Fearless Freddo

Freddo's blistering 169 in Perth was one of the most audacious innings ever played in a Test © AllSportUK Enlarge

1942
Dashing openers are ten-a-penny in the modern age, but in the days when openers blocked and middle-order batsmen attacked, the West Indian left-hander Roy Fredericks, who was born today, was a revelation. His blistering 169 against Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson on a Perth flyer in 1975-76 was one of the most audacious innings ever played in a Test, and though Fredericks was only 5ft 6in tall, he gave the ball a fearful whack. He followed up that Perth ton with a very good tour of England in 1976, when he made 517 runs in the five Tests. Fredericks played 59 Tests in all, bowing out against Pakistan in Jamaica in 1976-77 with a typically flamboyant 83. He later became sports minister of his native Guyana, but succumbed to cancer in New York in September 2000.

1969
A historic day for New Zealand, who drew the third Test with Pakistan in Dacca to clinch their first-ever series victory, for which they had been waiting almost 40 years. It looked unlikely when they were 101 for 8 in the second innings, only 84 ahead, but Mark Burgess and Bob Cunis added 96 for the ninth wicket - a national record at the time - to set Pakistan a steep 184 in 37 overs. Bad light stopped play after 15, and a minor riot led to play being abandoned for over an hour before the scheduled close.

2011
A bewildering two-and-a-half day Test in Cape Town. Parts of all four innings were played on day two, on which 23 wickets fell - a first in Test history, a batsman from both sides was dismissed twice in a day, a No. 11 top-scored in the innings, and oh, Australia bowled South Africa out for 96, before crumbling for 47 - their lowest total since 1902. South Africa conceded a 188-run first-innings lead but went on to win the Test by eight wickets on day three. Australia's captain, Michael Clarke, must have been particularly aggrieved, having scored 151 in the first innings.

1978
Having managed a century and a fifty as opener in his debut Test in 2001-02, Lou Vincent, who was born today, gradually moved down the New Zealand batting order. He scored a superb 224, his only Test double-century, against Sri Lanka at home in April 2005. Vincent earned his ticket to the 2007 World Cup when he strung together scores of 66, 76 and 90 in the tri-series in Australia earlier that year. In the Caribbean he made a century against Canada, but a broken wrist ended his tournament before the Super Eights. He had a poor tour of South Africa and struggled in the Chappell-Hadllee series that followed before he was dropped for the tour of Bangladesh later that year.

1924
Birth of the wristy Indian Rusi Modi, who made over 7500 first-class runs at an average of 53. But he only played 10 Tests, despite a handy average of 46. Modi marked his debut with a cool, unbeaten 57 at Lord's in 1946, and had a very fine series against West Indies in 1948-49, when he hit his only Test ton (112 in Bombay) as well as a brace of eighties. He later became one of India's most respected cricket writers, before dying in Bombay in 1996.

1891
The ultimate all-round performance in Adelaide. Fresh from a seven-hour 271, George Giffen took 9 for 96 and 7 for 70 to give South Australia an innings victory over Victoria, and it is no surprise that nobody else in first-class history has scored a double-century and taken 16 wickets. Known by some as the Australian WG Grace, Giffen played 31 Tests between 1882 and 1896, taking 103 wickets to add to his 1238 runs.

2002
A century before lunch for Inzamam-ul-Haq. At the Harare Sports Club, Pakistan had not taken advantage of Zimbabwe's loose bowling in the first innings, so Inzamam made up in the second, plundering 112 from 107 balls with 20 fours. His century, though, came in an extended 150-minute session, after bad light had shortened the previous day's play. When on 32, Inzamam became the second Pakistani after Javed Miandad to pass 6000 Test runs. The Test, which Pakistan won by 119 runs, also marked the debuts of Kamran Akmal and Blessing Mahwire.

1977
Birth of the late Ben Hollioake, who died in a car crash in Perth in March 2002. There was no batsman in England quite so easy on the eye, but his abundant talent went sadly unfulfilled. On his England debut, aged 19, he pinch-stroked a sumptuous 63 off 48 balls against Australia at Lord's before winning the Benson & Hedges final for Surrey against Kent with a similarly elegant 98 a month later. Hollioake was on course to be part of the England World Cup squad when tragedy struck.

1977
A remarkable feat of self-denial in Melbourne, where Victorian opener Paul Hibbert made a century against the touring Indians without hitting a single boundary. A stodgy opener at the best of times, Hibbert's performance earned him a call-up for the first Test in Brisbane the following month. He excelled himself by finding the boundary once, but after making 13 (off 77 balls) and 2, he was dropped and did not play again. Hibbert is one of only two batsmen to make a century without hitting a four (the other is former Derbyshire batsman Alan Hill, who made 103 for Orange Free State v Griqualand West in 1976-77), though Graham Thorpe famously made a Test century in Lahore in 2000-01 that included only two boundaries.

Other birthdays
1861 Stanley Christopherson (England)
1878 Stanley Snooke (South Africa)
1928 Trevor Meale (New Zealand)
1945 Niaz Ahmed (Pakistan)
1967 Sohail Fazal (Pakistan)
1969 Michael Owens (New Zealand)
1974 Wajahatullah Wasti (Pakistan)
1976 Leon Garrick (West Indies)