On This Day - 24 May

1877 - The second lowest total in first-class history. Oxford University were sent tumbling for just 12 runs by MCC at Oxford

1878 - CA Parker of Harvard wins first American bike race at Beacon Park, Boston

1902 - Cleveland Bronchos’ Bill Bradley becomes the first American League player to hit a homerun in four consecutive games, not duplicated until Babe Ruth does it 25 June, 1918

1927 - The end of an era. Yorkshire lost by eight wickets to Warwickshire at Hull. That was their first defeat in the County Championship for a record 71 matches and almost three years

1942 - Birth of the godfather of South African cricket, Ali Bacher, who was a chunky No. 3 batsman who captained one of the finest Test teams in history, the 1969-70 South African side

[caption id="attachment_138713" align="alignnone" width="192"] Ali Bacher biography was out in 2004 penned by Rodney Hartaman[/caption]

1946 - Birth of Irena Szewinska nee Kirszenstein in Leningrad, Russia. The legendary Polish 4x100 m gold medal winner in 1964 Tokyo, 200 m gold winner in 1968 Mexico City, and 400 m gold medal winner at 1976 Montreal Olympics

[caption id="attachment_138711" align="alignnone" width="219"] Legendary former Soviet Russian sprinter Irena Szewinska who won three Olympic gold medals[/caption]

1964 - Panic in Lima, Peru soccer stadium; 300 killed

1969 - Birth of the rat who joined a sinking ship. That’s what the Australian newspapers called Martin McCague who was born in Ulster and raised in Australia when he made his debut for England against Australia at Trent Bridge in 1993

