1943
Birth of an early developer. The Pakistani Mushtaq Mohammad was officially the youngest Test player (15 years, 124 days against West Indies at Lahore in 1958-59) and the youngest Test centurion (17 years, 82 days against India at Delhi in 1960-61) until Hasan Raza and Mohammad Ashraful gazumped him in recent years. With a batting average just shy of 40 and a bowling average under 30, Mushtaq was in the top bracket as an allrounder, a wristy batsman and a mischievous legspinner. His finest hour came in the victory over West Indies in Trinidad in 1976-77, when Mushtaq gave the ultimate captain's display, adding 121 and 56 to figures of 5 for 28 and 3 for 69. Three of his brothers and his nephew also played Test cricket for Pakistan. Mushtaq represented Northants with distinction between 1966 and 1977.

1999
The flashing blades of Adam Gilchrist and Justin Langer gave Australia a famous and improbable victory over Pakistan in the second Test at Hobart. Australia were on the brink at 126 for 5 chasing 369 when Gilchrist - playing only his second Test - joined Langer, but they turned things round in improbable style. Langer dropped anchor while Gilchrist, whose audacious 149 not out took only 163 balls, smacked the Pakistani bowlers to all parts in a fashion that would soon become familiar to cricket fans the world over. Australia got home with four wickets to spare, and their 369 for 6 is the third-highest total to win a Test batting fourth. It was Australia's third consecutive Test win - the manner of it gave them the self-belief to add another 13.

1994
One of the first real signs that the West Indian empire was crumbling came when they were well beaten by India in the first Test at Bombay. A tight match turned when India's No. 9 Javagal Srinath slogged a demoralising 72-ball 60, and a victory target that should have been below 300 ended up as 363. It looked all over at 82 for 5, and though Jimmy Adams (at the start of a miraculous tour on which he scored 520 Test runs at 173.33) and Junior Murray took them within range, the Indian spinners returned to clean up the tail and clinch a 96-run win. The match, which was notable for Rajindra Dhanraj becoming the first specialist legspinner to represent West Indies since David Holford 24 years previously, was India's 10th consecutive home Test victory. West Indies soon stopped that run, sharing the series 1-1 with a crushing victory in the final Test, but it was only a temporary reprieve - six months later Australia inflicted their first series defeat since 1979-80.

1970
Birth of a statistical oddity. At the crease Sri Lanka's Marvan Atapattu is calm, technically sound and at times a little dull, making his eccentric record all the more surprising. Nerves took hold as Atapattu started his Test career with one run in six innings, and even that single should apparently have been called a leg-bye. But one-day cricket offered him a way back in (he was a non-playing member of the 1996 World Cup-winning squad) and at Dunedin in 1996-97, almost seven years after his debut, Atapattu finally reached double figures in a Test.

1953
Wayne 'Ned' Larkins, who was born today, was a thunderous opening batsmen and one of the more enigmatic characters in English cricket's recent history. He frequently murdered modest bowling at county level with Northants, where he formed a formidable opening partnership with Geoff Cook, but never quite managed the step up. Six Tests between 1979 and 1981 brought no fifties, and it was a major surprise when Larkins was hand-picked by Graham Gooch as his opening partner for the daunting 1989-90 tour of West Indies. For a while, though, Larkins delivered. He made 75 for once out in the unforgettable victory in Jamaica, and added a cool 54 in the next match in Trinidad. But as England fell away, so did Larkins. He bagged a pair in Barbados, didn't play in the English summer of 1990, and played his last Test at Sydney the following winter. Larkins also played in the 1979 World Cup final, but it's not a day he'll remember too fondly - he got a first-baller batting at No.7 and bowled two overs for 21.

1974
Two alltime greats made their Test debuts in the first Test against West Indies and India at Bangalore. Viv Richards gave little hint of the savagery he would inflict on bowlers for the next 20 years - he was snapped up for 4 and 3 by Bhagwat Chandrasekhar - but Gordon Greenidge laid down a marker, spanking 93 and 107 to become the first West Indian to make a hundred on Test debut overseas. West Indies captain Clive Lloyd then slammed an 85-ball century, and they sealed a thumping 267-win when India were cleaned up for 118 on the final day.

1873
JT "Johnny" Tyldesley, who was born today, was an enterprising, fleet-footed right-handed strokemaker who made almost 40,000 first-class runs in a long career with Lancashire and England. He played 31 Tests, making 112 in his second Test to set up a 210-run victory over South Africa at Cape Town in 1897-98. His other three Test tons all came against Australia - not a great surprise, given that 26 of his 31 Tests were against them - but none brought an English victory. He died in Salford in 1930.

1976
Birth of the tragic Trevor Madondo, who died of malaria at the age of 24 in 2001. Madondo was one of Zimbabwe's most promising black cricketers, an attacking right-handed batsman and occasional wicketkeeper. He played in three Tests and made an unbeaten 74 in his last Test innings, against New Zealand at Wellington in 2000-01.

Other birthdays

1870 Harry Graham (Australia)
1926 Zulfiqar Ahmed (Pakistan)
1964 Akram Raza (Pakistan)
1968 Nilantha Ratnayake (Sri Lanka)
1975 Indika Gallage (Sri Lanka)

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