This day in cricket: Birth of 3 all-rounders, Test debut of 1 and more...

This day in cricket: Birth of three all-rounders, Test debut of another and more...

Birth of Sir Garry Sobers

Sir Garfield Sobers

Born this day in 1936, the now 79-year-old Sir Garfield Sobers is one of Wisden's Five Cricketers of the Century. He is surely one of the greatest all-rounders of all time. Sobers played 93 Tests for the West Indies, scoring 8032 runs at an average of 57.78, and taking 235 wickets at an average of 34.03. He has the fourth highest batting average in Test cricket in the list of cricketers with more than 5,000 runs.
He has tons of records in his name. Some of them are:
The West Indies legend is the first batsman in history to hit six sixes in an over. He achieved the feat during a first-class match between Nottinghamshire and Glamorgan on August 31, 1968. He made Malcolm Nash famous in the process.
As 21-year-old, Sobers converted his maiden Test century into a gigantic 365 not out against Pakistan in Kingston in 1957-58, which remained the Test record for 36 years, until Brian Lara came along.
Bradman called him "the greatest cricketing being to have ever walked the earth".

Sir Ian Botham makes his Test debut


Sir Ian Botham

Sir Ian Botham, another great all-rounder to have played the game made his Test debut for England on this day in 1977 at Trent Bridge, Nottingham. He took five Australian wickets on his first day -- 5/74. His maiden scalp was of Greg Chappell. Botham added a handy 25 from No. 8, as England won by seven wickets. He ended up playing 102 Tests for England, scoring 5200 runs with a highest of 208 at an average of 33.54. As a bowler, he took 383 wickets at an average of 28.40.

Birth of Jacob Oram

The injury-prone New Zealand all-rounder Jacob Oram was born on this day in 200He took six wickets in his second Test, in 2002, against India in Hamilton - where he got his maiden Test hundred two years later. Oram packed in many ODIs in between his various injuries, with memorable assaults against Australia in the 2006-07 CB Series. A broken finger nearly kept him out of the 2007 World Cup, in which he averaged 33 with the bat and 25 with ball as New Zealand reached the semis. In 2009, more injury problems forced him to retire from Test cricket so he could concentrate on the limited-overs formats.

First of Graeme Smith's consecutive double tons

Graeme Smith

South African skipper Graeme Smith batted for a minute more than nine hours, faced 377 balls to score 277 runs, the highest Test score by a South African at the time. He came out to bat with Herschelle Gibbs at Edgbaston and the two added 338 in less than 75 overs. Smith added 85 more in the second innings, for good measure. England escaped with a draw but the result saw Nasser Hussain quiting. At Lord's three days later, Smith made 259, becoming only the fourth batsman to score double hundreds in consecutive Tests.

Birth of Marcus North

Australian cricketer Marcus North was born on this day in 1979. After years of being on the fringes of the national set-up, North was picked in Australia's 2008-09 tour of South Africa. He repaid the selectors with a century on Test debut at the Wanderers. But after scoring 117 in that Test, he managed only another 38 runs in the next three innings and picked up two wickets with his off-spin. He shone one last time against Pakistan at Lord's in 2010. North took 6 for 55 in Australia's big win against the Asians.

Proteas win their first Test series in Sri Lanka

On July 28, 2014, South Africa won their first Test series in Sri Lanka in 21 years. In the process, they also extended their eight-year unbeaten run away from home. Despite suffering the setbacks of the retirements of Jacques Kallis and Graeme Smith, South Africa -- led by Hashim Amla -- regained the top spot in the Test rankings after drawing he second Test at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo to win the series 1-0. Needing 369 to win on the final day, South Africa sealed the draw by finishing on 159 for 8.