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"He is undefeated at 103 but old age is catching up with him," said friend and former Test cricketer Ali Bacher.
"On behalf of cricket lovers worldwide, once again, well played Norman Gordon."
Gordon represented South Africa in five Test matches in the 1938/39 season, and is the sole survivor from the "Timeless Test", played against England in Durban in March 1939.
The famous match spanned 10 days and still ended in a draw. Gordon was in the middle of bowling his 93rd over when the teams finally decided to call it a day as the England team had to dash to catch the mail boat home.
His 92.2, eight-ball, overs bowled in that Test, equating to a mammoth 738 balls, still stands as the most number of balls bowled by a fast bowler in a Test match.
His Test career ended prematurely with the start of the World War II and he only played a handful of matches after the war before retiring at the end of the 1948/49 season.
Bacher said he had hoped to take Gordon out for lunch on his birthday but he was not well enough to go out.
"He remains indoors and spends most of his time in bed."
