On This Day

[sussexpob]

On this day, Australia won the 2007 World Cup.

Which one was that, the one that Gilchrist cheated in?

[GarlicJam]

Do you think that he did cheat, or were just having a fish?

[The Professor]

On this day in 1886 idiosyncratic bowler Bill Hitch was born.

Hitch was one of crickets first true all rounders. His main discipline was bowling but he was a more than competent lower middle order batsman and a brave fielder. Starting cricket at a young age, he found himself in his local sides first XI at the age of 12. He was signed for Surrey at the age of 18 after he was seen playing for Cambridge against a Surrey XI.

Hitch played in what was one of the more unusual games of cricket ever; a four aside showpiece between Surrey and Middlesex held on the stage of the London Coliseum. A game won by Middlesex and a format never reproduced.

He then found himself somewhat out of his depth in an MCC tour of Australia in 1911-12. He was not picked again for the national team until 1920-21 where, yet again, he failed to impress, although in his final Test appearance he did score a T20 style score of 50 off 41 balls. This was not the only time he played lustily. He was well known as a batsmen who, whilst not provided with great finesse, could hit the ball hard. In an era where we do not have information on the amount of balls faced, we have to rely on minutes at the crease but in 1919 he dispatched 74 in 35 minutes; in 1921 he did 71 in 50 minutes against Kent.

His best spell with the ball for Surrey came the year after he was dropped from the MCC team for the first time. He took 174 wickets at 18.55. However his best figures with the ball came in 1908 when he got 13 wickets in a match against Kent. In 1914 he was named as one of Wisden's cricketers of the year.

After leaving Surrey he played in the Lancashire Minor Leagues for four seasons before retiring. After retirement he had a spell coaching Glamorgan but then went to work for a company in South Wales.

[The Professor]

On this day in 2001 John McMahon died.

McMahon burst onto the scene at the relatively late age of 29 when he took 5-81 in his first match for Surrey against Leicestershire in 1947. He solidified his position in the next season and took 91 wickets at an economy of 28.07. After this time McMahon was replaced at Surrey by Tony Lock, He spent the next two seasons at Surrey trying to regain his place but only made 24 appearances over two seasons. This saw McMahon move to Somerset in 1953.

Somerset were much in need of a left-arm orthodox and McMahon instantly found himself a first team regular, however was initially a disappointment. Despite this he still managed 85 wickets across the season at an economy of 27.47. 1955 was much the same, McMahon toiling alongside a below par Somerset team and not getting the amount of wickets that he was capable of due to the lack of unity as a team. Yet again Somerset finished bottom of the table.

1956 was a sweet season for McMahon. He got his highest career haul for a season with 103 wickets at an average of 25.57, however disaster was just round the corner. At the start of the 1957 season big things were expected of McMahon but he soon, mysteriously, lost his place in the side. He never regained his place again. He was let go at the end of the season despite an outcry by the team and club members .

The reason behind McMahon's sacking was only revealed at his death. It was revealed that McMahon was a big drinker and would oftentimes break the team rules for drinking before matches. The final straw was when McMahon snuck himself and a majority of the team out of the hotel window for a night out before a game.

McMahon played Lancashire Minor Leagues for a while before taking up an office job.

[The Professor]

On this day in 2015 Warwickshire had the run of the first day against Worcestershire.

After a poor start wherein they lost both openers for 20 runs; William Porterfield, Laurie Evans and Sam Hain consolidated with scores of 29, 50 and 82 respectively. Things looked bleak when Jack Leach got the wickets of both Varun Chopra and Ian Westwood, but the successive partnerships put Warwickshire back on track. The 87 run partnership between Evans and Hain was the most impressive. Leach claimed Evans, as well as the wicket of Tim Ambrose immediately after to claim his fivefer within 55 overs.

Hain and Rikki Clarke stopped the rot with another strong partnership which set Warwickshire back on track but when, the man in form, Leach got Hain out too, Clarke was left with a cameo from Keith Barker and the tail. Sensing he needed to motor Clarke was next out, caught by Moeen Ali. Barker then became the more senior figure. Jeetan Patel got out just before the end of play with Warwickshire on 264 with one batsman left at the end of the day.

[The Professor]

On this day in 2015 a dominant day for Warwickshire all but buries Worcestershire.

The day began with Warwickshire's tail end capitulating and adding only 12 runs before being all out. This left Worcestershire the rest of the day to bat...the problem being that they did not.

Within 10 overs Worcestershire had suffered the wrath of Luke Wright and were 27-4, Wright taking three of them. Tom Fell proved the stickiest of the Worcestershire opening wickets but those around him crumbled; Alex Gidman and Alex Kervezee both going for single figures leaving Worcestershire 49-5.

Ben Cox and Jack Leach proved a (relatively) stubborn middle order resistance, however when they fell within 2 overs of one another to Keith Barker it was game over for Worcestershire. They were all out for 149 with an 115 run deficit.

