The Wisden Chronology - 1990s

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1990

January A "rebel" England side, captained by Mike Gatting, incurs five-year bans after undertaking a disapproved tour of South Africa: the tour ends prematurely as political change sweeps the country. February Richard Hadlee becomes the first bowler to take 400 Test wickets, against India at Christchurch, his home ground. March England beat West Indies in a Test for the first time since 1973-74, narrowly fail to go two up ... but lose the series 2-1. April Gordon Greenidge scores 149 in his 100th Test for West Indies, against England in Antigua. July Hadlee, who was knighted between the first and second Tests, finishes his career with 431 wickets as England take series 1-0. In the first Test against India, at Lord's, Graham Gooch establishes a host of records by scoring 333 and 123: England go on to win the series 1-0. Gooch scored 1,058 runs in six Tests during the summer, another record. September Len Hutton, the first professional to captain England in the modern era, leading them to Ashes success in 1953 and 1954-55, dies at 74.

1991

February Australia complete 3-0 victory in Ashes series. May Gordon Greenidge plays his 108th and last Test, ending an association with Desmond Haynes that yielded 6,482 runs together in partnership (still a Test record in 2006). July ICC meeting agrees to restrict the amount of fast, short-pitched bowling. August England beat West Indies at The Oval to square the Test series 2-2. November South Africa return to official international cricket after more than 21 years, playing three one-day internationals in India under the captaincy of 42-year-old Clive Rice. December Broadcaster and writer John Arlott dies at 77.

1992

February England win 2-0 in New Zealand: Ian Botham, who missed the start of the tour because he was starring in a pantomime, joins in time to play his 100th Test match. March Pakistan win the fifth World Cup, beating England by 22 runs in the final at Melbourne. April South Africa, who had just participated in their first World Cup, returned to Test cricket with a close-run defeat against West Indies at Bridgetown. Durham become the 18th first-class county in the Championship - the first new team since Glamorgan in 1921. Graeme Wright steps down as editor of Wisden, to be replaced for 1993 by Matthew Engel. June Botham plays the last of his 102 Tests, finishing with 383 wickets (still an England record in 2006), 5,200 runs and innumerable headlines. August Pakistan win Test series in England 2-1, amid claims of ball-tampering by their fast bowlers. October Zimbabwe play their inaugural Test match: captain Dave Houghton scored a century in a draw against India at Harare.

1993

January West Indies beat Australia at Adelaide by one run, the closest definite result in Test history, and went on to win the series 2-1. Graham Gooch scores his 100th first-class century, early on England's tour of India. February England lose all three Tests on tour in India: in March they lost a Test to Sri Lanka for the first time. June Shane Warne's first ball in an Ashes Test, at Manchester, turns prodigiously and bowls Mike Gatting: it is later dubbed "The Ball of the Century". July Graham Thorpe marks the first of his 100 Tests with 114 not out against Australia. New ICC offices, independent of MCC, are set up at Lord's. August Australia win the Ashes series 4-1. England, captained by Karen Smithies, win the Women's World Cup, beating New Zealand by 67 runs in the final at Lord's. September Middlesex win the County Championship, the first composed entirely of four-day matches.

1994

January South Africa beat Australia by six runs at Sydney, and draw series 1-1. February Kapil Dev passes Richard Hadlee's record total of 431 Test wickets, and later retires with 434. April After being bowled out for 46 in the third Test, England win the next one at Bridgetown - West Indies' first defeat there since 1934-35 - but lose the series 3-1. Brian Lara breaks the Test record with 375 in the final Test at St John's: the previous record-holder, Garry Sobers, is one of the first to congratulate him. May Five weeks after his Test record, Lara beats the first-class mark with 501 not out for Warwickshire against Durham at Birmingham. Allan Border announces his retirement, after 11,174 Test runs (a record passed by Lara in 2005). July South Africa, playing their first Test at Lord's for 29 years, win it by 356 runs: Michael Atherton, England's captain, is caught by TV applying dust to the ball, and fined. September Warwickshire, captained by Dermot Reeve and with Lara in rare form, complete an unprecedented county season, winning three of the four major competitions and losing in the final of the fourth. Pakistan beat Australia by one wicket in Test at Karachi.

