On This Day

[The Professor]

On this day in 1927 Australian wicket keeper Wally Grout was born.

Grout was a talented sportsman from a young age and competed in many disciplines including Australian Rules Football and Rugby Union - in fact he only played for the C team at his school.

After being picked up by Queensland, Grout was frustrated that he was a bit part player in the team due to the fact that they already had an established wicket keeper in Don Tallon. Selectors felt that, whilst Grout was a better wicket keeper, Tallon would score more runs with the bat. In hindsight the pair were very similar wicket keepers.

He was often overlooked for the Australian national team too, in place of Len Maddocks and Gil Langley. Grout decided to work on his fitness to give him the edge over his more favoured compatriots. This worked and he made his test debut in South Africa in 1957 despite the fact he had a hairline fracture in his thumb that he chose not to disclose to the team.

His career could have been over before it started. In the first innings he allowed eight byes due to poor handling of the ball - but in the second innings who took six catches, a record at the time.

His next series was in Australia against England where he picked up 20 wickets, equalling a record set by his early rival Tallon.

Grout kept plugging away domestically too. In 1960 in a match against Western Australia, Grout picked up eight wickets in a single innings.

One of the most well remembered moments of Grout's career came in the 1964 Ashes series when he refused to run out Fred Titmus as he felt he had been unfairly blocked by an Australian fielder.

Grout retired after the 1965-66 Ashes where he took fifteen wickets to help Australia retain the urn.

Despite his inauspicious start, Australia never lost a match which Grout played in. He formed a killer partnership with team mate Alan Davidson with 48% of his stumping a coming off his bowling.

Grout died only three years after retiring.

One feature to end this, that I think Grout himself would have appreciated, is the fact that he has now been immortalised into Cockney rhyming slang:

"Wally = Wally Grout = shout (buy a round of drinks), as in "It's your Wally." Also stout or snout depending on context"

[The Professor]

On this day in 2012 the unlikely cricketing outpost of Guatemala played their first ever T20international against fellow South American minnows El Salvador.

The recent history of Guatemalan cricket can be traced back to one man: Luke Humphries. With the help of his father he set up the GCC (Guatemalan Cricket Club). Beginning with 4 friends having a muck about and turning into fully fledged training sessions.

The club was only established in November 2011, so it was a huge feat to get the fixture with El Salvador up and running in 5 months.

South American cricket is not as rare a thing as it sounds, with a number of the countries having ex-pats who set up a ramshackle national team which then get a bit of attention from the school system.

The Guatemalan team that took on El Salvador was of very loose Guatemalan heritage comprising some Guatemalan nationals but also English and Indian ex-pats. They also won the return leg - back in Guatemala to claim the series 2-0.

Since then Guatemalan cricket has gone from strength to strength. In December 2012 they came third in the Volcano Cup - again held in El Salvador.

They now make a habit of their games with El Salvador. They have played them 7 times in the last 4 years and the running total currently stands at 4 victories to 3 to the Guatemalans.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Didn't hear that! Cheers 365. Nice to know.

[The Professor]

On this day in 2014 India Women beat West Indies Women to finish top of their group in the T20 World Cup.

Deandra Dottin was the shining star for West Indies scoring 57 but she didn't have any support from those around her. The Indian bowlers were relentless in not allowing any West Indian batsmen to feel comfortable at the crease. This was best highlighted by Harmanpreet Kaur's death bowling - which claimed two scalps.

In the chase it was Mithali Raj who did the most damage, claiming 55 runs. However, unlike Dottin, she didn't have to go it alone. Poonam Raut also chipped in with 56 in a 117-run opening partnership. The two had beaten West Indies almost on their own.

West Indies still progress but finish runners up and face Australia Women.

[The Professor]

On this day in 2011 India lifted the World Cup, defeating Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka won the toss (twice due to the umpire not hearing first time) and chose to bat.

They were stifled in the opening overs by economical bowling from Zaheer Khan. The first breakthrough came when Khan got Upul Tharanga for only six runs in the fifth over. Fellow opener Tillakaratne Dilshan was just beginning to kick into gear in the 16th over, supported by Kumar Sangakarra, when Harbhajan Singh nicked one off his gloves into the stumps. Sri Lanka were 60/2.

The established partnership of Sangakarra and Mahela Jayawardene set about doing what they've done for the best part of two decades, until the former was caught behind by MS Dhoni for 48. Thilan Samaraweera tried to join Jayawardene but was out for 21 after the Indians reviewed an lbw decision successfully. In just the next over World Cup debutant Chamara Kapugedera was sent back for 1 by Khan.

