Historic Cricket Pictures

The beautiful Adelaide Oval during the only ODI of the West Indies tour, December 20th 1975. I was lucky enough to visit the ground in December and while massively changed it remains somewhere every cricket fan needs to visit. (Patrick Eagar)

One of the last pictures of WG Grace, taken at his home at Mottingham in Kent in the summer of 1915. He died on October 23rd that year aged 67. At the time Mottingham was a quiet village but it has since been enveloped by London's urban sprawl

Ian Botham with Lou Ferrigno, the 'Incredible Hulk' at the LA Dodgers' stadium in Los Angeles in September 1981. Botham was in LA for an all-stars match (Paul Popper)

I almost always head out of Lord's to buy lunch ... more choice and a quarter of the price

Kylie Minogue in a cricket promotion ...

The 'England' side which played India, Bombay, December 13th-15th 1915 in aid of the Indian's Women's Branch of the War Fund. Over 40,000 attended the three-day game which England won by an innings. Lord Willington, the Crown Governor of Bombay, captained the England XI,.

In the days before food courts and mass catering at grounds, spectators usually brought their own lunch, as was the case here during the 1926 Lord's Test

Wally Hammond scrambles home during what was perhaps cricket's most ill-advised comeback, Gloucestershire v Somerset, Bristol, August 4th 1951. Here is an article I wrote for Cricinfo about what happened - bit.ly/4a5sKQQ

Cricket goes on at Southampton's Millbrook Recreation Ground in 1950. In the background RMS Queen Elizabeth I stands in the King George V dry docks for her overhaul

Roddy Wilson (left), Warwk v Leicester, Edgbaston, August 9th 1970. Wilson, who had childhood polio, had one season on the first-class panel in 1978 but was a regular on the Minor County circuit. He gave up umpiring as his hands were being affected by constantly putting weight on his arm crutches.

Geoff Boycott poses with a groundsman and donkey ahead of the 3rd Test between Pakistan v England at Karachi in January 1978. It was the first time Boycott captained England, taking over from Mike Brearley who broke his arm in the tour match preceding the Test. The game was drawn (Patrick Eagar)

Having watched them during the period of dominance they were far from ordinary - that they hunted as an unrelenting pack made them even more effective. There was safety equipment for most of their peak and most pitches were fine

An unplayable ball ... Greg Blewett is bowled by a shooter from Curtly Ambrose for a first-ball duck, Australia v West Indies, 5th Test, Perth, February 3rd 1997. Unsurprisingly the game did not go into a fourth day

On January 31st 1976 41-year-old West Indies spinner Lance Gibbs broke Fred Trueman's record of 307 Test wickets in his 79th and final Test (and last first-class match). Gibbs finished with 309 wickets at 29.09 (Patrick Eagar)

Michael Atherton is surprised by a bucket of ice-cold water after England had beaten Australia by 106 runs, 4th Test Adelaide, January 30th 1995 (Stuart Milligan)

Ian Chappell on his way to a vital second-innings 97, West Indies v Australia, 3rd Test, Trinidad, March 25th 1973. Australia won the match by 44 runs (Patrick Eagar)

The old Tavern bar on the final afternoon of the 1980 Centenary Test. Standing in the sun downing a pint was one of the pleasures of Lord's but rowdyism, especially in one-day matches, led to temporary seating being put there in 1986 and permanent seats not long after

A photograph of Middlesex legend Wayne Daniel I took during the 1984 season. I can still see him, shirt unbuttoned halfway, chest wider than I had seen on a man, bowling with fearsome pace season after season at Lord's

This feed will not be updated in the coming weeks as I am lucky enough to be heading to Australia for the 3rd, 4th and 5th Tests ... normal service will resume towards the end of January

Just out of shot at the bottom of the picture

Lord's pictured on the first day of the Test Trial, June 5th 1926. It was the first time the new Grandstand and Nursery End seating had been used and 29,000 turned up on a warm day to watch. The opening of the new facilities had been delayed by a builders' strike. Only the pavilion survives today

Not a golf club in sight - England players in the nets at Adelaide on January 31st 1929, the eve of the 4th Test. It is worth noting the numbers who turned out to watch. Percy Chapman, the captain, walks towards the camera on the left; Douglas Jardine is on the extreme right

WG Grace in the nets around 1903

Tony Greig returns to the pavilion after making 110 v Australia, 1st Test, Brisbane, December 1st 1974. "He deliberately cut over the slips, then added insult to injury by signalling his own fours. And when the bowlers tried a fuller length, they were magnificently driven to the boundary"

Back to February 10th 1933 when being at Brisbane for an England supporter was a tad less painful than today ... one of cricket most (in)famous photographs showing Bill Woodfull ducking a bouncer from Harold Larwood Australia closed on 251 for 3 - Larwood 0 for 65 from 20 overs

Drinks for the England side during the 5th and final Test at The Oval in August 1926. No water carrier in a high-vis jacket sprinting on every five minutes, not even a blazered 12th man, but a waiter in full black tie. Standards

I can remember on this day 30 years ago dying so many deaths as Mike Atherton and Jack Russell battled for the last two session of the Johannesburg Test to save the game. Atherton finished 185* in 643 minutes while Russell doggedly made a 235-ball 29. Test cricket at its best (Patrick Eagar)

Fantastic picture of a crowd watching club cricket in Jamaica in 1959 (Life magazine)

TV cameras as they were ... BBC at The Oval in 1955. There was no zoom ability - the operator had a choice of three lenses of different magnifications at the front which he could switch

Desperately sad to learn of the death of Robin Smith. Watching his savage cutting of a strong West Indies pace attack when he made 148* in the 2nd Test at Lord's, June 22nd 1991 stands out as one of my strongest cricketing memories. Coming in at 60 for 4 he steered England to safety (Patrick Eagar)