Ian Craig (1935–2014) was a cricketer who represented Australia in 11 Tests between 1953 and 1958. A teenage prodigy, he made his first-class debut for New South Wales in 1952 at the age of 16, and soon earned comparisons to the great batsman Don Bradman, but was never as successful in his later career. Craig was, and remains, the youngest Australian cricketer to score a first-class double century (against the touring South Africa national cricket team), to represent his country in a Test match, and to tour England (in the 1953 Ashes tour). For the 1957–58 tour of South Africa, Craig was appointed as Australian captain, the youngest man ever to hold the position, and led the team to an unexpected 3–0 victory despite his poor personal batting form. He missed the 1958–59 season with hepatitis, and could not regain his Test place when he returned the following season. Work commitments forced him to retire from first-class cricket at 26. In later life, Craig was the managing director of the Australian subsidiary of the British pharmaceutical firm Boots, but continued his involvement with cricket as a board member of the New South Wales Cricket Association, trustee of the Sydney Cricket Ground Trust, and chairman of the Bradman Museum.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Craig
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1381:
The first mass protest in the Peasants' Revolt began in Blackheath, England, caused by political and socioeconomic tensions due to the Black Death and high taxes as a result of the Hundred Years' War. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peasants%27_Revolt
1899:
The New Richmond tornado killed 117 people and injured 125 others in the northern Great Plains of the United States. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1899_New_Richmond_tornado
1942:
On her thirteenth birthday, Anne Frank began keeping her diary during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Diary_of_a_Young_Girl
1987:
Cold War: During a speech at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate by the Berlin Wall, U.S. President Ronald Reagan challenged Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down this wall!" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tear_down_this_wall!
2001:
Robert Edward Dyer was sentenced to 16 years' imprisonment for conducting a six-month long letter bomb campaign against the British supermarket chain Tesco. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesco_bomb_campaign
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
make shift: (dated) To contrive; to invent a way of surmounting a difficulty. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/make_shift
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
A true friend is someone who is there for you when he'd rather be anywhere else. --Len Wein https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Len_Wein