Best Test Bowling Sequences to August 2007

 

These sequences are not, for the most part, whole spells. Unless otherwise stated, all sequences took place as part of one bowling spell.

 

10/49 (292 balls) JC Laker 10/53 Eng v Aus Manchester  1956

 

9/16  (46 balls) JC Laker 9/37   Eng v Aus Manchester  1956

 

8/4  (~44 balls) GA Lohmann 8/7  Eng v SA Johannesburg 1895/96

8/6  (~95 balls) LR Gibbs 8/38 WI v Ind Bridgetown 1961/62

8/10  (~52 balls) J Briggs 8/11 Eng v SA Cape Town 1888/89

 

8/19  (including 4 overthrows, 78 balls) GD McGrath 8/24 Aus v Pak Perth 2004/05

 

7/1  (32 balls)  CEL Ambrose 7/25 WI v Aus Perth   1992/93

7/2  (~28 balls) GA Lohmann  8/7 Eng v SA Johannesburg 1895/96

7/4  (7/1, plus 3 nb) (33 deliveries) Sarfraz Nawaz  9/86 Pak v Aus Melbourne  1978/79

7/5  (~90 balls) LR Gibbs 8/38 WI v Ind Bridgetown 1961/62

7/8  (22 balls)  JC Laker  9/37 Eng v Aus Manchester  1956

7/9  (~44 balls) J Briggs 8/11 Eng v SA Cape Town 1888/89

7/9  (~25 balls) MA Noble 7/17 Aus v Eng Melbourne 1901/02


6/0  (18 balls) JJC Lawson 6/3 WI v Bangladesh Dhaka 2001/02

6/4  (24 balls) FS Trueman 7/44 Eng v WI Birmingham 1963

6/4  (33 balls) PCR Tufnell 6/25 Eng v WI The Oval 1991
6/5  (~20 balls) MA Noble 7/17 Aus v Eng Melbourne 1901/02

6/5  (47 balls) FS Trueman 6/30 Eng v Aus Leeds 1961
6/6  (45 balls)  S Haigh 6/11  Eng v SA Cape Town  1898/99

6/6  (37 balls) W Rhodes 7/17 Eng v Aus Birmingham 1902

6/7  (29 balls) Waqar Younis 6/55 Pak v Ban 2001/02

6/7  (29 balls) MJ Clarke 6/9 Aus v Ind 2004/05

6/8  (~36 balls) J Briggs 8/11 Eng v SA Cape Town 1888/89

6/8  (7 overs) R Peel 6/23 The Oval 1896

6/8  (41 balls) GA Faulkner SA v Eng Leeds 1907

6/8  (28 balls)  SJ Pegler  7/65 SA v Eng Lord's  1912

6/8  (36 balls)  H Ironmonger 6/18 Aus v SA Melbourne  1931/32

6/8  (68 balls) GD McGrath 6/17 Aus v WI Brisbane 2000/01

6/9  (6/7, plus 2 nb)(40 deliveries) 6/7 AER Gilligan Eng v SA Birmingham 1924

6/9  (56 balls)  CV Grimmett  7/83 Aus v SA Adelaide  1931/32

6/9  (43 balls) S Ramadhin 7/49 WI v Eng Birmingham 1957

6/9  (71b) DL Underwood 8/51 Eng v Pak Lord’s 1974

6/10  (28 balls) RO Schwarz 6/47 SA v Aus Sydney 1910/11 (2 spells)

6/10  (43 balls) H Verity 8/43 Eng v Aus Lord’s 1934

6/10  (92 balls) HJ Tayfield 6/13 Johannesburg SA v NZ 1953/54




5/0  (32 balls) HJ Tayfield 6/13 Johannesburg SA v NZ 1953/54

5/0  (24 balls) FS Trueman 6/30 Eng v Aus Leeds 1961
5/0  (~36 balls) LR Gibbs 8/38 WI v Ind Bridgetown 1961/62

5/0  (18 balls)   BKV Prasad  6/33 Ind v Pak Chennai  1998/99

5/0  (13 balls)  Waqar Younis 6/55 Pak v Ban 2001/02

 

5/1  (17 balls)  GR Hazlitt 7/25 Aus v Eng The Oval  1912
5/1  (28 balls)  IT Botham 5/11  Eng v Aus Birmingham  1981

