1932
Colin Cowdrey, the most durable English cricketer with a Test career spanning more than two decades, was born on this day. Cowdrey was the first man to play 100 Tests, captained England 27 times and scored almost 43,000 first-class runs – 7,624 of them in Tests. He celebrated his 100th Test appearance with a century against Australia in Edgbaston in 1968.
1971
Geoff Allott, the New Zealand seamer who took 20 wickets in 1999 World Cup, was born on this day. He was an effective bowler in the 1990s but his career was hampered by a persistent back injury. Ironically, his only record was made by him as a batsman when he batted for 101 minutes without scoring. This is the longest duck in Test history..
