1922
Arthur Morris, the man with the magic touch, was born on this day. The Aussie was often referred to as the Run Machine. At the age of 18, Morris became the first man to make a century in both innings of his first-class debut. He made three hundreds in his first four Tests against England in 1946-47. But he lost his prime run-getting years to the war. He scored 3533 runs in 46 Test matches with 206 as the highest score.
1930
John Waite, the only South African cricketer to play 50 Tests before their isolation from international cricket, was born on this day. He was a wicketkeeper-batsman or the Proteas who made four Test centuries and averaged over 30 batting in any position.
1980
Michael Vandort, the gifted opening batsman for Sri Lanka, was born on this day. Vandort made his Test debut in 2001 but made his first century in 2002 against Bangladesh. Though a classic player, he can never cement his place in the team due to the presence of other Sri Lankan great openers like Sanath Jayasuriya, Marvan Atapattu and Tillakaratne Dilshan. After his first Test century he was out of action from the team and had to wait for three and a half years for another chance. In that tour against England, he again scored a century to prove himself.
2004
David Hookes, the natural, aggressive and irrepressible Australian cricketer of the 1970s, died a premature death on this day. At the age of 48, his death occurred as a result of a scuffle outside a Melbourne hotel.
