History of March 18

18 MARCH

Born on this day were: 

Clement Hill (1877-1945), outstanding left-handed middle—order Australian batsman who played 49 times for Australia and averaged 43.57 in first class matches (He was the best of six brothers all of whom played first-class cricket);

David Lloyd (1947-), English batsman, coach and commentator;

Eknath Solkar (1948-), Indian all-rounder who was a brilliant short-leg fielder; and

Shaun Udal (1969-), English off-spinner.
In 1935 E.H. ‘Patsy’ Hendren played his last Test at the age of 46. In a versatile career he also played soccer for Brentford and Manchester City.
In 1954 two of the ‘Three Ws’, Everton Weekes (206) and Frank Worrell (167), completed a stand of 338 for the third wicket against England at Port of Spain.
In 1960 this day marked the start of the first-ever Irani Trophy match between Bombay and Rest of India at Delhi. Bombay won on the basis of a first innings lead. The Irani Trophy was instituted in honour of Zai R. Irani who was the honorary treasurer of the BCCI for many years and who later also served as president, 1965-69. It was started to mark the completion of 25 years of the Ranji Trophy and is precedent to the winners of a match played between the Ranji champion of the preceding year and the Rest of India.
In 1974 Karnataka beat Bombay in the first semi-final of the Ranji Trophy at Bangalore on the basis of a first innings lead. This brought to an end an incredible run of 15 consecutive victories for Bombay who had won the tournament continuously from 1958-59.
In 1987 West Indian cricketer Vivian Richards became the first player to score a century and take five wickets in a ODI. He achieved this feat against New Zealand in Dunedin, scoring 119 and taking 5 for 41.
In 1993 England lost a Test to Sri Lanka for the first time when they were beaten by five wickets in the one-off Test at Colombo.
In 2004 Gary Kirsten became the first South African (and 29th overall) to play in 100 Tests when he played in the second Test against New Zealand at Auckland. He fell cheaply making one in both the innings. New Zealand won by nine wickets to record their first win over South Africa in New Zealand.
In 2007 Bob Woolmer, Pakistan’s coach, died in mysterious circumstances in Jamaica. Inzamam-ul-Haq stood down as captain and retired from one-day internationals.