David Gower played his final Test match at The Oval, where he was dismissed for just 1 by Waqar Younis in Pakistan’s ten-wicket victory that sealed the series 2-1. In the previous two Tests, Gower had contributed well with scores of 73 and an unbeaten 31, so his omission from the following winter’s tour to India—decided by captain Graham Gooch—felt personal and ultimately didn’t benefit England. Gower’s elegant, effortless batting earned him 8,231 Test runs, an England record that Gooch soon surpassed.

India endured a disastrous away Test at Old Trafford, folding inside three days. After being reduced to 8 for 4 on day one, their batting never recovered. In their second innings, they reached 53 for 1 but then collapsed after tea, losing nine wickets for just over 100 runs. Moeen Ali was the standout bowler, taking four wickets with his off-spin. Remarkably, England managed to complete the victory with just ten players, as Stuart Broad was absent after being hit in the face by a Varun Aaron delivery. Adding to India’s woes, rain washed out almost the entire scheduled fourth day.

At Old Trafford, Lancashire crushed Somerset by eight wickets in just one day. On a drying pitch that made batting nearly impossible, 32 wickets fell for only 294 runs. Arthur Mold and Johnny Briggs bowled superbly, taking all 20 wickets between them, dismissing Somerset for 88 and 58.

Chris Old, who took 143 Test wickets for England, also had some remarkable batting moments. Playing for Yorkshire against Warwickshire at Edgbaston, he blasted a century in just 37 minutes. His explosive innings included six sixes and 13 fours, and he reached his second fifty in a mere nine minutes.

Hamilton Masakadza was born—he became the youngest player to score a century on Test debut in 2001, a record that stood for just over a month before Mohammad Ashraful broke it. Masakadza briefly paused his career in 2002 to study but was recalled in 2004 following a players’ strike. In 2009, he had a prolific ODI year, scoring over 1,000 runs at an average of 43.48 and a strike rate of 88.08, including two big scores (156 and 178*) against Kenya—the first player to make 150+ twice in the same ODI series. He marked Zimbabwe’s return from Test exile in 2011 with a century against Bangladesh and made his highest Test score (158) against them in 2014. Named captain in January 2016, he was sacked after a poor World T20 performance but was reappointed in 2018 before retiring in 2019 to become Zimbabwe’s director of cricket.

West Indies captain Clive Lloyd scored an unbeaten 201 against Glamorgan in Swansea in a blistering display. Wisden called it “the fastest double-century since Gilbert Jessop’s days in 1903.” Lloyd’s team went on to win the Test series against England 3-0.

Denis Atkinson was born. Although he took 47 Test wickets, he’s best remembered for his only Test century. In a famous 1955 Bridgetown match, West Indies were 146 for 6 chasing Australia’s massive 668. Atkinson joined Clairmonte Depeiaza, and together they added 347 runs for the seventh wicket—a still-standing Test record. Atkinson scored 219 and also took 5 for 56, becoming the first player to score a double century and take five wickets in the same Test. His brother Eric also played Test cricket.

Ernie Vogler, one of South Africa’s pioneering googly bowlers, passed away. He toured England in 1907 and took all ten wickets in an innings for Eastern Province the following winter. Vogler’s 36 wickets helped South Africa win the 1909-10 series against England. He is also believed to be the first Test batsman to be dismissed for a king pair, which happened in Sydney in 1910. Some sources call him Bert, but contemporaries like B.J.T. Bosanquet—the inventor of the googly—referred to him as Ernest.