1958

Australia’s eight-wicket victory over England in the first Test in Brisbane was notable for Trevor Bailey’s 357-minute fifty. In all, the Barnacle’s 68 used up a paint-drying 425 balls. It was brave stuff in a match where only two batsmen reached fifty - but the other, Norm O’Neill, trumped Bailey with an unbeaten 71 as the Aussies eased home. It was hardly thrilling fare for the audience at home in what was Australia’s first televised Test.

1988

Kris Srikkanth almost single-handedly led India to a four-wicket victory in the first one-dayer against New Zealand, in Vishakapatnam. He took 5 for 27 with his offspin to muzzle New Zealand after they sped to 116 for 1, and then, in more typical style, he crashed 70 off 87 balls. This came in the middle of a peculiar purple patch with the ball: Srikkanth took 17 wickets in six ODIs, but only eight in the 140 either side of it.

1995

A day filled with bittersweet memories for Stuart Law. In for the injured Steve Waugh, Law stroked a classy unbeaten 54 as Australia took an inexorable grip on the first Test against Sri Lanka in Perth - but it turned out to be his only Test innings. His fellow debutant, the 20-year-old Tasmanian golden boy Ricky Ponting, was also in the runs until he was sawn off by a shocking lbw decision four runs short of a maiden century. But the innings that underpinned it all was Michael Slater’s highest Test score, a rollicking 219 that included 15 fours and five sixes. Australia sealed an innings-and-36-run victory inside four days.