5/2  (19 balls)  ERH Toshack  5/2 Aus v Ind Brisbane  1947/48

5/2  (28 balls) GD McGrath 6/17 Aus v WI Brisbane 2000/01

5/2  (31 balls) GD McGrath 5/53 Aus v Eng Lord’s 2005

5/2  (39 balls) SLV Raju, Ind v SL 6/12 Chandigarh, 1990/91

 

5/3  (17 balls)  H Ironmonger 5/6 Aus v SA Melbourne  1931/32

5/3  (~21 balls)  H Ironmonger 6/18 Aus v SA Melbourne  1931/32

5/3  (49 balls) CV Grimmett Aus v SA Durban 1935/36
5/3  (14 balls) JC Laker  9/37 Eng v Aus Manchester  1956

5/3  (29 balls) MHN Walker 6/15 Aus v Pak Sydney 1972/73

5/3  (5/1, plus 2 nb) (17 deliveries) 9/86 Sarfraz Nawaz  Pak v Aus Melbourne  1978/79

5/3  (25 balls) Imran Khan 8/60 Pak v Ind Karachi 1982/83

 

5/4  (~28 balls) J Briggs 8/11 Eng v SA Cape Town 1888/89

5/4  (32 balls) W Rhodes 7/17 Eng v Aus Birmingham 1902

5/4  (21 balls) Kapil Dev 8/106 Ind v Aus Adelaide 1985/86

 

5/5  (7 overs) H Trumble 6/53 Aus v Eng Manchester 1902

5/5  (43 balls) WW Armstrong 6/35 Aus v Eng Lord’s 1909

5/5  (21 balls) RO Schwarz 6/47 SA v Aus Sydney 1910/11

5/5  (66 balls) WJ O’Reilly 5/20 Aus v SA Johannesburg 1935/36

5/5  (34 balls) JE Emburey 6/33 Eng v SL Colombo (PSS) 1981/82

5/5  (32 balls) TBA May 5/9 Aus v WI Adelaide 1992/93

5/5  (22 balls) SK Warne 7/56 Aus v SA Sydney 1993/94

5/5  (18 balls) IR Bishop 5/32 WI v Eng Leeds 1995

5/5  (including 1 no-ball, 15 deliveries) AR Caddick 5/14 Eng v WI Leeds 2000

5/5  (25 balls) Shoaib Akhtar 5/21 Pak v Aus Colombo(PSS) 2002/03

5/5  (including 2 nb, 17 deliveries) Shoaib Akhtar 6/50 Pak v Ban Peshawar 2003/04

 

5/7  (including 4 overthrows, 31 balls) GD McGrath 8/24 Aus v Pak Perth 2004/05

 

 

Note that Hazlitt’s 5/1 was the last 17 balls he bowled in Test cricket.

 

I have not included subsets of listed sequences unless they involved fewer runs than the whole sequence. For example, Ambrose naturally recorded 5/1 and 6/1 as part of his record spell, but these are not listed separately.

 

 

Quickest five-hauls

 

Balls

Runs

13

0

Waqar Younis 6/55 Pak v Ban 2001/02

approx

13

5

MA Noble 7/17 Aus v Eng Melbourne 1901/02

14

0

JJC Lawson 6/3 WI v Bangladesh Dhaka 2001/02

14

3

JC Laker 9/37   Eng v Aus Manchester  1956

15

5

including 1 nb, AR Caddick 5/14 Eng v WI Leeds 2000

17

3

H Ironmonger 5/6 Aus v SA Melbourne 1931/32

17

3

including 2 nb, Sarfraz Nawaz  9/86 Pak v Aus Melbourne  1978/79

17

1

GR Hazlitt 7/25 Aus v Eng The Oval  1912

17

5

including 2 nb, Shoaib Akhtar 6/50 Pak v Ban Peshawar 2003/04

17

4

FS Trueman 7/44 Eng v WI Birmingham 1963

17

5

Shoaib Akhtar 6/50 Pak v Ban Peshawar 2003/04

18

0

BKV Prasad  6/33 Ind v Pak Chennai  1998/99

18

5

IR Bishop 5/32 WI v Eng Leeds 1995

approx

18

2

GA Lohmann 8/7  Eng v SA Johannesburg 1895/96

19

7

AA Mailey 9/121 Aus v Eng Melbourne 1920/21

19

2

ERH Toshack  5/2 Aus v Ind Brisbane  1947/48

 

 

Fast First-class Triple Centuries

 

