8 SEPTEMBER
Born on this day were:
Siegfried Sassoon (1886-1967), English poet and novelist who captained his own team the Siegfried Sassoon Estate Eleven in several encounters;
Douglas Linford Freeman (1914-94), Kiwi leg-spinner who played two Tests against England in 1932-33 and who was New Zealand's youngest Test player before Daniel Vettori arrived on the scene in 1996-97;
Terry Jenner (1944-), Australian leg-spinner who was hit on the head by English fast bowler John Snow at Sydney, sparking a riot in 1970-71, but will always be remembered for discovering and nurturing the talent of Shane Warne; and
Geoff Miller (1952-), English all-rounder; and
Suraj Randiv (1989-) Sri Lankan spinner who was recently banned for bowling a deliberate no-ball to deny Virender Sehwag his century.
In 1880 the first Test ever played in England came to an end at The Oval. Billy Murdoch hit an unbeaten 153 but Australia could only set England a target of 57. They lost five wickets in reaching it. 8 September is still the latest date on which Test cricket has been played in England.
In 1966 Edward Aspey English who was once the longest-lived first-class cricketer died on this day, aged 102 years 250 days. He played 18 matches for Hampshire from 1898 to 1901.
In 1979 at long last, after defeat in two previous finals, Somerset won their first major trophy, beating Northants at Lord's to win the Gillette Cup. Vivian Richards was Man of the Match for his superb 117, and Joel Garner's haul of 6 for 29 sealed the result.
In 2001 Bangladesh batsman Mohammad Ashraful became the youngest cricketer in Test cricket history to score a century when he scored 114 against Sri Lanka in the Asian Test Championship at Colombo, one day short of his 17th birthday. He bettered the record of Mushtaq Mohammad who scored a century against India in 1960-61 aged 17 years and 81 days. He also became the youngest batsman to score a century on debut beating the mark set by Zimbabwe's Hamilton Masakadza (17 years 354 days) against the West Indies at Harare in July 2001.
In 2003 it was the last day in Test cricket for Alec Stewart. He made 38 in the fifth Test against South Africa at The Oval, a match England won by nine wickets. In a career lasting more than 13 years he scored 8,463 Test runs and made 277 dismissals. He played Test cricket till the ripe old age of 40.
In 2007 England won seventh match to take one-day series against India 4-3
