On This Day

[The Professor]

On this day in 2013 Alex Hales leads England to T20 victory over Australia.

The strength of Australia's batting in this T20 series has proved a catalyst to persuade England to bat more aggressively themselves. That the partnership of Michael Lumb and Hales got an opening stand of 111 in 11.2 overs was certainly testament to the shadow of Aaron Finch. It was Lumb who looked the most damaging initially, with Hales only taking over the reigns as the innings wore on. He sped up sufficiently to get his fifty off 34 balls, however.

When Lumb fell to the spin of Fawad Ahmed, Luke Wright joined Hales and initially looked to be off the pace but began to motor and took 18 off one Glenn Maxwell over. He eventually fell to James Faulkner for 30.

Hales fell for 94 to the final ball of the penultimate over, delivered by Faulkner caught by David Warner.

Ahmed made his figures look very good indeed with the dismissal of Jos Buttler and Eoin Morgan in the same over leaving him with 3-24.

Dismissing record breaker Finch for just four was a huge coup for England after his 156 in the first T20. Warner seemed most likely to take on the mantle of the big hitter but was out for 53 from 42 deliveries.

Shane Watson, Shaun Marsh and George Bailey (in ascending order of longevity) had brief cameos at the crease to support Watson but had no sticking power.

Jade Dernbach had the best figures for England with figures of 3-23.

[The Professor]

On this day in 1939 wickets tumble at Hove as Yorkshire seal sudden win.

Yorkshire opened the day three wickets down in their first innings and ended the day as unlikely Day Three victors in a day that saw nineteen wickets tumble.

The day started in conventional fashion as Maurice Leyland and Norman Yardley continued their partnership of the night before. 12 runs were added before Leyland was first man down for 64. The only other partnership to speak of was between Yardley and Brian Sellers. Yardley took the lead in a partnership of 44 before Sellers was out for 12 off the bowling of Jim Parks.

There then ensued a run of 16 batsmen all out for single figures. Yorkshire went from 363-5 to 392 all out with the highest score being Hedley Verity's 7 not out. James Langridge was the biggest beneficiary from this bagging three of the last five wickets. Yorkshire still managed to get a lead of 5 runs on the first innings.

Sussex would have been on a high from their bowling exertions but were soon brought back down to Earth when opener Parks was bowled first ball. After this came the innings biggest partnership of twelve between John Langridge and Henry Parks before they were both seen off with twelve runs on the board off the bowling of Verity. Verity also claimed the joint highest scorer of the innings - George Cox who was caught from behind.

Things only got worse for Sussex from here. They lost the rest of their batsmen for a mere 11 runs - Verity the main benefactor. He finished with figures of 7-9 off 6 overs. Sussex were 33 all out - a lead of 28.

Yorkshire would have hoped to polish this off with relative ease but the wickets continued to tumble. Yorkshire got to the heady heights of 4 runs on the board before Len Hutton was dismissed for 1 off the bowling of Langridge. Things calmed down from there and Wilf Barber and Arthur Mitchell put on the remaining runs together to seal victory on a tumultuous day.

[The Professor]

On this day in 2014 England show their abject lack of class in ODIs with loss against India.

England were inserted to bat and managed only a modest target. Wickets sandwiched the middle order. At one time England were 23-3 - at another time they went from 194-7 to 206.

To start with England were smothered. Alistair Cook managed only managed 1 run from his first fifteen balls. Bhuvneshwar Kumar broke up the (sometimes) dangerous Cook-Hales partnership - slipping the ball past Hales for 6. Kumar also got Cook for an, equally unimpressive, nine.

The only batsmen that will not have anything to answer for is Moeen Ali. His 67 off 50 balls added a much needed impetus into the England attack and proved the spinner's metal as a batsman before the World Cup. Coming in at 114-5 he managed to haul England to respectability.

Joe Root played respectably but very much within himself. Eoin Morgan put on a good show but made a daft mistake to lose his wicket for 32.

