An insomniac's dream

Australia were "Fazalled" in Karachi © Getty Images Enlarge

1956
An insomniac's dream in Karachi, as Pakistan and Australia blocked their way through the slowest day in Test history. They mustered only 95 runs between them in a yawn-inducing full day's play, for the loss of 12 wickets. The match itself eventually went to Pakistan, thanks mainly to a Herculean performance from Fazal Mahmood. On a matting pitch, he returned match figures of 75-28-114-13 as an Australian side that included Harvey, Miller, Benaud and Davidson were skittled for 80 and 187. The one-off Test was the first between the sides.

1943
Birth of a true calypso cricketer. West Indian Keith Boyce was a brilliant lower-order hitter, a hostile fast bowler and an outstanding fielder with a bazooka-like throw. His unremitting zeal for the game made him a joy to watch. He played for Essex with great success between 1966 and 1977. Against Leicestershire in Chelmsford in 1975, he slammed a century in 58 minutes, and also took 12 for 73. He played 21 Tests and a crucial part in regaining the Wisden Trophy in 1973, but a natural entertainer like him was born for one-day cricket. He was the first man to score 1000 runs and take 100 wickets in limited-overs matches in England, and he starred in the 1975 World Cup final with a quickfire 34 and 4 for 50. He died on his birthday, in his native Barbados, in 1996.

1996
Lucky 13 for Nayan Mongia, who crawled to his one and only Test ton in Delhi in his 13th appearance, and took Australia to the brink of another defeat on the subcontinent. Mongia was pushed up to the top of the order and proved that keeping and opening is not an impossible job. He batted over eight hours for his 152, then Australia were hustled to a seven-wicket defeat on a pitch taking spin. In the absence of the injured Shane Warne (their spinners were Peter McIntyre, Brad Hogg and Mark Waugh) the Aussies didn't stand a chance - the Wisden Almanack says they "were subdued and haunted by the realisation they had failed".

1926
Much was expected of John Dewes, who plundered runs as a teenager for Cambridge University and played in the Victory Test at Lord's in 1945 (it was his first-class debut). But in ten Test innings between 1948 and 1950-51 he only reached double figures three times, passing 50 just once, and soon after took up a full-time career as a teacher.

1962
Phil Newport, who was born today, was one of many England seamers in the late 1980s and early '90s to find themselves only one bad performance away from the axe. He took seven wickets on debut, against Sri Lanka in 1988, and then ten on the first day of Worcestershire's low-scoring tour match against Australia in 1989. He was picked for the first Test but was spanked all round Headingley as Steve Waugh announced himself to English audiences, and the selectors showed no mercy. He did play one more Test, as a replacement in Perth in 1990-91, but despite being one of the better swing bowlers on the county circuit he was never picked again after that.

1902
The first day of the inaugural Test between South Africa and Australia in Johannesburg. Australia sailed home from their successful 1902 tour of England via the Cape, and the match began almost as soon as they arrived. It was played at an altitude of nearly 6000 feet, and it took the Aussies a while to acclimatise - they were forced to follow on before Clem Hill slammed a century before lunch on the final day to save the match.

1988
A tense finish in Lahore, where Pakistan's ninth-wicket pair of Iqbal Qasim and Tauseef Ahmed hung on grimly for a draw and a 1-0 series win against Australia. On a wearing track, Tim May and Peter Taylor shared seven of the eight wickets to fall, but ultimately Australia ran out of time. They only had themselves to blame, though - their first-innings 340 occupied 158 overs. The match was also notable for Javed Miandad becoming the first Pakistani to reach 7000 runs, and for being the only Test in which Steve Waugh opened the bowling in both innings.

1982
Birth of offspinning allrounder Aimee Watkins, who led the New Zealand women to the World Twenty20 final in 2009. Watkins, who made her one-day debut in 2002, got her maiden half-century and hundred against Australia - the first in 2006 and the second in 2007. Two years later, she took phenomenal figures of 4 for 2 in a World Cup match against South Africa. In 2010 she was named one of the hottest women athletes by Yahoo.

Other birthdays
1827 Frederick Caesar (England)
1899 Arthur Ochse (South Africa)
1979 Ryan Harris (Australia)