1946
One of the mightiest allrounders of all time was born. South Africa's worldwide ban restricted Mike Procter to only seven Tests, but he left an indelible impression. Bowling at tremendous pace off the wrong foot, he took 26 wickets at only 13.57 in his final series (1969-70) as South Africa blitzed Australia 4-0 in a four-Test rubber. He completed three hat-tricks in County Championship matches and another against Hampshire in a B&H Cup semi-final in 1977, a competition Gloucestershire went on to win. He would have been remembered as one of the alltime greats even if his batting hadn't been so powerful and technically correct. In 1970-71 he became the last of only three players to score a century in each of six consecutive first-class innings.

1971
One of New Zealand's star batsmen, Nathan Astle was born. For the first six years of his career, Astle established himself as a consistent, and occasionally explosive, contributor to New Zealand's middle-order. Then, in March 2002, he earned a place in history with a truly extraordinary piece of hitting. With New Zealand chasing a nominal 550 for victory against England at Christchurch, Astle creamed a ludicrous 222 from 168 balls to bring his side to within 99 runs of their target. Astle smashed 27 fours and 11 sixes and scored his last century from only 39 balls. The glory of that knock is undeniable, but it is by no means the only highlight of Astle's career. In the 1996 World Cup, he hit 101 in 132 balls to help beat England and scored two consecutive centuries in the Caribbean in 1995-96. He also bowls wobbly seamers which have embarrassed a number of quality batsmen over the years.

1955
Some captains might not have believed in Abdul Qadir, who was born today. Luckily, Imran Khan didn't think of legspin as an extinct art, so Pakistan were able to profit from the little man with the beard of a grand vizier and the wiles of a wizard. Among his 236 Test wickets were several impressive returns against England: 6 for 44 at Hyderabad in 1977-78, 7 for 96 at The Oval in 1987, and his Test-best 9 for 56 at Lahore in the acrimonious 1987-88 series. At Faisalabad in 1986-87, he took 6 for 16 to help dismiss West Indies for 53. The flame had been kept alive in the days before Shane Warne.

1947
Playing for the champion county against The Rest, Denis Compton completed his greatest summer by scoring 246 for Middlesex at The Oval. It was his 18th century of the season, a world record that still stands.

1961
You could almost believe the West Indian Test pitches of 1985-86 were set up specifically for Patrick Patterson, who was born today. His aggressive short-pitched bowling, on horribly poor wickets, shocked an England batting line-up that had only known him as an unthreatening presence with Lancashire. In his debut series, he took 19 wickets and added extra venom to the menace already posed by Marshall, Holding, Garner and Walsh. Only the captain, David Gower, averaged over 28 as West Indies completed their second successive "blackwash" of England. Patterson finished with 93 Test wickets at 30.90. His last five-wicket haul was achieved on an another shocker of a pitch, at Edgbaston in 1991.

1918
Birth of a fine player who was denied a Test career by a remark about Don Bradman. Cec Pepper might have played for Australia if he hadn't passed comment on an lbw decision in favour of The Don in 1946-47. His letter of apology apparently never reached to Australian Board, and he refused to write another one. Instead he had to settle for a long first-class career, some astonishing performances in English league cricket, and 15 years as one of the most memorable first-class umpires in England.

1937
Although he never quite established himself as a regular Test opener, there was one big season at the top for Michael Conrad "Joey" Carew, who was born today. Although West Indies lost the 1968-69 series in Australia, Carew scored 83 and 71 not out in the win at Brisbane, 90 at Adelaide and 64 at Sydney. Moving on to New Zealand, he hit his only Test century, 109 at Auckland, followed by 91 at Christchurch.

1964
Even if you play in only three Tests, you want to leave a bit of a mark. Steve Watkin, who was born today, did just that. A Glamorgan seamer who bowled wicket-taking balls, he took 2 for 55 and 3 for 38 in England's victory over West Indies on a helpful , Headingley pitch in 1991. Dropped after taking 0 for 60 in the next Test at Lord's, he was brought back against the mighty Australians at The Oval in 1993. Again he took wickets in an England win (2 for 87 and 4 for 65), but wasn't picked again.

Other birthdays
1903 Syed Wazir Ali (India)
1904 Philip "Perker" Lee (Australia)
1952 Richard Webb (New Zealand)
1956 John Maguire (Australia)

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