1948
Dayle Hadlee, brother of bowing great Sir Richard Hadlee, was born on this day. Dayle played 26 Tests for New Zealand in which he took 71 wickets at 33.64 average. Accidentally, he lost part of his toe when he ran over his own foot with a lawnmower.
1959
Kapil Dev, India’s greatest all-rounder, was born on this day. The Haryana Hurricane etched his name in history book when he became the first World Cup winning captain for India. He is the only player to score 4000 runs and take 400 wickets in Test cricket. His 5248 runs included eight centuries, his 434 wickets were a world record at the time. He played for India in 132 Tests being dropped for only one Test in his career.
1984
Greg Chappell, Dennis Lillee and Rod Marsh, the stalwarts of Australian cricket, retired from Test cricket. The Test was against Pakistan at Sydney. Chappell finished with 7110 runs and a record 122 catches. Lillee ended with a record of 355 wickets and Marsh made 355 dismissals. All of these were Test records at the time.
2004
Steve Waugh, the Australian great, featured in his final Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground. At the end of the game Waugh was carried around the ground by his team-mates.
2004
Dwayne Smith scored a debut hundred on this day for West Indies against South Africa at Newlands. He completed his century in 93 balls with 15 fours and 2 sixes.
2008
The monkey-gate episode involving Harbhajan Singh and Andrew Symonds took place on this day. The Indian spinner was alleged that he had racially abused Symonds during the Sydney Test. Match referee Mike Procter suspended Harbhajan for three Tests that was later reduced to a 50% match-fee fine on appeal.