  On This Day - 25 May 1868 - The first Australian team ever to visit England began their first match, against “Surrey Gentlemen”. The Australian side were led by Charles Lawrence 1876 - First tie in US National League professional baseball history - Philadelphia Athletics vs. Louisville Grays 2-2 in 14 innings 1949 - Lalith Kaluperuma was born today. The right-arm off-spinner played two Tests, including the country’s first Test, and four ODIs for Sri Lanka [caption id="attachment_138715" align="alignnone" width="203"] Happy birthday Lalith Kaluperuma, one of the greatest spinners in SL’s early Test days! He captained Nalanda College, Colombo in their 1969 annual “Big Match” against Ananda[/caption] 1965 - Muhammad Ali knocks out Sonny Liston in first round for heavyweight boxing title [caption id="attachment_138716" align="alignnone" width="294"] Muhammad Ali unexpectedly knocking out Sonny Liston in the very first round; this Neil Leifer photo of the defining moment of Ali’s career is considered one of the greatest sports photographs ever[/caption] 2007 - The first instance in Test cricket when the top four batmen in a team all scoring centuries in the same innings. Wasim Jaffer, Dinesh Karthik, Rahul Dravid, and Sachin Tendulkar all scored centuries against Bangladesh in Dhaka [caption id="attachment_138717" align="alignnone" width="590"] Dinesh Karthik, Wasim Jaffer, Rahul Dravid, and Sachin Tendulkar all scored centuries against Bangladesh in Dhaka on 25 May 2007[/caption] 1995 - The birth of Kagiso Rabada, another in a long line of finest fast bowlers to emerge from South Africa   On This Day - 26 May 1923 - First “Le Mans Grand Prix d’Endurance” race, or “the 24 Hours of Le Mans”, the world’s oldest active sports car race in endurance racing, is launched. It is considered one of the most prestigious automobile races in the world 1947 - Birth of one of New Zealand’s finest batters, Glenn Turner. He also became the first New Zealander to score two hundreds in a Test, in Christchurch 1973-74, when New Zealand beat Australia for the first time. He played for Kiwis during 1969-83 scoring heavily in 41 Tests and 41 ODIs [caption id="attachment_138718" align="alignnone" width="375"] Glenn Turner played for Kiwis during 1969-83 scoring heavily in 41 Tests (2,991 runs) and 41 ODIs (1,598)[/caption] 1976 - Remarkable England batsman Paul Collingwood was born today. Collingwood was made the England ODI Captain in 2007. In 2010, he led England to the T20 World Cup victory 1977 - Avishka Gunawardene is born today. He hit the headlines in 1999 when he put on a 145-run stand in 20 overs with Romesh Kaluwitharana as Sri Lanka tried to chase Australia’s 310 in Melbourne. He played 61 ODIs during 1998-2006 scoring 1,708 runs at 28.46. He played six Tests as well [caption id="attachment_138719" align="alignnone" width="474"] Avishka Gunawardene drives one against India in the 2002 Nat West ODI Series at Edgbaston, England[/caption] 1979 - Malinda Warnapura, the nephew of Sri Lanka’s first Test Captain Bandula Warnapura, is born in Colombo. He played 14 Tests during 2007-09 scoring 821 runs at 35.7. Warnapura played in three ODIs [caption id="attachment_138720" align="alignnone" width="271"] Malinda Warnapura celebrates his century in a Test against India at SSC in July 2008[/caption] 1988 - The birth of Sunil Narine, West Indian off-spinner who reworked his action to turn into a potent force, especially in ODIs and T20Is 1990 - Birth of the youngest, and arguably most talented, Akmal brother, Umar Akmal 1999 - Manchester United wins the UEFA Champions League at the Nou Camp stadium, Barcelona, beating Bayern Munich to lift their third major trophy of the season, after winning the English Premier League and FA Cup, an unprecedented feat for a single season 2013 - A 32-ball 60 from Kieron Pollard and an aggressive showing on the field helped Mumbai Indians clinch their first IPL title in six attempts   On This Day - 27 May Happy birthday Mahela! [caption id="attachment_138722" align="alignnone" width="300"] Jayawardene in England in 1998[/caption] Mahela Jayawardene is perhaps one of the most committed batsmen and Skippers the country ever produced * He made his debut at 20 in 1997 coming to the crease at a unique position of 790/4 before the Lankans made the world record total of 952/6 vs. India at Khettarama * In 2006, he became only the second Sri Lankan after Sanath Jayasuriya to score a triple-century in Tests * He was part of the highest-ever Test partnership for any wicket - 624 runs for the third wicket with Kumar Sangakkara in 2006 against South Africa, making 374 * Perhaps the most successful national Captain on record, he led Sri Lanka to Test wins in England and New Zealand, and to the World Cup final in 2007 and the T20 World Cup final in 2012 * Jayawardene also became the first Sri Lankan to score 10,000 Test runs 1878 - An amazing day’s play at Lord’s where Australia beat Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) by nine wickets in a match of only 105 runs, a record low for any completed first-class game. MCC made 33 and 19 while Australia scored only 41 and 12/1. Only three players made double-figures and there were no fewer than 16 ducks in the match. Aus pacie Fred Spofforth took six wickets for four runs in the first innings before their medium-pacer Harry Boyle took 6/3 in the second innings 1887 - A Kent legend Frank Wooley was born today. He and W.G. Grace are the only men to score 50,000 runs and take 2,000 wickets in first-class cricket. For good measure, Woolley is the only man to take 1,000 catches, most of them at slip [caption id="attachment_138725" align="alignnone" width="300"] Kent county legend Frank Wooley who scored 50,000 runs and took 2,000 wickets while taking 1,000 catches in first-class cricket[/caption] 1912 - Birth of Sam Snead in Hot Springs, Virginia, USA. Snead was awarded a record 94 gold medallions in golf, for his wins in PGA of America Tour events and later credited with winning a record 82 PGA tour events, including seven majors. He never won the US Open though he was runner-up four times. Snead was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974 1960 - One of the main fast-bowlers of Sri Lanka in the 1980s, Vinothen John is born today. He played six Tests and 45 ODIs between 1983-87. He took the first home five-for in Tests for Sri Lanka, 5/86 in his third Test played against New Zealand in Kandy in 1984 [caption id="attachment_138724" align="alignnone" width="351"] Vinothen John in Chepauk, India in 1982[/caption] 1962 - Birth of Indian world champion all-rounder Ravi Shastri who later became a popular TV commentator before taking up a highly successful career as India’s Head Coach, the position he still holds 1975 - Birth of “Mr. Cricket”, Michael Hussey. In just 166 days, he became the fastest player to 1,000 Test runs 1977 - Sri Lankan all-time great Mahela Jayawardene was born on this day 2009 - In Rome’s Stadio Olimpico in Italy, Barcelona defeats Manchester United to win the Champions League   On This Day - 28 May  1908 - George Hirst was the destroyer as Yorkshire bowled Nottinghamshire out twice in a day for 17 and 15. Hirst took 12 for 19 as Yorkshire won by an innings and 341 runs 1912 - Two Test hat-tricks in one day for Australian leg-spinner Jimmy Mathews against South Africa. Unsurprisingly, it was a unique feat but what was even more amazing was that Matthews didn’t need the help of any fielders: Two of the six wickets were bowled, two lbw, and two caught-and-bowled! 1956 - Jeff Dujon was born in Kingston. He is one of the greatest wicketkeeper-batsmen to ever play the game and was an integral part of the world-beating Caribbean team of the 1980s [caption id="attachment_138730" align="alignnone" width="349"] Jeff Dujon, born in Kingston on 28 May, was an integral part of the world-beating Caribbean team of the 1980s[/caption] 1956 - Dale Long becomes first to hit home runs in eight straight games. In his career, Long hit 132 home runs and had a lifetime batting mark of .267 1974 - Though Misbah ul-Haq, born today, made his Test debut in 2001, it was only in 2007 that he became a regular member of the Pakistan side in all three formats. In 2014 against Australia, in a series in the UAE where Pakistan whitewashed the visitors 2-0, he smashed a Test hundred off only 56 balls, equalling Viv Richards’ record for the fastest century [caption id="attachment_138734" align="alignnone" width="337"] Misbah ul-Haq, another birthday boy today, smashed a Test hundred off only 56 balls against Australia in 2014 at UAE[/caption] 1977 - Birth of South African batsman Ashwell Prince. In July 2006, he was named South Africa’s first black Captain in the absence of the injured Graeme Smith 2003 - AC Milan defeats fellow Italian rival Juventus 3-2 on penalties, after a scoreless tie, to win the UEFA Champions League, their sixth European title