Anil's top 10

Anil Kumble: recorded his perfect ten at Delhi © Getty Images Enlarge

1999
A day Anil Kumble will never forget. Kumble became only the second man after Jim Laker to take all 10 wickets in a Test innings, against Pakistan in Delhi. His 10 for 74 - all 10 came in a spell of 18.2 overs for 37 runs - swept India to their first victory over Pakistan in 23 Tests, dating back to 1979-80. With India in a comfortable position, Mohammad Azharuddin instructed Javagal Srinath at the other end to bowl wide of the stumps; he was twice called for wides as a result. Read Kumble's, Srinath's and others' account of the feat here.

1998
The day an old warhorse kicked off the ultimate (West) Indian summer. When Gus Fraser was picked for England's tour of the Caribbean, having not played Test cricket for two years, he was thought by some to be there as much to coach the young seamers as to play himself. Fraser made a nonsense of that, huffing and puffing his way to 8 for 53 against West Indies in Trinidad. It was a monstrous performance, and Fraser added three more wickets in the second innings, but it was another Fraser moment - his dropping of David Williams off the first ball of the last day - that ultimately cost England the match. Williams and Carl Hooper took West Indies to the brink of a thrilling three-wicket victory, and Fraser's heroics were in vain.

1921
From a warhorse to a war-wounded spinner. South African Athol Rowan often bowled with a metal leg brace because of injuries sustained in the Western Desert. The younger brother of Eric Rowan, who played 26 Tests for South Africa, Athol was capped 15 times between 1947 and 1951. He had an unusual grip for an offspinner, with his spinning finger along rather than across the seam, and a stumbling run-up as a result of his gammy leg. His finest hour came when he bowled South Africa to a tense victory over England at Trent Bridge in 1951. He died in South Africa in 1998.

1857
A multi-talented sportsman is born. The Honourable Alfred Lyttelton was one of seven brothers who played first-class cricket, and as well as playing four Tests for England he played football for his country and was an outstanding tennis player. He ended with a freakish bowling average of 4.75 after taking 4 for 19 (one of them caught by stand-in wicketkeeper WG Grace) with underarm lobs while bowling in his wicketkeeping pads - declarations were not permitted in those days, so every Englishman got a bowl - against Australia at The Oval in 1884. He died in London in 1913.

1982
A World Cup win for Australia's women, with England their victims in the final in Christchurch. England pottered to 151 for 5 off 60 overs, and though Australia lost wickets steadily, they had six balls and three wickets left when they got home. That gave them victory in, to give it its full name, the Hansells Vita Fresh Women's World Cup. Catchy.

1952
An impromptu rest day on what should have been the second day of the fifth Test between India and England in Madras, following the death of King George VI on February 6.

1972
Aftab Habib, who was born on this day, was picked for the New Zealand series in 1999 despite never having been on an A tour. England probably thought it would be a good chance to ease him in against substandard opposition. It wasn't. After scores of 1, 6 and a horrible 104-ball 19 that was like watching a man on cricketing Death Row, Habib was dumped.

Other birthdays
1963 Roland Lefebvre (Holland)
1962 Alan Sippy (India)
1972 Ryan Campbell (Australia)