1982
Sri Lanka played their first Test match. It was against England at Colombo. England won the match by 7 wicket.
1984
AB de Villiers, considered as one of the greatest of this generation, was born on this day. A fine rugby player, golfer and tennis player, AB chose cricket over others. He made his Test debut against England in 2004 and opened the batting in that match. He was later moved into the middle order and thus AB played in every batting spot from No 1 to No 8. He was also asked to keep wickets due to his agility as a fielder. After a great start, there was a sluggish period but he returned strongly with a blistering 103 not out off 109 balls in Durban against West Indies in 2008. Later that year, he became the first South African to score a double-century against India with his undefeated 217 at Ahmedabad. Early in 2015, he broke the world record for the fastest ODI hundred scoring in just 31 balls. But his stint as a captain was short-lived as injury kept him out of action.
1996
Nolan Clarke became the oldest player to make ODI debut at the age of 47 years and 240 days. The Kiwi played against Netherlands in Vadodara during a World Cup game. Clarke, opening the batting, scored 14.
2005
The first T20 international was played between Australia and New Zealand in Auckland. It was not at all a serious affair as the New Zealand players took to the field with beige uniforms and fake moustaches and wigs. Australia won the match with swashbacking innings of 98 off 55 balls by Ricky Ponting. But it was heard Ponting saying, “I think it is difficult to play seriously. If it does become an international game then I’m sure the novelty won’t be there all the time.”
