1900
Birth of the man who championed Bodyline. England captain Douglas Jardine perfected a strategy which had been around for a few years which involved short, fast bowing aimed at the body with a ring of fielders on the leg side. The main idea, which relied on a battery of accurate quick bowlers led by Harold Harwood, was conceived to counter Don Bradman's phenomenal scoring, and bring back the Ashes on England's tour of 1932-33. And it worked: England won 4-1 and Bradman averaged a below-par (for him) 56. The tactic was hugely controversial, however (Bert Oldfield suffered a fractured skull when he mishooked, and several others took nasty blows), and Jardine was loathed in Australia. But he insisted it was not unfair, and when West Indians Learie Constantine and Manny Martindale gave England a taste of their own medicine at Old Trafford the following summer, the "Iron Duke" practised what he preached with a brave 127, his only Test hundred. Jardine died in Switzerland in 1958.

1915
The owner of cricket's most famous beard, WG Grace, died at the age of 67, following a heart attack. He had grown increasingly restless as a result of Zeppelin raids over London - when asked why he was worried by them when he had faced the fastest bowling in the world, he replied "I could see those beggars, I can't see these" - and a heavy fall further weakened his condition. He died at his home in Mottingham, Kent, and was buried three days later at Elmers End Cemetery.

1941
Birth of the genial Geordie Colin Milburn, whose career was tragically cut short when he lost his left eye in a car accident in 1969. He was seen by some as a glorified biffer, but Milburn was basically an orthodox batsman who had enough meat (18 stone of it, sometimes more) to hit the ball many a mile. "Ollie" made a splendid, match-saving 126 against West Indies at Lord's in 1966, but he played only nine Tests - the last of which, at Karachi in 1968-69, saw him blitz a scorching 139 - before catastrophe struck. He also played with distinction for Northants and Western Australia, for whom he creamed 243 at Brisbane in 1968-69, including 181 in the two hours between lunch and tea. He tried a comeback, but it was not a success. He drifted thereafter, and died of a heart attack, aged 48, in 1990.

1956
An outstanding feat of endurance from Ray Lindwall led Australia to an innings victory over India in the first Test at Madras. In stifling heat, and having been sidelined for most of the first innings by a stomach complaint, Lindwall took 7 for 43 in the second innings, the best figures by an Australian in India. The previous-best was 7 for 72 - by Richie Benaud in the first innings.

1977
The Alex Tudor story began on this day, but so far the script hasn't followed the expected pattern. When he snared both Waughs during an impressive debut at Perth in 1998-99, before smacking a flamboyant 99 not out as nightwatchman to win the first Test of the following summer against New Zealand at Edgbaston, it looked like he was here to stay. But injury ruled him out of the next Test, and he did not play for England again until 2001, when he took 5 for 44 against Australia at Trent Bridge. Tudor then pulled out of the last Test at The Oval, again raising doubts about whether he was tough enough for top-level cricket, and he was left out of the winter tour parties as punishment. He instead got to slum it with the Academy boys. The latest blow to his career was being omitted from the Ashes squad to Australia in 2002, after mediocre performances in the last two Tests against India. But he was hardly alone in that. Earlier the same summer he had bowled Goughless and Caddickless England to victory over Sri Lanka on a flat Old Trafford track.

1990
New Zealand were Waqar-ed in the second Test at Lahore. Having lost the first match by an innings they went down by nine wickets here, with Waqar Younis adding ten wickets (eight of which were bowled or lbw) to the seven he took in the first match. He took 3 for 20 in the first innings (when extras, with 38, top-scored) and 7 for 86 in the second. This rendered futile the brave efforts of Martin Crowe, who made an unbeaten 108 in almost 10 hours.

1989
An improbable allround performance from Viv Richards led West Indies to a 20-run victory over India in a low-scoring Nehru Cup match at Delhi. Richards belted 44 off 42 balls and then spun India to defeat with his best international figures of 6 for 41, including three wickets in four balls.

Other birthdays
1933 Tom Dewdney (West Indies)
1936 Barry Sinclair (New Zealand)
1977 Brad Haddin (Australia)
1978 Steve Harmison (England)

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