Three princely entrances

All Today's Yesterdays - June 2 down the years

1965
A great few minutes for Australian cricket, as the Waugh brothers are born in the Sydney suburb of Bankstown. Steve is about ten minutes older than Mark, and made his Test debut five years before his brother lit up Adelaide with a dreamy 138 in 1990-91. Mark had been called up to replace Steve, but they eventually became the first twins to play in a Test together; in all they've done it 108 times. Their achievements are too many to mention, but one match stands out: Jamaica in 1995, when Australia usurped West Indies as the greatest team in the world, and the Waughs added a seismic 231 for the fourth wicket. Mark made 126 and Steve an even 200, the greatest innings of his life. As cricketers and characters they are chalk and cheese: Mark the laconic, easy-going strokemaker with a taste for the horses so strong that he once got himself out deliberately in a club game to check the progress of a bet; Steve the rough, tough scrapper who overcame an early frailty to short-pitched bowling and willed himself to become a batsman as mentally tough as any in the game's history.

1978
At Edgbaston, one of the more auspicious beginnings to a Test career. Pakistan left-arm seamer Liaqat Ali dropped short, and England's woolly-haired new boy David Gower swivelled to pull his first ball at the highest level lazily for four. Most England batsmen get caught in the headlights on their Test debut; Gower, said the Wisden Almanack, "played with the assurance of a Test veteran." It was the start of something beautiful for England fans: Gower made another fifty in his second innings, a century in his fourth, and a double-century within a year. In all he made 8231 runs, second among Englishman only to his eventual bete noir, Graham Gooch.

1865
Birth of one of the greatest bowlers of all time. What Nasser Hussain would give for someone like George Lohmann. The statistics of his career are jaw-dropping: in 18 Tests he took 112 wickets at the average of 10.75. To put that in context, nobody else with 70 Test wickets has an average below 15. He took a wicket every 34 balls, and conceded just 1.88 runs per over. It was stealth and cunning that brought Lohmann his wickets rather than pace: he was little more than medium. In South Africa in 1895-96 he was utterly devastating, albeit against an extremely poor side. Lohmann took 35 wickets in three Tests at the average of 5.80. His strike rate was a wicket every 14 balls - just over two overs. It was in South Africa that Lohmann died of tuberculosis in 1901, aged only 36.

1908
Birth of the oldest living Test cricketer. New Zealand batsman Lindsay "Dad" Weir inherited the title when England's Alf Gover died in October 2001. Weir played 11 Tests, none of which his side won, and top-scored with 74 not out against South Africa at Christchurch in 1931-32, an innings in which nobody else scored more than 17.

1973
Birth of Jayantha Silva, the Sri Lankan left-arm spinner whose seven-Test career splits into two distinct segments. Serve up Zimbabwean prey and he is lethal: in three Tests against them he's taken 16 wickets at an average of 10.12, including a couple of matchwinning hands in Colombo in 1996-97. But in four Tests against India, Australia and Pakistan, Silva was negated to the tune of four wickets at an average of 121.25.

Other birthdays
1971 Martin Suji (Kenya)