Ajinkya Rahane and Shikhar Dhawan set about destroying England's total and moral - the former with a century and the latter with an unbeaten 97. England's bowlers had little to offer. India's openers sounded them out for the first few overs but when they saw that they, did indeed, have little to offer began to accelerate. The partnership was replete with boundaries

The game finished with 20 overs left unbowled and rendered MS Dhoni India's most successful ODI captain.

[The Professor]

On this day in 2015 Matthew Wade and Mitchell Marsh bolster the Australian total and seal win.

David Warner and Joe Burns started well and formed a decent enough opening partnership for Australia. When they departed, however, the middle order lost their way. Adil Rashid was the earliest beneficiary of this - getting the wicket of both Burns and Steven Smith as well as Warner and, later, George Bailey. It was a fine performance from the spinner.

When the seventh wicket partnership came together the score was 193-6 - which itself had toppled from 164-3. The 112 run partnership pushed Australia over the 300 mark to make life particularly difficult for England. It didn't start well for Wade - his first shot leading to the run out of Shane Watson - however he more than made up for this.

Scoreboard pressure rather than any brought about by bowlers got to the English batsmen. Just as the Australians did, the England openers started brightly - Jason Roy seizing the impetus in a 70 run opening stand with Alex Hales.

In an equally similar way to the Australians, once the openers left the middle order got bogged down. James Taylor started well but got himself in a bit of a muddle against some increasingly tight bowling before falling one short of his half century. When Eoin Morgan was dismissed for 38 with the score on 194-5 the game was up.

The rest of the line up for England seemed underwhelming. Ben Stokes never looked comfortable and holed out for 13. Jos Buttler went for just 4. Moeen Ali was doing his best but was losing partners rapidly and soon was gone himself.

England were wrapped up and had lost by 59 runs.

[The Professor]

On this day in 1993 Glamorgan wicketkeeper Haydn Davies died.

In the annals of Glamorgan's cricketing history Davies goes down as their most prodigious gloveman. He claimed 789 dismissals from his 423 first class games between 1935 and 1958.

Davies had his choice of a number of sports to represent when he was still a schoolboy. He made two appearance for the Welsh Schools rugby team and also played squash internationally but was spotted playing for Llanelli by Glamorgan captain Maurice Turnbull. Despite being signed in 1935 he did not become a regular fixture in the team until 1938 and only hit his finest form after the war - where he played every county match for Glamorgan between 1947 and 1957.

Despite this fine County form he was never given a chance in a Test team due to Godfrey Evans already being the established wicketkeeper.

Davies retired in 1958 and became a coach at the Edinburgh Squash & Tennis Club before returning to Wales to run a pub.

[The Professor]

On this day in 2012 South Africa tied the One Day International series with a spell of good batting for the third wicket.

England's innings was beset by poor batting. England's wickets came in spurts. in the blink of an eye they were 42-2. Alistair Cook and Jonny Bairstow were in the process of rebuilding and then there were three wickets in six overs. Gallingly for England the three wickets were that of Cook, Bairstow and Eoin Morgan - three batsmen who could have put the wheels back on the innings. From here England lost wickets regularly. Samit Patel started well before being caught behind for a patient 9. Craig Kieswetter looked even more dynamic for a score of 33 but when he went for an ambitious boundary it was game over. James Tredwell and Jimmy Anderson couldn't have gifted their wickets away in a more emphatic way had they tried. The former missed his shot, the latter tried to launch his first delivery for a boundary and was caught by Morne Morkel.

In an experimental bowling line up, JP Duminy and Faf du Plessis impressed with figures of 1-11 and 1-8 respectively.

South Africa's chase began poorly and were soon reduced to 14-3 but the partnership of Hashim Amla and AB De Villiers soon set that right. Graeme Smith was caught by Tredwell off a poor shot, then Anderson got du Plessis and Dean Elgar in a superb display of pacey swing bowling.