1995

February Australia win final Test at Perth to take Ashes series 3-1: Graham Gooch (8900 runs) and Mike Gatting (4409) announce their international retirements afterwards. Henry Olonga is called for throwing during his Test debut for Zimbabwe. Shane Warne and Tim May allege that Salim Malik of Pakistan tried to bribe them to perform badly during recent tour. March Chairman of selectors Ray Illingworth becomes England "supremo" after Keith Fletcher is sacked as coach. Queensland win Australia's Sheffield Shield for the first time, at the 63rd attempt. May Australia win 2-1 in the Caribbean, West Indies' first Test series defeat anywhere since 1979-80. July Harold Larwood, the chief exponent of Bodyline bowling, dies aged 90. August England beat West Indies in final Test at The Oval to draw series 2-2. October Lee Germon captains New Zealand on his Test debut. December Michael Atherton's 643-minute rearguard helps England draw at Johannesburg, but South Africa win the final Test to take series 1-0.

1996

February Kenya bowl West Indies out for 93 to win their World Cup match at Pune. March Sri Lanka upset Australia by seven wickets in the final of the sixth World Cup, inspired by Aravinda de Silva's unbeaten 107. April Wicketkeeper Wayne James makes a record 13 dismissals in a domestic match in Zimbabwe - and also scores 99 and 99 not out. June Dickie Bird umpires his 66th and last Test, at Lord's: Sourav Ganguly makes 131 on debut (and Rahul Dravid 96) in a draw, but England go on to win series 1-0. August Pakistan, captained by Wasim Akram, who took his 300th wicket during the series, beat England 2-0. October Shahid Afridi smashes a century in 37 balls in his first one-day innings for Pakistan, against Sri Lanka in Nairobi. Pakistan's Hasan Raza, allegedly only 14, makes his Test debut for Pakistan against Zimbabwe. December Zimbabwe's first Test against England at home, at Bulawayo, ends with the scores level. The second Test - and with it the series - is also drawn.

1997

January Eddo Brandes takes a hat-trick as Zimbabwe win all three one-day internationals against England. February England win 2-0 in New Zealand, their first overseas Test-series victory for five years. March David Graveney named chairman of England's selectors. April England legend Denis Compton dies, aged 78. May Saeed Anwar scored 194 in a one-day international for Pakistan against India at Chennai (still a record in 2006). July Edgbaston stages first floodlit one-day National League match. August Australia win Ashes series 3-2, despite losing first and last Tests. Sri Lanka score 952 for six declared against India in Colombo, the highest Test total: Sanath Jayasuriya and Roshan Mahanama share a partnership of 576. November Floodlights used during play in Australia-New Zealand Test at Perth. December England, captained by Adam Hollioake, win four-nation one-day tournament in Sharjah. Australia win the women's World Cup, beating New Zealand in the final at Calcutta.

1998

January The first Test between West Indies and England at Kingston is abandoned after 56 minutes when the pitch is deemed unsafe. March England lose 3-1 in West Indies, and lose their captain too: Michael Atherton resigns. Makhaya Ntini becomes South Africa's first black Test player. May Graeme Hick scores his 99th and 100th first-class hundreds in the same match, for Worcestershire against Sussex. August England, now captained by Alec Stewart, come from behind to win series against South Africa 2-1. Muttiah Muralitharan takes 16 wickets as Sri Lanka beat England in one-off Test at The Oval. September Cricket played in Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur: South Africa beat Australia in the final. MCC vote to admit women members. October Ian Healy breaks Rod Marsh's record of 355 Test dismissals by a wicketkeeper: he retires later with 395. Australia win their first series in Pakistan for 39 years: Mark Taylor, their captain, scores 334 not out in the second Test. November South Africa beat West Indies in a Test for the first time; Zimbabwe beat Pakistan, their first series victory. December Counties agree to two-division Championship from 2000. Shane Warne and Mark Waugh admit to accepting money from a bookmaker for "information" in 1994.

1999

January Australia win Ashes series 3-1: Anil Kumble becomes the second man (after Jim Laker) to take all ten wickets in a Test innings, against Pakistan at Delhi. March Wasim Akram takes second hat-trick in successive Tests, as Pakistan win Asian Test Championship. April Australia share exciting series in West Indies 2-2. May Channel 4 cover live Tests in England for the first time, after BBC lose the contract. The seventh World Cup starts in England: the hosts crash out at the group stages, and Alec Stewart loses the captaincy. June Australia win the World Cup, demolishing Pakistan in the final by eight wickets: the tournament's best match was the semi-final, when Australia tied with South Africa but progressed thanks to their superior run rate in the earlier matches. August England, now captained by Nasser Hussain, lose home series to New Zealand for the first time, and go bottom of the Wisden World Championship, the unofficial ranking table which was adopted shortly afterwards by the ICC. September Lancashire retain the National League, which this year was split into two divisions for the first time: Sussex won the Second Division. Sri Lanka win a Test - and later a series - against Australia for the first time. October John Buchanan appointed Australia's coach. November Malcolm Marshall dies of cancer, aged 41.