It is a pretty rare phenomenon to see a bowler take a hat-trick in cricket. Dismissing batters on three consecutive deliveries is a difficult task for any bowler.
But a few bowlers were lucky to achieve this feat in the longer format, often turning the matches on their heads. This sudden fall of wickets also helped their teams gain a slight advantage over their opponents.
Here we’ll see which teams have taken the most hat-tricks in Test cricket.
Most Test Hat-Tricks by Teams
| Team | No. of Hat-tricks | No. of Players | First Hat-trick By |
|---|---|---|---|
| England | 15 | 14 | Willie Bates |
| Australia | 11 | 9 | Frederick Spofforth |
| Pakistan | 5 | 4 | Wasim Akram |
| West Indies | 4 | 4 | Wess Hall |
| India | 3 | 3 | Harbhajan Singh |
| Bangladesh | 2 | 2 | Alok Kapali |
| New Zealand | 2 | 2 | Peter Petherick |
| South Africa | 2 | 2 | Geoff Griffin |
| Sri Lanka | 2 | 2 | Nuwan Zoysa |
| Zimbabwe | 1 | 1 | Andy Blignaut |
Key Insights
10: England have racked up the most hat-tricks in Test cricket, with 14 bowlers recording this rare feat 15 times. Australia are the other team to have more than 10 Test hat-tricks.
1: Australia’s Frederick Spofforth registered the first-ever hat-trick in cricket. The former pacer dismissed England’s three batters on consecutive balls in the 1879 Melbourne Test.
2: Hugh Trumble, Thomas Matthews (both Australia), Wasim Akram (Pakistan), and Stuart Broad (England) are the only four bowlers to take two hat-tricks in Test cricket.
Among them, Broad and Akram are part of the highest wicket-takers in international cricket across formats.
Interestingly, Matthews both hat-tricks came in the same match against South Africa in 1912, while Akram’s hat-tricks came in consecutive Tests against Sri Lanka in 1999.
Trumble is the other bowler to grab both hat-tricks against the same opposition, England, almost two years apart in 1902 and 1904 at the MCG.
3: England’s Maurice Allom, New Zealand’s Peter Petherick, and Australia’s Damien Fleming are the only three bowlers to take hat-tricks on their Test debuts.
2: Two bowlers from the West Indies and one from Australia share a record of completing their hat-tricks across two innings of a Test against each other’s teams.
- Read about it here: A Hat Trick in 3 Overs, 2 Innings, and 2 Days
The West Indies’ Courtney Walsh and Australia’s Merv Hughes took hat-tricks in such a way in Brisbane and Perth Tests, respectively, during the 1988/89 series between both teams. Jermaine Lawson emulated the feat in the 2003 Bridgetown while playing for the Windies against Australia.
0: No bowlers from Afghanistan and Ireland have not picked up any hat-tricks in Test cricket thus far. Bowlers from other 10 Test nations have taken at least one hat-trick.
Read: Which batter has scored the most ODI centuries in a single venue?