All this time Jayawardene was still doing his thing, taking strike increasingly more as the talent of his partners became increasingly less. He finally found a couple of batsmen who would put up a bit of a spell of defiance with him in the form of Nuwan Kulasekara and Thisara Perrera, with whom he added 91 runs in the last ten overs.

The innings ended with Sri Lanka on 274/6 and Jayawardene on 103. If successful, this would be the highest ever run chase in a World Cup final.

Lasith Malinga gave Sri Lanka the dream start by dismissing their two dangermen, Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar, within the first two overs. Sehwag went on the second ball of the innings for lbw, whilst Tendulkar raced to 18 but then edged to Sangakarra.

Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir began the recovery, bagging quick singles and latching on to bad balls. The partnership was worth 83 when Kohli was caught and bowled by Dilshan. Gambhir was also given a life when Kulasekara dropped a catch of a mistimed stroke from the batsman.

MS Dhoni came in after Kohli, one place higher than usual, ensuring a right-left batting partnership. The pace of the game slowed down hugely but the partnership of 109 ended with the pair breaking loose and hitting boundaries. Gambhir was out trying to claim his century with a boundary, not connecting properly and getting out for 97. India were 52 away with 52 balls left.

The partnership of Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh took India over the line. Dhoni hit the winning runs with a six and finished 91* from 79 deliveries.

[The Professor]

On this day in 1996 New Zealand pulled off a heist against West Indies to level the series at 2 a piece.

New Zealand may have won this with the strength and power within their opening overs. Within 13 overs they were 90-3; Craig Spearman doing most of the damage through his 41 off 39 balls. Curtly Ambrose had a hand in all three of the New Zealand dismissals; bowling Spearman, catching Nathan Astle lbw and running out Lee Germon.

Once these three opening batsmen were back in the hutch, New Zealand did not temper their scoring rate and continued to go for the big shots. This was the contributing factor to their collapse. Of the next 8 batsmen only Chris Cairns got out of single figures. New Zealand were all out for 158.

West Indies seemed a dead cert to win. They only need 3.2 runs an over. New Zealand were persistent however and measured their bowling perfectly. The bowlers were helped by a fine display in the field too. West Indies looked in real trouble at 68/4, with the top score from the opening batsmen being Jimmy Adams' 23. When Roland Holder came in, he seemed determined to be the saviour of the West Indies cause; but he was rapidly running out of partners.

The equation came down to five runs needed from the final over with no batsmen left. The game ended when Cairns clean bowled Courtney Walsh to end the game and seal the unlikely victory.

The game marks only the second time that the official adjudicator refused to pick a man of the match and instead selected the whole team.

[The Professor]

On this day in 1998 Hampshire legend Cecil Paris died.

Throughout his lifelong affiliation with Hampshire he held down every position at the club.

His career straddled the Second World War and he lost a great chunk of playing time whilst serving. On paper his career lasted 15 years, between 1933 and 1948.

He was club captain in the 1938 season.

During the war Parks worked under General Montgomery and worked extensively in Czechoslovakia.

He retire pod after his 100th match with an average of 22.88 and a high score of 134*.

After retiring Paris went on to hold every senior position in the Hampshire board including cricket chairman; club chairman; and president.

Away from Hampshire he also helps some sway in cricketing politics. Becoming the first chairman of the Test and County Cricket Board. It seems Parks had friends in high places too, as Prince Phillip nominated Parks to succeed as chairman of the MCC. He was also chairman of the ICC - in a time when that was a laudable office.

[The Professor]

On this day in 1974 England ended the series against the West Indies with a tight final day.

The brief was very simple for both teams. For the West Indies they were after 226 runs. The English needed to bowl them out.

The day started with Roy Fredericks and Lawrence Rowe both on 13. Everything started trotting along nicely for the Windies. Both batsmen were scoring regularly and there would have been some hope in their camp.

The wheels started to come off at 63-0, when three West Indies' batsmen were dismissed before they got to run number 66. Both openers were dispatched. Fredericks was run out and Rowe bowled by Jack Birkenshaw. In the next over Alvin Kallicharran was sent back for a duck by Tony Greig.

All-rounder Rohan Kanhai and Clive Lloyd attempted to stabilise and did a good enough job until they both got a rush of blood to the head and both got out in the same over. Grieg the benefactor for both, catching Lloyd off his own bowling. West Indies were 85-5. 141 away.

Garry Sobers and Deryck Murray proved the defining partnership for the West Indian innings. Upping the run rate to where it was at the start of the day and building a half century partnership. England needed to break this up or the balance would swing away from them.