Macartney 1921

Woolley 1912

Rutherford 1986

Richards 1985

GC Smith 2005

Trumper 1914

Compton 1948

Lara 1994

Bradman 1930

345(343) off 274 balls

305* off 235 balls

317 off 245 balls

322 off 258 balls

311 off 255 balls

293(294) off 252 balls

300 off 262 balls

501* off 427 balls

452* off 465 balls

50 runs

55

28

64

63

55

80

55

100 runs

98

93

98

105

88

110

94

138

122

150 runs

123

134

152

140

158

193

170

200 runs

156

160

193

181

173

184

201

220

209

250 runs

186

191

215

213

226

245

264

300 runs

221

230

234

244

249

261

278

311

350 runs

311

359

400 runs

367

407

450 runs

398

465

500 runs

427

 

 

Most Runs in a Two-Hour (maximum) Session – Test matches

 

236 (43 overs) Aus v SA, Lunch-Tea, Joburg 1921 (119 off 85 balls by Jack Gregory)

233 (41 overs) Eng v Pak, Lunch-Tea, Nottingham 1954 (Denis Compton 173)

231 (45 overs) Eng v NZ, Lunch-tea 3rd day, Leeds 1949 (both teams batted)

223 (43 overs) Eng v SA, Lunch-Tea, Lord’s 1924

220 (47 overs) Eng v NZ, Lunch-Tea, Wellington 1933 (Wally Hammond 151)

216 (28 overs) Pak v Ind, lunch-tea, Lahore 2006 (two teams)

208 (32 overs, 100 minutes) Aus v SA, lunch-tea, Sydney 1910/11

207 (29 overs) Aus v Zimbabwe Lunch-Tea Perth 2003 (both Matt Hayden and Adam Gilchrist scored centuries in the session)

 

Most Runs in a Longer Session

249 (33 overs) SA v Zim, post-tea 1st day, Cape Town 2005

244 (58 overs, 165 minutes), Eng v Aus, post-tea, Oval 1921

239 (45 overs, 140 minutes), Eng v NZ, pre-lunch, Lord’s 1937 (two teams)

236 (35 overs, 160 minutes) Eng v Aus, post-tea, Edgbaston 2001 (two teams)

223 (35 overs, 150 minutes) Eng v Ban, post-tea, Chester-le-Street 2005 (Marcus Trescothick 127)

221 (150 minutes) Eng v SA, pre-Lunch, Oval 1935 (Les Ames 123)

219 (35 overs, 150 minutes) NZ v Zimbabwe, post-Tea, Harare 2005 (Daniel Vettori 127)

~210 (150 minutes) Eng v India, pre-Lunch, Oval 1936

208 (47 overs, 154 minutes) Aus v SA, post-tea, Melbourne 1910/11 (Victor Trumper 133)

200 (57 overs, 150 minutes) Eng v SA, pre-Lunch, Lord’s 1924

 

Most Runs in a Session (Individuals)

173         DCS Compton (278) Eng v Pak  Nottingham  1954 (lunch-tea)

150         WR Hammond (336*) Eng v NZ   Auckland 1932-33 (lunch-tea)

140         IDS Smith (173)   NZ v Ind   Auckland 1989-90 (tea-close)

139         NJ Astle 222 NZ v Eng Christchurch 2002 (tea-close)

133         VT Trumper 159 Aus v RSA Melbourne 1910-11 (tea-close: 154min session)

127         ME Trescothick 165 Eng v Ban Chester-le-Street 2005 (tea-close) (about 140 mins)

127         SJ McCabe  232 Aus v Eng  Nottingham  1938 (lunch-tea)

127         DL Vettori 127 NZ v Zim Harare 2005 (tea-close: 150 min session)

123         LEG Ames148* Eng v RSA The Oval 1935 (pre-lunch: 150 min session)

122         CA Roach 209 Georgetown 1929-30 (tea-close)

121         R Benaud 121 Aus v WI  Kingston 1954-55 (lunch-tea)

 

 

Longest Bowling Spells (where known)

 

354 balls (59 overs) Hirwani at the Oval 1990.

352 balls (44 eight-ball overs), AMB Rowan, Durban 1948/49.

328 balls (41 eight-ball overs) GS Sobers MCG 1960/61.

322 balls (53.4 overs) Hugh Tayfield, Saf v Eng, The Oval 1955.

308 balls (51.2 overs) Tom Veivers Manchester 1964.

300 balls (50 overs) George Giffen, Sydney 1894/95.

300 balls (50 overs) Mohammad Nazir, Pak vs Ind, Nagpur 1983/84 (unconfirmed).