In the nick of time: Sri Lanka celebrate a thrilling win at Headingley © Getty Images

2014

The day Sri Lanka won a Test, and a series, with a ball to spare. With the penultimate ball of a gripping final day at Headingley, Shaminda Eranga dismissed James Anderson to give Sri Lanka their first series victory in England (in a series of more than a Test). England seemed to have the match in control on the second day but a collapse of 8 for 87, followed by a century from Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews and an inspired spell from seamer Dhammika Prasad left them tottering at 57 for 5, chasing 350. England were able to prolong the match thanks mainly to Moeen Ali's defiant maiden Test century, but Sri Lankan prevailed in the end. The win also meant Sri Lanka finished with a clean sweep on the tour, after victories in the T20 and one-day series.

1986

At Trent Bridge in 2015, Stuart Broad, born today, set up an unforgettable Ashes win by taking 8 for 15 in 9.3 new-ball overs, the best figures for an England bowler against Australia after Jim Laker's 1956 heroics at Old Trafford. During that spell, Broad became the fifth England bowler to take 300 Test wickets. Four years earlier, he had taken a hat-trick at Trent Bridge, his home ground, in a match haul of 8 for 76 against India. In 2012 he got on the Lord's honours board with 11 against West Indies, and he took 11 more against Australia in Chester-le-Street a year later, this time ensuring the Ashes were won with a fierce spell after tea on day four, when he took six of the nine Australian wickets to fall. On England's 2015-16 tour of South Africa, Broad took 18 wickets, including 6 for 17 to bowl out South Africa for 83 in Johannesburg. Meanwhile, his batting has been good enough to render England's tail particularly bothersome for opposition bowlers; he made his maiden Test hundred at Lord's against Pakistan in 2010.

1974

India's lowest score - and the lowest total at Lord's. Following on 327 runs behind England in the second Test, India were blown away for just 42 in 17 overs on an overcast Monday morning. Geoff Arnold grabbed 4 for 19 and Chris Old 5 for 21. Arnold was only called into the side at the 11th hour, when Bob Willis withdrew with a back injury. Eknath Solkar, who made 18, was the only Indian batsman to reach double figures.

1912

Brian Johnston, who was born today, worked on BBC TV's Test-match team from 1946 to 1970, but he will always be remembered for being the voice of Test Match Special on the radio. Johnston's juvenile warmth, and love of double entendres and practical jokes, often overshadowed his brilliant spontaneity and total professionalism as a broadcaster.

1941

Among Australian seamers, only five have taken more Test wickets than the lanky Western Australian Graham "Garth" McKenzie, who was born today. He took 246 in all, and from the moment he played a match-winning hand on his debut, at Lord's in 1961 - with second-innings figures of 29-13-37-5 on his 20th birthday - he was a regular in the side. The gentlest of giants, and effortless and stylish in his action, McKenzie was superb on benign pitches (in India and Pakistan he took 42 wickets at an average of 19), and he was also a significant match-winner: when Australia won, he had 112 wickets at 19; in losses he took just 35 wickets at 57. He later married a South African and settled in Johannesburg.

1960

The only Lord's Test hat-trick. In his second Test, South Africa's Geoff Griffin dismissed MJK Smith, Peter Walker and Fred Trueman with consecutive deliveries - but this was also the day he bowled his last ball in Tests. Griffin was no-balled for throwing 11 times, having previously been called 17 times in a tour match. He played no further Tests and did not bowl again on the tour.

1968

Another Lord's demolition. Australia were bowled out for just 78, their lowest score at Lord's in the 20th century. Their destroyers were not, as might have been expected, John Snow and Derek Underwood, but David Brown (5 for 42) and Barry Knight (3 for 16). Rain saved the Aussies, but Underwood had some fun in the second innings, with a spell of 18-15-8-2.

1938

The first televised Test match, between England and Australia at Lord's. The Cricketer reported that "the enthusiasm was tremendous and the famous ground looked its best in the warmth and sunshine, and the giant fire escape at the East corner beyond the Mound brought the wizardry of Television very palpably before everyone's eyes". The teams played out a high-scoring draw in what was the second of a five-match series, with Wally Hammond striking 240 to lift England to 494 in the first innings. England headed into the final match at The Oval 1-0 down, but pulled off victory to draw the series.

1985

Birth of the bowler who became the second fastest to 50 Test wickets (from just seven matches). Vernon Philander made his debut in the famous Cape Town Test in 2011, in which Australia were bowled out for 47 - Philander taking 5 for 15. He got ten against Sri Lanka in his third Test, picked up his next five-for two Tests later, and had six five-fors in his first seven Tests. He continued to be solid through 2012 but had an inevitable drop from his stratospheric early heights in 2013, with match hauls of nine wickets against Pakistan in Cape Town and seven against India in Johannesburg his only highlights that year. Two years later he was back to somewhere near his best, with 12 wickets in the memorable series win in Australia, followed by 17 in three Tests against Sri Lanka at home. In 2018, he started the year with nine-wicket hauls in two Tests, against India and then in the thrashing of Australia in Johannesburg, in the wake of the ball-tampering scandal.

1989

A glorious day for Australia at Lord's. They began the third day of the second Test on 276 for 6, ten runs behind England, but the ominous figure of Steve Waugh was still at the crease. He added 66 with Merv Hughes, 50 with Trevor Hohns, and most gallingly of all, 130 with Geoff Lawson, who thumped 74 off only 94 balls. Waugh ended up on 152, taking his series tally to 329 runs without being dismissed, and England trailed by 242. By the close they were 58 for 3 and it was as good as over, even though David Gower (106) and Robin Smith - who was bowled by Terry Alderman four short of his first Test hundred - did salvage some pride.

2000

Pakistan pummelled Sri Lanka by an innings and 163 runs in the second Test, in Galle. Four of their batsmen - Saeed Anwar, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Younis Khan and Wasim Akram - made centuries, Wasim's off only 88 balls, and Abdul Razzaq became the youngest man to take a Test hat-trick. He was just 20 years 201 days old.

Other birthdays

1948 Dave Orchard (Australia)

1982 Brenton Parchment (West Indies)

1967 Darren Bicknell (England)

1972 Birgit Viguurs (Netherlands)

1974 Avril Fahey (Australia)



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