October 24 th

1969

Hanif and Sadiq Mohammad opened the batting for Pakistan in the first Test against New Zealand in Karachi,

only the second instance of two brothers doing so in a Test. The first was at The Oval in 1880, when EM and WG Grace opened

against Australia. This was Hanif's last Test - he played in all bar two of Pakistan's first 57 matches -

and it ended in a draw despite the best efforts of offspinner Mohammad Nazir, who took 7 for 99, the best bowling figures by a

Pakistan debutant until Mohammad Zahid took 7 for 66 against New Zealand in Rawalpindi in 1996-97.

1976

In the second Test between Pakistan and New Zealand

in Hyderabad, Sadiq and Mushtaq Mohammad became only the second pair of brothers

(after Greg and Ian Chappell) to score hundreds in the same Test innings.

Sadiq made 103 and Mushtaq 101 to set up a match-winning total of 473 for 8 declared.

New Zealand were legspun to a ten-wicket defeat, with Mushtaq, Intikhab Alam and Javed Miandad

(playing in only his second Test), sharing 10 wickets.

It's easy to forget, but Miandad started off as a budding allrounder.

His first seven Tests yielded 15 wickets, but the next 107 brought only two as he settled

for becoming one of the world's best batsmen.  ::LOL::

1967

His presence in the commentary box makes it easy to forget that Ian Bishop :

who was born today, is still relatively young.

He reached 100 Test wickets in only his 21st Test, a West Indian record, and there was no limit

to what he might have achieved had back problems not messed up his career.

At his peak Bishop was fluent and hostile, but he was increasingly hamstrung by injuries.

His last great performance came in the first match of his second comeback,

when he took 5 for 32 at Headingley in 1995.

That was his sixth five-for in 19 Tests, but he toiled through another 24 without claiming

a seventh, before giving in to the inevitable after England's 1997-98 tour of the Caribbean.


happy birth day Ian bishop !