Warwickshire's reply also started with a few tumbling wickets. Both Ian Westwood (12) and Will Porterfield (4) fell cheaply however Varun Chopra was dominating the crease and had managed to snaffle 72 runs in 45 overs to take Warwickshire's lead to 220.

[The Professor]

On this day in 2015 some dogged Warwickshire batting probed the theme of the day, helping Warwickshire to a high total.

Chopra took his overnight 72 to a century whilst the rest of the middle order Warwickshire batsmen melted away. The only batsman that showed any desire to stick around with Chopra was Keith Barker. Just as in the first innings, Barker showed a dogged persistency that saw him and Chopra make 66. When Moeen Ali dispatched the two of them within five overs, Worcestershire may have thought they had broken the back of the Warwickshire charge however they did not make allowances for Chris Wright and Boyd Rankin.

The 9th wicket pair racked up 114 runs and still remained undefeated when their captain declared with a lead of 436.

Worcestershire's chase began in an underwhelming fashion. Richard Oliver and Moeen Ali both got themselves set before losing their wicket, both for 33. Daryl Mitchell who was playing much more slowly, potentially with an eye on the draw, stood on 18 at the end of the day with nightwatchman Charlie Morris at the crease.

[The Professor]

On this day in 2015 Worcestershire made some in roads into the deficit but were all out with 181 to spare.

Daryl Mitchell was the great hope that Worcestershire lent on, especially after Charlie Morris was dispatched for just 2 more runs on the morning of the last day. He and Tom Fell put together a tenacious partnership of 47 together but both were sent back to the pavilion within three balls of one another.

A spell of middle order chaos that started with the loss of Mitchell and Fell, the next two batsmen were then sent back within the next ten overs.


Just as in the first innings, Ben Cox and Jack Leach proved a sticky partnership for Warwickshire to break. They put together 28 together but individually added 73 to the total. Jeetan Patel took the most dangerous scalp of Ben Cox - his fourth wicket of the day.

Jack Shantry and Sachithra Senanayake offered no resistance and the day, and victory, was wrapped up

[The Professor]

On this day in 1865 the United South of England Eleven finished its game with a twenty-two man Ireland side with a resounding victory.

In the jumbled world of embryonic England sides, the United South of England Eleven (USEE) was the third side formed. They joined the All England side and the United England side who were all competting alongside each other to be recognised as a de facto national team.

The formation of the USEE side altered the selection policy of the All England side which became almost exclusively a side picked from the North of the England.

The sides popularity was boosted in 1870 when WG Grace played for the team. He and his brother spent ten years affiliated with the team. Under their stewardship the USEE became the biggest team in the land. The USEE side played 217 games before they were disbanded in 1880 - the last of the original cohort of teams to do so.

[The Professor]

On this day in 1910 Ken Viljoen was born.

Viljoen served his country as both a player and, more notably, as manager - taking charge of the national side on two occasions.

Viljoen's career as a Test player lasted 19 years wherein he played for the team 27 times. He was a player who, for one reason or another, particularly thrived against playing England. A notable score of his was 201 against Sussex in 1947 in under four hours.

During his tenure as manager South African cricket was in the doldrums however Viljoen helped produce a marvellous sense of unity that belied the lack of talent that hampered the team and saw them salvage some results in a 1955 tour of Australia. The same ethos was instilled in the players for the tour of England with the same competent style of cricket but with fewer results. His style of man management and his attention to detail saw South Africa draft him back into the team again a decade later for another tour of Australia.

[The Professor]

On this day in 1948 a dominant Australia destroyed Essex on Day One of a historic warm up match.

Australia had already played four games in England and had scored at least 350 in a day in all of them. Essex would have felt a bit nervous at this but their worst nightmares were not prepared for the final outcome.

The Australians did not pull any punches with their team selection either. The opening four batsmen of Sid Barnes, Bill Brown, Don Bradman and Keith Miller were the same four that played all Summer and were the most dominant opening line up in the world.

The day began unspectacularly after Bradman won the toss and put the Australians in. The fall of the first wicket came after an hour and a half with Australia on 145. Breezy by today's standards, very fast for then, still nowhere near what Australia went on to show.

Bradman marked a sea change in the batting approach of the sides. In his first 25 minutes he scored 45 runs. At lunch Australia were 202-1.

By the time Brown was dismissed for 153, Bradman and he had accrued a partnership of 219. Australia were 354-2.

Then came a moment of contention. Keith Miller came to the crease and, in many people's opinion, purposely got himself out for a duck. Some have said that this was a message to Bradman wherein he felt that younger players should be blooded rather than experienced internationals destroying the county team. Australia were 364-3.

Bradman was next out, scoring 187 in 124 minutes. Australia were at 498-5.

Essex had now got to the softer middle order but with such a psychological deficit to overcome even they were punching above their weight. The Australians were having a field day. Sam Loxton and reserve wicketkeeper Ron Saggers put on 166 for the sixth wicket in 66 minutes. Staggers scored his first century in any form of the game at the age of 31.