The dismissal of Sobers sparked another double wicket, but this time it didn't claim both partners. When Sobers was bowled by Derek Underwood, the next man in, Bernard Julien, soon after departed for 2. 138-7 and 88 away.

It was then that the West Indies decided they wanted to fight for this. Keith Boyce joined Murray in the middle and the pair began to eat into the deficit. It was the more senior partner that went first, again from a Grieg delivery. 166-8. 60 away.

The tail wagged prodigiously when Inshan Ali joined Boyce for a partnership of 31, the third highest in the innings. English hearts were in English mouths. It seems fitting that it was Grieg that sent Ali back to claim his five-fer. 197 with one batsmen left.

That last batsman lasted no time at all and England claimed the victory with 26 runs to spare, drawing the series.

Hindsight Watch

This proved to be the last Test match of Garry Sobers' and Rohan Kanhai's careers.

It also was the last time that England would win a test against the West a indies for 16 years.

[The Professor]

On this day in 2001 Michael Bevan helped Australia to a series victory over India.

After India elected to bat, Sachin Tendulkar started well before being nipped behind to Adam Gilchrist for 12. Sourav Ganguly, whose form had been less than excellent, picked the right time to come good and grabbed 74 from 106 balls. He was aided and abetted by VVS Laxman, who lasted much longer than his captain and grabbed his first ODI century. He eventually fell for 101 caught by Gilchrist off a peach of a delivery by Ian Harvey.

After Laxman fell, India's batting dominance died away and the lower order failed to capitalise.

Set 266 to win, Mathew Hayden started strongly, smashing boundaries straight out of the blocks. Gilchrist was not shy to join the show either, taking 17 runs off a single Ajit Agarkar over. Javagal Srinath struck two heavy blows for Australia. He removed Hayden for 36 and then, in the same over, Ricky Ponting for just 4.

Gilchrist did not check his run scoring instincts and continued to hit boundaries prodigiously. This, and some clever running between the wickets, saw the partnership between Gilchrist and Bevan reach 68. Gilchrist lost his wicket to Tendulkar.

The Indians then set about the middle order. Steve Waugh caught by Agarkar off Tendulkar for 17. Darren Lehmann caught by Yuvraj Singh off Tendulkar for 1. Andrew Symonds caught by Hemang Badani off Srinath for 7. Australia had gone from 142-3 to 202-6.

Bevan, now left with Harvey, rose to the challenge and kept the run rate high and forced the Australians over the line.

[The Professor]

On this day in 2015 the first day of the MCCU University match between Middlesex and Oxford MCCU ended with honours even.

It did not appear to be as tight when Middlesex humbled the students to 15-4 within 7 overs. Both Tim Murtagh and Steven Finn grabbed a brace of wickets to start their season off with aplomb. The lone stand of Malcolm Lake helped Oxford MCCU to salvage some respectability. Lake capitalised on Murtagh and Finn being removed from the attack to take advantage of James Harris and Tom Helm's relative inexperience. Lake was aided by Luke Webb, but he was clearly the less dominant partner, getting out for 13.

Edward Ellis replaced Webb and continued in the same fashion, getting his 50 off 54 balls and soon enough getting Oxford over one hundred, something that looked far from certain at one point.

Partners were running out for Lake. He tried to up the run rate and was caught by Andy Balbirnie off a Murtagh delivery. This fell in the middle of a period of 5 overs where Oxford lost 4 batsmen for the gain of just 8 runs. The last wicket pair of Jack McIver and Jack Grundy put up some late resistance with a stand of 16 - before Paul Stirling added his name to the wickets and ended the innings with figures of 1-0 from 1.1 overs. The total was 193 all out. Finn had the best figures of the day taking 3-25 in 10 overs.

The Middlesex openers began in a reverse fashion to how Oxford did, starting well and then fading away.

Nick Gubbins and Sam Robson put up a spirited start against some good bowling and were 37-0 at tea. In just three more overs after tea they had leaped to 54, before Lake contributed again, this time with the ball, to get Robson lbw. Another spurt of runs from Gubbins and, next man in, Nick Compton brought Middlesex to 73-1 before Gubbins lost his wicket to Sam Weller. This began a slide for Middlesex equal to Oxford's earlier in the day.

Over the next 6 overs Middlesex lost their four most experienced batsmen (Dawid Malan, Compton, Stirling and Balbirnie) for the gain of just 15 runs. If you take Malan out of the equation it was even more damning - 3 batsmen gone for just 6 runs. Gallingly for Middlesex, Oxford were able to spread their wickets around with one each for their more senior bowlers.

