England The Inventors Of Cricket

 ON THIS DAY IN 1930, England created history by fielding sides in two Test matches taking place in contrasting time zones.

January 10, 1930: The first Test between England and New Zealand began in New Zealand
January 11, 1930: The first Test between England and West Indies began in West Indies
Repeating the feat, England began two Tests (against the same sides) on February 21, 1930.

It happened because ICC (Imperial Cricket Conference then) wanted to promote cricket in smaller countries and England agreed to send two different teams. West Indies began playing Test cricket only in 1928 while the first Test of this tour against New Zealand was Blackcaps' debut in international cricket.

Due to the time difference, both England teams were not seen in action at the same time during the Tests in January. But in February, on the second day of the Test in New Zealand - February 22, 1930 - the start of play coincided with the last session of the first day's play in the Caribbean (where it was still February 21st).

It was a rare occasion when the same country was playing two different Test matches simultaneously, even if it was for less than two hours 📷

Kudos to ICC and the England cricketers for pulling this off. It was way back in 1930 and was done with the noble intention of promoting the game