5 memorable performances by cricketers on their birthdays

4. Jason Gillespie’s inexplicable double-hundred

Gillespie scored an unlikely double ton

On 19 April 2006, cricket’s one of the most unbelievable scenes took place. The tall fast bowler from Australia came into bat as a night-watchman in against Bangladesh at Chittagong and to everyone’s surprise, he went on to score a double-century on his 31st birthday.

Bangladesh was bowled out for 197 runs in the first innings. Australia lost Matthew Hayden early in their first innings. Jason Gillespie was sent at number 3 to play out the remaining day and guard Ricky Ponting. But Jason had other ideas.

He refused to get out at all in the innings and with solid defensive shots, he scored 201 runs off 425 balls. He spent a mammoth 574 minutes at the crease. Australia went on to win the match by an innings and 80 runs.

Despite being the highest scorer of the match, Jason was not picked in the side for future tours. And because of this, he holds a unique record of scoring a double-century in his last innings.