It is 30 years ago today that Sri Lanka won the 1996 ODI World Cup beating Australia by 7 wickets in Lahore. They had schooled England & India on the way. Aravinda de Silva was Man of the Match with 107*, 3 wickets & 2 catches. It was if it was yesterday. #cricketcounts

The son of Emile McMaster, he of golden duck in his one & only 1st class match, a Test v South Africa no less, also played one 1st class match. Michael McAllister turned out for the Royal Navy in 1920. He scored 7* & 6 & took 0-18 & 1-55. He did better than Dad but not by much. #cricketcounts

149 years ago the 1st ever Test match took place with Australia v England at the MCG. Australia won by 45 runs, the same margin they won the Centenary Test match in 1977. Charles Bannerman of Australia scored 165, 67.3% of his team’s total of 245, his only 1st class ton. #cricketcounts

RIP Mick Hunt, the legendary head groundsman at @HomeOfCricket who passed away today. Mick joined the ground staff in 1969 and retired in 2018 after 49 years of loyal service. #cricketcounts

The latest @acscricket ‘Lives in Cricket’ book is out today. ‘Jack Walsh - The Conjurer’ is the fascinating story of Australian born left-arm wrist spinner, Jack Walsh who took 1,190 first class wickets at 24.55, mainly for Leicestershire. Buy a copy from https://acscricket.com #cricketcounts

@acscricket gives great value to its members with an online database, regular online events, regular publications & books, members’s forum, an in-person event, a cutting edge website, auctions & much more. Join to access all of this at https://acscricket.com as #cricketcounts

Happy 70th birthday to West Indies legend, Desmond Haynes born 15 February 1956. He played 116 Tests scoring 7,487 runs at 42.29 with 18 tons. Haynes also tallied 238 ODI’s notching 8,648 runs at 41.27 with 17 centuries. Congratulations to a great cricketer. #cricketcounts

How cricket has changed. Aiden Markram of South Africa scored a brilliant 86* v New Zealand at the World T20I group game on 14.2.26. His 50 came up in 19 balls, all shots text book pieces of art. Joint fastest 50 of the tournament. Eight 4’s & 4 sixes. #cricketcounts

Continuing 8th Feb’s Indian theme, it is happy 63rd birthday to Mohammad Azharuddin (6,215 Test runs at 45.00) & it is the 32nd anniversary of Kapil Dev claiming his 432nd Test match wicket to pass Richard Hadlee’s world record. Dev took 434 Test wickets in all. #cricketcounts

India may be favourites for the 2026 T20I World Cup, but it is 74 years ago today that they won their first ever Test match beating England by an innings & 8 runs in Madras. The great all-rounder, Vinoo Mankad span India to victory with 8-55 in the 1st innings & 4-53 in the 2nd. #cricketcounts