A modern classic

2000
The end of a momentous Lord's Test. England looked set to go 0-2 down to West Indies when they were 160 for 8, chasing 188. But Dominic Cork, who had already taken match figures of 7 for 52 on his return, had other ideas: he smacked Franklyn Rose for six, and after some unbearable tension as England limped towards their target, cut the winning four. It was the purest catharsis.

1932
Tich Freeman is the only man to take 300 wickets in a season and between 1928 and 1935 he took 2090 first-class wickets. On this day in Folkestone he took 8 for 31 and 9 for 61 as Kent beat Warwickshire by 74 runs.

1993
When England threw in the kids. At Trent Bridge, 2-0 down to Australia, and having lost seven Tests in a row, the selectors decided to bring in Mark Lathwell (age 21), Graham Thorpe (23), Mark Ilott (22) and Martin McCague (24) for their debuts, as well as Nasser Hussain (25) after a three-year absence. And Andy Caddick and Peter Such were playing only their third Tests. Thorpe became the first English debutant for 20 years to make a hundred. The match was drawn.

1996
A journeyman's day in the sun. In a tour match against India in Southampton, Hampshire's Kevan James took four wickets in four balls - and then scored a century. He is still the only man to do so in a first-class match.

1994
The day Darren Gough bustled into Test cricket. He'd been a spectator on the first day of the third Test against New Zealand at Old Trafford, but on the second Gough puffed out his chest and immediately had a huge impact. At first it was with the bat. Coming to the crease after England had crawled to 235 for 7, he cracked ten fours in a quickfire 65 and injected some life in the match in the process. Wisden Cricket Monthly said that "Gough carried on as if he played in these matches every Saturday afternoon." Then came his day job. Mark Greatbatch was bounced out fifth ball and, soon after, Stephen Fleming was caught behind. Gough ended with first-innings figures of 4 for 47, and a star was born.