7 APRIL
Born on this day were:
Herbert ‘Dainty’ Ironmonger (1882-1971), Australian left-arm spinner who made his Test debut at the age of 46, and who took 11 for 24 – the cheapest ten-wicket haul in Test history – against South Africa at Melbourne in 1931-32 (He played in the 1932-33 ‘Bodyline’ series at the age of 50 and owed his nickname to his clumsy fielding apart from being utterly useless with the bat);
Dennis Amiss (1943-), English batsman who hit the first century in ODIs and completed a hundred first-class centuries in 1986; and
Russell Crowe (1964-), New Zealand born Hollywood star who is the cousin of Martin and Jeff Crowe and a great fan of the game. (His own cricket ground is called The Dave Crowe Oval in honour of his uncle Dave, Martin and Jeff’s father.)
In 1962 Indian all-rounder Polly Umrigar scored an unbeaten 172 against West Indies at Port of Spain, which was his twelfth (an Indian record at the time) and final Test hundred. It was the penultimate Test match of his career. West Indies won the Test going 4 – 0 up, well on their way to their first whitewash.
In 1965 as the second Test between Pakistan and New Zealand petered out at Lahore, Bevan Congdon became only the second substitute to make a stumping in a Test, when he stumped Pervez Sajjad off the bowling of Barry Sinclair.
In 1966 Sanath Jayasuriya hit the fastest fifty in ODI cricket (17 balls) against Pakistan in Singapore. He spanked 76 off only 28 balls – that’s a rate 271 runs per 100 deliveries – and when his opening partner Romesh Kaluwitharana was out for a duck in the sixth over, the score was 70 for 1. Jayasuriya hit eight fours and five sixes. Despite that start, and a modest target of 216, Sri Lanka were bowled out by Pakistan for 172 in only 32.5 overs.
In 2000 the world woke up to the biggest cricketing scandal when South African cricketers Hansie Cronje, Nicky Boje and Herschelle Gibbs were charged by the Delhi Police with cheating, fraud and criminal conspiracy relating to match fixing and betting.
