Birth of the one-day final

Ted Dexter lifts the Gillette Cup after Sussex's victory in the first one-day final © Playfair Cricket Monthly Enlarge

1963
The inaugural Gillette Cup final was also the first major one-day final to be played at Lord's. Sussex captain Ted Dexter took to the new form of the game like a bee to honey: the Wisden Almanack referred to his "superior tactics" in the final. A soft pitch restricted Sussex to 168 all out, but falling rain hampered Worcestershire even more: all out for 154, they lost by 14 runs. Sussex retained the Cup the following year.

1871
One of the greatest allrounders, George Hirst, was born. Hirst did some yeoman work for England, hitting five fifties and taking five wickets in an innings four times, all against Australia, often away from home. He and his Yorkshire bowling partner Wilfred Rhodes won the 1902 Oval Test with a last-wicket stand of 15, although there may be no truth in the famous old story that they said, "We'll get 'em in singles." Hirst is probably better known for his feats at county level, where he and Rhodes helped Yorkshire win the Championship three years in a row. He completed the unique double of 2000 runs and 200 wickets in 1906, when he was also the only player to achieve two hundreds and two five-wicket hauls in the same first-class match.

1894
Birth of the debonair batsman Vic Richardson, whose Ronald Colman moustache was as conspicuous as his batting and fielding. Although he scored only one century and averaged just 23.53 in Test cricket, he played several valuable innings and was as brave as anyone against England's Bodyline bowling in 1932-33. He captained Australia to victory in the 1935-36 series in South Africa. At Kingsmead, Durban, in his final Test, he held five catches in an innings, a world record that has been equalled but never broken. His six catches in the match was another Test best until one of his own grandsons bettered it (Greg Chappell took seven against England in Perth in 1974-75).

1976
Birth of a West Indian opener. The world sat up and took notice when Wavell Hinds made 165 and 52 in only his fourth Test, against a Pakistan bowling line-up reading: Wasim, Waqar, Mushtaq, Saqlain and Razzaq. However, a problem with his front-foot technique soon became apparent, and Hinds rarely strung together a run of big scores. He played a key role in West Indies' 2004 Champions Trophy win with his part-time medium-pace bowling. After struggling to nail down a place in the West Indies side, he joined the unofficial ICL and also played county cricket for Derbyshire as a Kolpak.

1984
A Sri Lankan fast-bowling allrounder was born. Farveez Maharoof forced his way into the national side as a teenager after some impressive performances as Sri Lanka's Under-19 captain. He's been more at home in the limited-overs formats than in Tests; one of the highlights of his career was a 6 for 14 to bulldoze West Indies for 80 in the 2006 Champions Trophy. A series of injuries limited his appearances after a strong showing with the Delhi Daredevils in the inaugural IPL.

1996
The Singer Cup final was a repeat of the World Cup final from a few months ago. And Sri Lanka prevailed again in a one-sided game they won by 50 runs. Man of the Series Aravinda de Silva smashed 75 off 64, and Steve Waugh's run-a-ball 55 - n his 200th one-day international - was not enough as Upul Chandana bowled him and then cleaned up the tail for one run.

1959
Kevin Curran, a respected allrounder, is born. He was an important player with Gloucestershire and Northants, and although Test cricket passed him by, he was in the Zimbabwe team that played in the 1983 World Cup. In their opening match, their first official ODI, they shocked Australia at Trent Bridge. Curran scored 27 and took the vital wicket of Allan Border as Zimbabwe won by 13 runs.

1945
Birth of gritty allrounder and lay preacher Vic Pollard. Fiercely opposed to playing cricket on Sundays, he was a determined competitor on any other day. In his 32 Tests for New Zealand, he was an important member of a side fighting to establish itself as a force in the game. In his debut series, in England in 1965, he headed the batting averages with 56.20. In his last series, back in England in 1973, he averaged 100.66, scoring 116 at Trent Bridge, when New Zealand were set 479 to win and made a brave 440. An excellent fielder in the covers, he also took 40 Test wickets with his offspin.

1967
Dependable county batsman Steve James was born. Although he had a top score of only 36 in his two Tests for England, both in 1998, he made the highest score for Glamorgan - 309 not out - against Sussex at Colwyn Bay in 2000. He was made county captain in 2001 and after retiring became a cricket journalist.

1864
One man's meat was no one's poison. South African wicketkeeper Ernest Austin "Barberton" Halliwell was born. He had an undistinguished Test career (11 dismissals in eight matches) but gave relief to fellow stumpers everywhere by introducing the habit of putting raw steak in his gloves to protect the hands.

Other birthdays
1857 John McIlwraith (Australia)
1914 Norman "Mandy" Mitchell-Innes (England)
1955 Azhar Khan (Pakistan)
1961 Mohammad Aslam (UAE)
1964 Nurul Abedin (Bangladesh)
1973 Kathryn Ramel (New Zealand)
1974 Alpesh Vadher (Kenya)
1982 George Bailey (Australia)
1989 Holly Colvin (England)