Ask the Spider #78

Has anyone taken two hat-tricks in the same Test match?

This has happened only once – Australian spinner Jimmy Matthews took a hat-trick in both of South Africa’s innings during the 1912 Triangular Tournament at Old Trafford.

Have any other bowlers taken more than one Test hat-trick?

Two others – Australian spinner Hugh Trumble, vs England at Melbourne in 1902 and again at the same ground against the same team two years later; Pakistan’s Wasim Akram took two hat-tricks in a little over a week against Sri Lanka in 1999, first at Lahore and then at Dhaka.

Has anyone taken four wickets in four balls?

No one has achieved this feat in Tests, however in ODIs Lasith Malinga took four consecutive South African wickets at Georgetown during the World Cup Super 8s in 2007, albeit in a losing effort. The closest anyone has come in Tests is four wickets in five balls, the first by Maurice Allom for England against New Zealand at Christchurch in 1930 (on debut), followed by England’s Chris Old against Pakistan at Edgbaston in 1978 and Wasim Akram against West Indies at Lahore in 1990. Old and Akram did not include a hat-trick in their feat – Old’s third ball was a no-ball, while Akram’s third ball was a dot ball.

Has anyone else other than the aforementioned Allom taken a hat-trick on Test debut?

Two other players have achieved this – New Zealand’s Peter Petherick against Pakistan at Lahore in 1976 and Australia’s Damien Fleming, also against Pakistan, at Rawalpindi in 1994.

How many cricketers have taken both a Test and an ODI hat-trick?

Two players, both from Pakistan, have achieved this – Mohammed Sami and Wasim Akram. Wasim Akram is the only player to have taken two hat-tricks in both forms of the game.

Which is the youngest player to take a Test hat-trick?

That distinction fell to Alok Kapali of Bangladesh, who was only 19 years and 240 days when he took three Pakistani wickets in succession at Peshawar in 2003. Kapali was only brought on towards the end of the innings and finished with an analysis of 2.1-1-3-3.

Has anyone other than Wasim Akram taken more than one ODI hat-trick?

Yes, two other players have achieved this – Saqlain Mushtaq Of Pakistan and Chaminda Vaas of Sri Lanka. Vaas’s first hat-trick came during a world-record ODI haul of eight for 19 against Zimbabwe at Colombo in 2001.