This brought Middlesex's innings crashing to a halt. The County side froze and stopped scoring completely for 7 overs. They ended the day on 98-6, 95 behind the students.

[The Professor]

On this day in 2015 Middlesex felt more comfortable after Day Two of their match versus Oxford MCCU.

Initially it looked like the match was going to continue to be a free flowing wicketathon when Middlesex lost two batsmen within three overs of one another to take them to 107-7. Tom Helm proved the fillip that the Middlesex lower order needed. He joined John Simpson, where he was able to work himself into form and, when Simpson fell to a Malcolm Lake delivery, he went on to form a dominant partnership with Steven Finn. The pair frustrated the Oxford team and dragged them far over and above the target. By the time the pair was broken up through the loss of Helm, the pair had got their half century partnership and taken Middlesex to the total of 193 - 69 runs more than Oxford.

In their second innings, Oxford openers Steve Leach and Henry Hughes, buried the ghosts of their first innings and put together a good partnership. They reached 29 before Tim Murtagh got Hughes lbw. Lloyd Sabin came in and he and Leach continued in the same form, bringing the fifty up within the 17th over. Sabin fell just before tea through a Paul Stirling delivery.

After tea wickets came thick and fast. Leach, who had proved by far the most dangerous, was removed by James Harris in the second over after tea. His replacement Lloyd Paternott was dismissed just three overs later. Oxford were 101-4.

Malcolm Lake, who was the dangerman from Day One, looked to be moving up the gears again when Harris stopped him in his tracks for 12. When Edward Ellis and Sam Weller were dismissed within three overs of each other, Oxford had gone from 121-4 to 138-7.

Just as Helm and Finn had offered some late resistance for Middlesex, Jack McIver and Luke Webb offered their own response of 18 to offer some stability. Webb fell before the end of play but was the last wicket to fall in another busy day. Murtagh taking 3-41 in 15 overs,

[The Professor]

On this day in 2015 Oxford MCCU continued their spell of frustrating Middlesex but did not do enough to win.

The frustration began with yet another last wicket partnership, a regular motif for this game. Abidine Sakande was sent back second ball of the day offering no resistance to the scorers. This brought together Jack McIver and Jack Grundy who, in the first innings, were proud of their total of 16. On Day Three the pair got 49. McIver did the bulk of the scoring but was was the one that got out, edging to keeper John Simpson from a delivery by Tom Helm. Oxford were all out for 218 and Middlesex needed 150 to win. Paul Stirling had the best figures in this innings with two wickets for the loss of 31 runs in 13 overs.

Sam Robson would have been disappointed with his first innings performance and will be more so with his second innings. This time he only scored two before being deemed lbw by a Sam Weller delivery. Fellow opener Nick Gubbins also did not last until lunch and was dismissed for 17 off the bowling of Sakande. At lunch Middlesex were 37-2.

The partnership of Nick Compton and Dawid Malan built up well after lunch when boundaries became more fruitful. It looked, at one point, like the pair would see them through to victory but Compton mistimed a shot and was caught by Malcolm Lake. Hampshire still needed 56.

Malan took this as his cue to start batting up the gears and did so accordingly. He dominated the rest of the session and tied it up before lunch, taking his personal score to 60*.

[The Professor]

On this day in 1982 Ian Bell was born. To mark this occasion I list my top 4 best Ian Bell batting performances.

1. - 235 v India - 2011

For me one of the most stand out performances with the bat in what was a very strong England performance against India throughout the series. Ian Bell's 235 is the highest score in India-England Tests at The Oval and the seventh-highest individual score in Tests at the venue. It is also Bell's highest individual score surpassing his 199 against South Africa in 2008.

2. - 90 v Durham Jets - 2015

His best innings in the shortest format, as his 90 helped defending champions Birmingham Bears to a seven-wicket win over Durham Jets in the NatWest T20 Blast. He helped Warwickshire to 50 in 6 overs. Towards the end he cracked seven of 12 balls for boundaries.

3. 141 v Australia - 2015

A truly beautiful display with the bat only tarnished by it not having an effect on the result of the game. This was his highest score in one-day internationals and an innings in which he overtook Paul Collingwood as England’s leading runscorer in the format.

4. 64 v New Zealand, 2012

A powerful big hitting performance. Won't live long in the memory but was a competent display of batting that was Bell at his most aggressive best. His selection of shots was impeccable.

[Arthur Crabtree]

I'd go for the three in the 2013 Ashes, and the 199. Possibly the innings v India at TB, if we ignore that he batted on after being legitimately run out.

[braveneutral]

Alas none of his early BD tons.