Incricket, ahat-trick occurs when abowler takes awicket with each of three consecutivedeliveries. Although hat-tricks can carry over between innings, meaning abatter can be dismissed twice as part of the same hat-trick, they do not carry over between matches. As of July 2025, this feat has only been achieved 49 times, by 45 different bowlers, in more than 2,000 men'sTest matches,[1] the form of the sport in which national representative teams compete in matches of up to five days' duration.
The first Test hat-trick was recorded on 2 January 1879, in only the third Test match to take place, by theAustralia pace bowlerFred Spofforth, nicknamed "The Demon Bowler",[2] who dismissed threeEnglandbatters with consecutive deliveries at theMelbourne Cricket Ground. The most recent Test hat-trick was taken byScott Boland in July 2025.
A player has taken two hat-tricks in the same Test match only once. Playing for Australia against South Africa in the first match of the1912 Triangular Tournament atOld Trafford,Manchester, England,leg spinnerJimmy Matthews took a hat-trick in South Africa's first and second innings, both taken on 28 May 1912. He completed both hat-tricks by dismissing South Africa'sTommy Ward.[3]
Only three other cricketers have taken more than one Test hat-trick: Australianoff spinnerHugh Trumble (two years apart, between the same teams at the same ground),Pakistan fast bowlerWasim Akram (just over a week apart, in consecutive matches between the same teams) and England fast bowlerStuart Broad.
AustralianMerv Hughes is the only bowler to take a hat-trick where the wickets fell over three overs. This was at WACA, Perth in 1988. He took a wicket (Curtly Ambrose) with the final ball of an over. With the first ball of his next over he took the final wicket of the West Indies innings (Patrick Patterson). He then removed the openerGordon Greenidge with the first ball of the West Indies second innings.[4] Even more unusually, Hughes's two first-innings wickets were not consecutive, since Tim May had bowled an over himself in between Hughes's two deliveries, and took the wicket of Gus Logie.[5]
Two other hat-tricks have taken place over two innings rather than one, both taken by West Indians against Australia –Courtney Walsh andJermaine Lawson. Walsh's, at the Gabba in 1988, was unusual since, like Hughes' (which was in the very next Test in the series), other wickets fell between the beginning and end of the hat-trick. After dismissing Dodemaide to finish off Australia's first innings, Walsh did not open the bowling in the Australian second innings, and in fact did not bowl until Australia had already lost two wickets and were 65 for 2: then with his first two deliveries he dismissed Wood and Veletta. Lawson's hat trick was at the Kensington Oval in 2003. He removed tail-enders Lee and MacGill in successive deliveries before Australia declared their first innings (at 605/9), and then took the wicket of Langer with the first delivery of Australia's second innings.[6]
Three players have taken a hat-trick on their Test debut: English medium pace bowlerMaurice Allom in 1930, New Zealand off-spinnerPeter Petherick in 1976, and Australian pace bowlerDamien Fleming in 1994.[7]
Alok Kapali took the fewest total Test wickets of any player who recorded a hat-trick, taking only six wickets in his entire Test career.[7]
AustralianPeter Siddle is the only bowler to take a hat-trick on his birthday.[8]
Bangladeshi off spinnerSohag Gazi is the only male player to score a century and take a hat-trick in the same Test match.[9]
Sri Lankan seamerNuwan Zoysa became the first player in the history to take a hat-trick off their first three balls of a Test match. He achieved this against Zimbabwe at Harare in November 1999, dismissing Trevor Gripper, Murray Goodwin and Neil Johnson.[10]
Indian pacerIrfan Pathan is the first bowler to take a hat-trick in the first over of a Test match, against Pakistan in 2006.[11]
In the five-match series between aRest of the World XI and England in 1970, a hat-trick was taken by South AfricanEddie Barlow in the fourth match, atHeadingley (the last three of four wickets in five balls).[12] These matches were considered to be Tests at the time, but that status was later removed.[13]
Billy Bates was the first player to take a hat-trick for England, four years after Spofforth achieved the feat.
Hugh Trumble is one of only four players to take more than one Test hat-trick, achieving the feat in 1902 and 1904.
Courtney Walsh's hat-trick in 1988 was spread across two innings. In Australia's first innings he dismissed the last two batters with consecutive deliveries and then took a third wicket with the first ball of the second innings.
Wasim Akram took two hat-tricks over a span of nine days in 1999.
WhenPeter Siddle took a hat-trick for Australia in 2010, his final victim wasStuart Broad. Nine months later Broad himself would be the next man to take a Test match hat-trick.
Key
Symbol
Meaning
Hat-trick taken in debut match
Bowler
The name of the bowler
For
The team for which the bowler was playing
Against
The team against which the bowler was playing
Inn.
The innings (first or second) in which the hat-trick was achieved
Test
The number of the Test within the overall series between the two teams
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England
Australia
Pakistan
West Indies
India
Bangladesh
New Zealand
South Africa
Sri Lanka
Zimbabwe