Amla seemed immune to the weaknesses that had gone before and got to his half century off 63 balls accompanied by de Villiers who looked imposing throughout. England's heads went down and South Africa's run rate went up. Suddenly Amla was on the verge of his century and de Villiers had pushed into the seventies. And just like that the game was up.

[The Professor]

On this day in 1995 Bangladesh Wunderkind Mustafizur Rahman was born.

Despite being only 21 Rahman has enough accolades under his belt for me to do a Top 5 Birthday List.

1. The wicket of Chris Gayle - In his home tournament of the Bangladesh Premier League. Rahman made his name in 2015 with the wicket of Chris Gayle. It is not just the wicket that was so impressive but instead the way he teased and tormented Chris Gayle and then got him out. He played the master at his own game.

2. 2-5 for Dhaka Dynamites v Chittagong Vikings - Another spell of ludicrously economical and destructive cricket for this man in the BPL. His deployment of the slower ball was something to behold in this game. Tamim Iqbal didn't stand a chance against his teasing bowling.

3. 6 wickets for Bangaldesh v India - Mustafizur started as he meant to go on in this ODI with a wicket with no score. The wicket was that or Rohit too. Rahman disappeared for a bit and then struck to break partnerships regularly form the fourth wicket partnership on.

4. 4 wickets for Sussex v Essex - In, what was a largely disappointing T20 Blast series for Fizzy, he topped off his stay in Sussex with a fourfer vs Essex. Mustafizur showed his full range of limiting economical cricket and explosive wicket taking bowling. Stumps were regularly destroyed that day.

5. 2 wickets for Hyderabad v Punjab - A teasing tormenting spell from the IPL here where Mustafizur seemed desperate to get a batsmen out with every ball - even when they weren't out they couldn't get a bat on it. He ended up scalping the Punjab team and single handedly claiming the match himself. He claimed 2 wickets for nine runs.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Is he fit to play against England?

[The Professor]

I'm afraid so

[The Professor]

On this day in 1993 Guy Overton passed away.

In the early 1940s Overton balanced his passion of playing cricket for the local team, Southland, with being a sheep farmer. In 1945 he made his First Class debut for Otago after playing against them the season before and impressing.

Overton became an established member of the Otago team that would oftentimes play against touring Test teams as warm-up matches before they faced New Zealand. This meant that Overton faced up to some of the best bastmen of his generation.

Towards the end of the 1940s Overton became a prolific wicket taker and would often walk away from matches with a bag full of wickets.

At the age of 34 Overton made his debut for the New Zealand test Team and played three of the four Test matches against South Africa in 1953-4. The series was a great success for Overton with him showing his prowess with the ball yet again. His best figures came off the back of this tournament. On their way back from South Africa, New Zealand faced off against Western Australia where Overton got 7 for 52. It was to be his last foray in the international team.

[The Professor]

On this day in 2013 a century for Michael Clarke see's Australia reach victory in the first ODI vs England.

Thing's started brightly for England. Steven Finn broke up the opening partnership with no runs on the board when he removed Shaun Marsh for a duck. Marsh's replacement, Shane Watson, had his, now customary, battle with DRS. He was given out first ball - which he overturned - Ravi Bopara then used it against him when he was on 38 and Watson had to walk. There was a glimpse of hope when James Tredwell got Finch making the score 116-3 but this brought together Clarke and George Bailey.

Clarke was the highlight of the Australia innings and he seared an 102 ball 105. He was ably supported by Bailey who also managed an impressive 75 from 65 balls. Clarke was eventually displaced by Boyd Rankin, who was the most impressive 'English' bowler with figures of 2-49. The rest of the bowling attack had to be happy restricting. Tredwell's contribution was in the negative, conceding far over a run a ball in his opening spells - he ended up with 60 off 8 overs. Australia posted 315.

