Most Test Wickets at Home in a Calendar Year

Most Test Wickets at Home in a Calendar Year

Key Insights on Leading Home Wicket Takers in Test Cricket Annually

Top Calendar Year Wicket Takers on Home Soil

Muthiah Muralitharan leads the tally for the most wickets taken at home soil in a calendar year like he does with his overall wickets chart in the format history.

The Sri Lankan off-spinner took a whopping 79 wickets in the 11 Tests he played in Sri Lanka in the year 2001.

However, it is Shane Warne who tops the overall calendar year record for picking the most Test wickets.

Former India captain, Kapil Dev, is second in the home list with 58 wickets in 13 home Tests in the year 1979, and thereby topping the Indian chart.

Sri Lanka’s Chaminda Vaas comes in the third position with 57 scalps in 2001.

Only six bowlers have taken fifty or more Test wickets in a year while playing at home.

Apart from Murali, the list includes the Indian duo of Kapil Dev (58 wickets in 1979) and Ravichandran Ashwin (55 wickets in 2016), the Sri Lankan duo of Chaminda Vaas (57 scalps in 2001) & Rangana Herath (54 wickets in 2012) and South Africa’s Makhaya Ntini (53 wickets in 2006).

Ashwin came close to achieving this feat in other years, taking 46 wickets each in the 2021 and 2024 home seasons.

There are 8 other instances of bowlers taking 45 or more wickets at home in a calendar year.

Best Bowling Averages and Strike Rates at Home

For a bowler who has taken a minimum of 45 or more wickets at home, Jim Laker has the lowest bowling average of just 9.60 in 1956.

This is followed by 13.57 by Waqar Younis (45 wickets) in 1990.

Makhaya Ntini of South Africa had the lowest bowling strike rate of 33.9 in 2006.

Jim Laker took 46 wickets in just 5 Tests in England that season.

Elite Single Match and Innings Performance

Jim Laker of England has the best match haul and innings haul while bowling in a home Test match.

In the 1956 Test match at Manchester against Australia, Laker took all 10 wickets in the second innings (10/53), following his nine in the first essay (9/37).

The only other bowler to take all 10 wickets in an innings at home is Anil Kumble, who took 42 wickets in the 1999 home season for India.

Most Five and Ten-Wicket Hauls in a Home Year

Among them, Muralitharan has the most seven five-wicket hauls and four ten-wicket hauls in 11 Tests played at home in 2001.

Following Muralitharan, Ashwin and Herath took six fifers each, while the former has taken 3 ten-wicket hauls in 2016.

Also Read: Most Test Runs at Home in a Calendar Year