Once this partnership had broken Essex had an easier time of it. Essex took the last four wickets for 57. This saw one Essex bowler not end with awful figures; Peter Smith's 4-193.

Many spectators and players did not know what the precise score was as the scoreboard's hundred tally only went up to 6.

Hindsight watch.

At the end of the summer, Essex would have taken some solace from the fact that they were one of the few sides to bowl out Australia.

The 721 runs scored in a day is still a record.

[The Professor]

On this day in 1948 there was a rest day between Essex and Australia. A rest day that was particularly well earned for Trevor Bailey.

Trevor Bailey had already encountered the Australians before this Summer.

He was plying his trade between Cambridge University and Essex in 1948 and had the dubious pleasure of facing the Invincibles back to back. In the game against Cambridge University, Bailey would have taken some plus points from the fact that he top scored for the students with 79 across the two innings. The downside is that four Australian batsmen from a second strong Australia side scored 404 in their innings. This included a dynamic 200 from Bill Brown. Even in this Bailey would have taken some credit. In his 15 overs bowled he only leaked 43 runs.

After this startling defeat the Australian team asked if he wanted to share the coach down to Southend.

This meant that in just two cricket playing days Bailey had 1123 runs scored against him.

[The Professor]

On this day in 1948 Australia completed their rout of Essex with an 18 wicket day.

The Essex players would have had fitful nights sleep at the thought of facing the Australians again - in their deepest nightmares they wouldn't have imagined being 0-1. The first ball dismissal of Dickie Dodds started Essex's day off poorly and it only got worse from there. Keith Miller and Bill Johnston combined to dismiss the whole of the top order for just 19 runs. Ernie Toshack then took over the duties of wicket taker and gutted the entire middle order, including the stubborn top scorer Ray Smith (25). Trevor Bailey, perhaps disconsolate and shattered, was absent hurt for both innings. The combined Essex effort mustered only 82 runs.

Essex, of course, followed on and put up a better display second time round. Both openers got into the teens before being sent back. The upper middle order was equally as poor as in the first innings. Frank Vigar rounded off his poor display with his second successive duck of the day. Essex would have been fearful of their innings petering out totally but an unexpected 7th partnership of 131 between Tom Pearce (71) and Peter Smith (54) proved frustrating for Australia. By the time this was broken up, the Essex total went from 46/6 to 183/8. It was all tidied up soon after and Australia claimed an innings and 451 run victory.

The best figures for the day came from Ian Johnson - who got 0 wickets in the first innings but figures of 6-37 in the second.

[The Professor]

On this day in 1995 Durham's Riverside Stadium played it's first game.

5 years in construction, the ECB had demanded that Durham be allowed to be a first class cricket team on the proviso that they build a new stadium.

Despite the fact that it hosted it's first game today, a number of the stadium's features and facilities were still temporary at this time. The stadium was not fully completed until 1998. Ten years later a reconstruction process was begun with a view to being able to hold games at the 2019 World Cup.

[The Professor]

On this day in 1999 South Africa showed a tenacious display to beat Sri Lanka in a World Cup match in Northampton.

At one time everyone in the ground must have thought that Sri Lanka were going to win this match....everyone with the exception of Lance Klusener. At 122-8 South Africa looked like they might have died away towards the end of their innings.

The South Africa side looked like they might be on a winner early on when Gary Kirsten started brightly - knocking three boundaries in one over but soon got dispatched. Within three overs South Africa had also lost Herschelle Gibbs and Mark Boucher and their score read 24-3.

Daryll Cullinan and Jacques Kallis stopped the rot with a partnership of 29 - with Cullinan being the more dominant partner. The Sri Lankan bowling began to look a bit tame and lacking depth. Cullinan prospered whilst Kallis and then Hansie Cronje were both dismissed. At the fall of Cronje's wicket South Africa were 69-5. An athletic catch from Chaminda Vaas dismissed Cullinan just when he was starting to look dangeroud. He was out for 49.

This brought Klusener in with two key objectives: bat out the 94 balls left and to lift the score from 122 to as close to 175 as possible. He started slowly but then unleashed. Steve Elworthy and Klusener put together 44 runs together before Elworthy went - a victim to the bowling of Vaas. There were still 27 balls left, but Allan Donald was all Klusener had. He took the strike and rigidly refused to yield it.

Vaas had gone from hero to zero and looked rattle and clueless against Klusener. Klusener began to gain confidence and start to hit more boundaries - including the game's first six.

South Africa, after being 122 for 8, reached 199 for 9. Klusener, with a 45-ball 52, had given his teammates something to defend.

Jacques Kallis was the chief tormentor of Sri Lanka with the ball. He claimed the first three batsmen for the gain of only 13 runs. Another wicket straight after this cluster saw Sri Lanka 14-4.

Roshan Mahanama and a young Mahela Jayawardene put together a cluster of runs in the middle order. The last 4 wickets fell for 23, Mahanama eventually falling to Pollock for 36 and Klusener running through the tail with 3 for 21.