Birth of the defiant Dudley

Dudley Nourse crunched bowlers into submission off the back foot © Getty Images Enlarge

1910
Birth of the brilliant South African batsman Dudley Nourse, who used all the power generated by his massive forearms to crunch bowlers into submission off the back foot. He played 35 Tests between 1935 and 1951, averaging 53 (this in a side which won only two of those Tests). His finest hour came at Trent Bridge in 1951, when, aged 40, he defied the pain from a pinned broken thumb to grind out 208 in almost 10 hours. It was worth it, though - his innings set South Africa up for their first Test win for 16 years. He was the son of Old Dave Nourse, who played 45 consecutive Tests for South Africa at the start of the 20th century. Dudley died in Durban in 1981.

1995
Narendra Hirwani, playing his first Test for almost five years, ripped through New Zealand with 6 for 59 in Cuttack, but with monsoon rains allowing only 11 hours' play the match ended in a draw. As the match petered out, Roger Twose finally got a bat in his 10th day of Test cricket. And he treated his innings as if it was his last, enduring 204 minutes and 170 balls for 36.

1984
A duff pitch in Peshawar precipitated a batting masterclass from Javed Miandad as Pakistan beat New Zealand by 46 runs in the first one-dayer. In a rain-reduced 39-overs game, where only one other batsman passed 29, Miandad made 80 not out. Pakistan's other match-winner was the unheralded seamer Zakir Khan, who scythed through the top order with 4 for 19 on his debut. It was a false dawn, though - Zakir managed only 12 wickets in a further 16 ODIs.

1993
That great metronome Glenn McGrath made his debut in the first Test between Australia and New Zealand in Perth, and he gave a hint of what was to come, with first-innings figures of 39-12-92-2 (as well as a first-ball duck). Against all expectations the match was dominated for a time by New Zealand, who, anchored by 143 from Andrew Jones, took a first-innings lead of 22. Then Michael Slater and Mark Taylor lashed 198 for the first wicket, and New Zealand were ultimately left hanging on for a draw. Slater was out for 99.

1976
Ryan Watson, born today, was a key member of Scotland's middle order and also captained them in the 2007 World Cup. He made 80 against Pakistan on his one-day debut, though that was his only half-century against a Test-playing team. He averaged 30 in 35 ODIs, with one hundred, against Canada, before declining a Scotland contract in 2009 in favour of employment outside cricket.

1875
"Ripe strawberries found in Wales." No really. More than 100 years ago, the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack set out to debunk the myth of global warming, when it printed this curious fact in its 1877 edition. In the 19th Century, November was a busy month for discoveries ... we presume. On November 3, 1871, the same Almanack informs us, the explorer Stanley found Dr Livingstone lurking in central Africa.

Other birthdays
1954 Bharat Reddy (India)
1971 Shakeel Ahmed junior (Pakistan)
1977 Shadab Kabir (Pakistan)