Most Test 5-Wicket Hauls in a Calendar Year
| Player | Year | 5-Wicket Hauls | Innings | Best Bowling (Innings) | Total Wickets |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Malcolm Marshall (WI) | 1984 | 9 | 25 | 7/53 | 73 |
| Muttiah Muralitharan (SL) | 2006 | 9 | 21 | 8/70 | 90 |
| Sydney Barnes (ENG) | 1912 | 8 | 15 | 8/29 | 61 |
| Ravichandran Ashwin (IND) | 2016 | 8 | 23 | 7/59 | 72 |
| Allan Donald (SA) | 1998 | 7 | 26 | 6/88 | 80 |
| Muttiah Muralitharan (SL) | 1998 | 7 | 16 | 9/65 | 68 |
| Muttiah Muralitharan (SL) | 2000 | 7 | 17 | 7/84 | 75 |
| Muttiah Muralitharan (SL) | 2001 | 7 | 23 | 8/87 | 80 |
| Rangana Herath (SL) | 2012 | 7 | 18 | 6/43 | 60 |
| Ravichandran Ashwin (IND) | 2015 | 7 | 17 | 7/66 | 62 |
Key Insights on Most Five-Wicket Hauls in a Calendar Year in Test Cricket
Record for Most Five-Wicket Hauls in a Year
West Indies’ Malcolm Marshall (1984) and Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan (2006) share the record for the most five-wicket hauls in a year in Tests, with 9 five-fors each.
Muttiah Muralitharan has the record for picking up five or more five-wicket hauls in seven different years, the most by a bowler in Tests.
Murali is the only bowler to take five or more five-wicket hauls in three consecutive years: 2000 (7), 2001 (7), and 2002 (5).
You can find here the list of bowlers with the most fifers picked in overall Test career.
Geographic and Opposition Performance Records
Muralitharan’s 7 five-fors in 2001 came in Sri Lanka, which is the most by a bowler on home soil in a year in Tests.
Seven of Malcolm Marshall’s 9 five-fors in 1984 came outside the West Indies, which is the most by a bowler in overseas Tests in a year.
Marshall took 6 of his five-wicket hauls in 1984 against Australia across 17 innings, equaling the record held by Australia’s Charlie Turner (1888), Monty Noble (1902), and Terry Alderman (1989), all of whom achieved the feat against England.
Individual and Captaincy Five-For Records
Eight of Marshall’s nine five-fors in 1984 resulted in wins for the West Indies, which is the joint-most by a bowler in a year, along with England’s Sydney Barnes (8 in 1912).
India’s Bishan Singh Bedi (1977) and New Zealand’s Daniel Vettori (2008) share the record for the most five-fors in a year as captains in Tests, with 5 five-fors each.
Four of Bedi’s five-fors in 1977 ended in losses, the joint-most in a year, along with Turner (1888), Muralitharan (2004), and Shakib Al Hasan (2008).
Mitchell Starc is the only bowler to pick up 2 five-wicket hauls each in two different years (2019 and 2025) in pink-ball Tests.
Calendar Year Total Wickets and Ten-Wicket Hauls
Murali claimed 90 wickets in 2006, which is the second-most by a bowler in a year in Tests, behind Shane Warne’s 96 scalps in 2005.
Muralitharan racked up 5 ten-wicket hauls in 2006, the most by a bowler in a year in Tests.
The former Sri Lankan off-spinner is the only bowler to take two or more ten-wicket hauls in six different years in Tests.