England's pursuit never looked to be on and it seemed like Australia had put too much on the board. You can add to this a (mildly) triumphant return for Mitchell Johnson who returned figures of 2-36. His first victim, Michael Carberry, was down to fortune but his dismantling of Jonathan Trott was Johnson back at his best. This cluster of wickets came in just the third over. Ten overs later Joe Root went for a measly 3 - leaving England 38-3 and fighting a losing cause.

Kevin Pietersen and Eoin Morgan looked the only batsmen with the innovation and class to rise above this and got 60 and 54 respectively. Pietersen fell first on 94-7 and then England's wickets fell steadily: Ravi Bopara caught by Adam Voges for 1, Morgan bowled by Clint McKay, Ben Stokes making a poor error of judgement.

Jos Buttler scorched a consolation 75 off 85 balls but it was not enough to restore anything even close to parity. England ended 88 runs off Australia's total.

[The Professor]

On this day in 2015 Glamorgan faced off against Kent in the County Championship on a Day One for bowlers.

Despite the fourteen wickets that fell in the day, Kent had three half centurions in their ranks after choosing to bat. Rob Key and Sean Dickson kick started the game with fifties of their own - combining for a score of 122 for the first wicket after Daniel Bell- Drummond was skittled out for 4 in the second over. The partnership was broken just before lunch when Dickson was removed.

Key rumbled on joined by Sam Northeast and was on the cusp of a century but was out for 94, caught behind of the bowling of David Lloyd. Northeast followed soon after - caught by Mark Wallace off the bowling of Michael Hogan. This left Kent at 212-2 however they then suffered something of a collapse to fall to 309.

Darren Stevens was the only lodestone of the Kent middle order whilst those around him crumbled. His 64 runs constituted 66% of the runs from batsman three and below - with four of the last five batsmen failing to bother the scorers.

When Glamorgan were inserted, Kent inflicted a similar fate on them. A depleted Glamorgan line-up were picked off for small totals and Glamorgan limped to 65-4 at close.

[The Professor]

On this day in 2015 Kent take control on Day Two of their game against Glamorgan.

Glamorgan were dismissed for 207 - 102 short of the target. The only Glamorgan players that put up a tangible resistance were Graham Wagg and Craig Meschede. By the second ball of the day's play things started going awry for Glamorgan when they lost Andrew Salter - with Aneurin Donald following soon after. When Chris Cooke was dismissed the score was 101-7 and Glamorgan were staring at the possibility of being asked to follow on. Wagg and Meschede shared a partnership of 57 to lift Glamorgan over that all important mark. Adam Riley got the best figures for Kent with 4-47.

The Kent batsmen combined well again with a slew of fifties and a century. Rob Key scored a rapid fire century with Daniel Bell-Drummond scoring an equally proficient 50. When Bell-Drummond was caught on 54, Joe Denly took his place and went on to score a half century of his own. Both Key and Denly remain undefeated at the end of the day's play - Key on 117 and Denly on 66.

[The Professor]

On this day in 2015 Joe Denly bats through the day to extend Kent's lead over Glamorgan.

Rob Key and Denly continued their scalping of the Glamorgan bowlers with long spells of dominance. Both batsmen gave little chances to Glamorgan. The first chance that Key offered was seized which brought Sam Northeast out and the onslaught continued. At the point of declaration Denly was on 166 with Northeast on 50.

Kent's day ended well with Matt Coles claiming the wickets of Jeremy Lawlor and David Lloyd, however James Kettleborough and Colin Ingram consolidated and got Glamorgan to the close on 101-2.

[The Professor]

On this day in 2015 Kent ripped through Glamorgan's batsmen to huge victory.

It is further credit to Kent that they inflicted such a huge defeat on Glamorgan with Colin Ingram managing to bag a century.

The man of the day for Kent was Darren Stevens who got a fiver-fer. The majority of his wickets came from a spell of 4-10 in 17 deliveries where he bagged some of the biggest names in the Glamorgan batting line up. This tops a haul of 112 wickets in the season for the Kent veteran.