Ernie Toshack (8 December 1914 – 11 May 2003) was an Australian cricketer who played in 12 Tests from 1946 to 1948. He made his first- class debut in 1945 as a left-arm medium paced bowler; his accuracy, stamina, changes of pace, and movement in both directions confounded batsmen. After only seven matches in the Sheffield Shield domestic competition, he was selected for Australia's tour of New Zealand. In Wellington, he opened the bowling in a match that was later classed as an official Test match. He became a regular member of the Australian team, playing in all of its Tests until the 1947–48 series against India; he took a career-best 11 wickets for 31 runs in the First Test but began to suffer recurring knee injuries. As a member of Don Bradman's Invincibles team, which went undefeated on a tour of England in 1948, Toshack played in the first four Tests before being injured again. After a long convalescence, he attempted a comeback during Australia's 1949–50 season, but further injury forced him to retire. As a player, he was popular with crowds for his sense of humour.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernie_Toshack

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1660:

A woman appeared on stage as a professional actress in England for the first time, most often credited to Margaret Hughes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Hughes

1880:

At an assembly of 10,000 Boers, Paul Kruger announced the fulfilment of the decision to restore the South African Republic government and volksraad. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Kruger

1941:

The Holocaust: The Chełmno extermination camp in occupied Poland, the first such Nazi camp to kill the Jews of the Ghetto Litzmannstadt and the Warthegau by poison gas, began operating. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Che%C5%82mno_extermination_camp

1991:

Leaders of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine signed the Belavezha Accords, agreeing to dissolve the Soviet Union and establish the Commonwealth of Independent States. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_of_Independent_States

2010:

The Japanese experimental spacecraft IKAROS (model pictured) passed by Venus at about 80,800 km distance, completing its planned mission to demonstrate solar sail technology. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IKAROS

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

tankie: 1. (slang) A tank engine. 2. (slang, historical, Britain) A member of the Communist Party of Great Britain who slavishly agreed with the Soviet Union's policy of crushing revolts in Hungary in the 1950s and Czechoslovakia in the 1960s by sending army tanks into these countries. 3. (slang, derogatory, by extension) A person acting as an apologist for the brutal policies of Joseph Stalin (1878–1953), the leader of the Soviet Union. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tankie

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Force without wisdom falls of its own weight.   --Horace https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Horace