 58 balls.

Any chance of declaring then went out the window as the game became The Brian Lara Show. The first chance that Lara offered on the day was when he was on 413 and was dropped by a substitute fielder just before tea.

At tea, Lara's mind was focussed on the next record in his sights. The highest score in England, Archie McLaren's 424. Soon after tea this record was dust.

Throughout all this he was ably supported by Keith Piper who also ticked over his first century - in relation to Lara's fourth - and their partnership had reached a storming 300 after they had come together before lunch. As the day waned and the sun began to set there was one last record on Lara's mind, Hanif Mohammed's 499 - the highest score in First Class cricket (covered here viewtopic.php?f=30&t=20694&p=689973&hilit=Hanif#p689973).

With an eye for drama Lara started the last over at the non-striker's end on 497. Piper got a single off the second ball. The next two balls Lara did not make contact with. Two balls left. But Lara only needed one. His four off the next ball took him to 501 not out.

Lara's score of 501 came from 427 balls in just under eight hours of batting. It helped his side to a county record total of 810-4.

[The Professor]

On this day in 2016 South Africa hold defend a small total to defeat Australia.

A half century from Farhaan Behardien in the late order helped South Africa rescue themselves from a dire position of 112-6. Of the top five, it was only Hashim Amla who did any real damage - registering a score of 35. The rest failed to deliver. Behardien's 62 too, South Africa to a respectable 189.

Before the twelfth over of the chase, Australia were already 21-3. It was only Aaron Finch who managed to survive these opening salvos as David Warner, Usman Khawaja and Steve Smith put on a combined 11 runs.

Finch was the star batsman in a litany of Australian despondency. Debutant Tabraiz Shamsi was especially effective and incisive despite the fact he only left with a single wicket to his name. Kagiso Rabada was the one with the highest wicket tally, ending with figures of 3-13.

The only downside for South Africa was the loss of Rilee Rossouw to injury - damaging his shoulder while fielding.