10 Test bowling records that will never be broken

Some records, like most number of fan-favourite characters killed, held by Game of Thrones, are unbreakable. Although cricket doesn’t match up to the gore of GoT and Test cricket, in particular, is more Newsroom than Breaking Bad, some records are sensational and will in all probability live on till eternity.In fact, it would be an understatement to call some of these monumental feats records, because they are in the very minimum, superhuman events which couldn’t be contrived unless the whole universe conspired against the mark.

#10 Highest percentage of wickets taken bowled

Tom Richardson picked up more than 60% of his wickets by bowling a batsman out

There are actually two virtually unbreakable records under this segment. The highest percentage of wickets taken bowled with a minimum of 50 dismissals bowled, is held by England’s Tom Richardson, who got 54 of his 88 Test wickets by getting the batsmen bowled. That is a massive 61.36% for the genuinely fast bowler.

The nearest one is Frederick Spofforth who, playing for Australia, took 50 out of his 94 wickets by getting the batsman out bowled – 53.19%. There is a wide gap following that with just 4 more bowlers crossing even 40% in the history of Test cricket.

The other interesting record is that held by Muralitharan, in terms of sheer volume. Muralitharan has 167 dismissals bowled, 51 more than the nearest competitor, Warne, who had 116 of those.

#9 Most maidens in Test innings and match

Alf Valentine bowled 49 maidens in a single innings for the West Indies

Cricket is getting faster by the day thanks to T20s. As batsmen get more and more aggressive, this is a record that gets secure by the day. Alf Valentine of West Indies holds the record for bowling 49 maiden overs in one innings during a tour to England in 1950 when he also racked up the record for most maidens in a Test, 75.

49 maidens in an innings – that is more maidens than most international bowlers accumulate in a whole series of 5 Tests, leave alone in a single innings. Bapu Nadkarni holds the record for bowling 21 consecutive maidens of 6 ball overs, against England in 1963-64.

For a brief while, this record came under threat when Ravindra Jadeja bowled 17 consecutive maidens for India against South Africa recently in Delhi during a marathon ‘ blockathon’ by South Africa – the kind that is extremely rare and hard to pull off.

#8 Fastest to 100 wickets

George Lohmann reached the 100-wicket mark in just 16 Tests

Ravichandran Ashwin had one of the best phases any bowler could ever have in contemporary Test cricket. But even he took 18 Tests to reach 100 wickets.

The record for the fastest to 100 wickets is held by George Lohmann, who set the record in 1896 in Test No. 48, bowling for England against South Africa. Close to 120 years and more than 2000 Tests later, he still is the fastest to 100 Test wickets because taking more than 6 wickets per match from your debut is virtually impossible.

A lot of bowlers have had excellent spells midway through their careers when they picked a lot of wickets. For example, Warne holds the record for most wickets in a calendar year, taking 96 wickets in just 15 Tests in 2005, with Muralitharan taking 90 wickets in just 11 Tests in 2006.

However, doing it at the start of your career and consistently pulling off that strike-rate for more than a year is a Herculean task.

#7 Cheapest 5-wicket haul

Ernie Toshack bowled a miserly spell to pick up five wickets for just five runs

This record registered in 1947 has now stood for 68 years and in all likelihood will stand for a long while. Ernie Toshack of Australia picked five wickets giving away just two runs versus India in Brisbane. His figures read 2.3-1-2-5.

However, it is not the most economical five-wicket haul ever taken. That record belongs to Jermaine Lawson, who registered figures of 6.5-4-3-6 against Bangladesh in Dhaka in 2002. The economy rate during that bowling performance was 0.43, the smallest of the 2795 instances in Test cricket when a bowler picked up 5 wickets.

Picking up 5 wickets without even giving away a single boundary, in modern day Test cricket after the advent of T20 with grounds getting smaller even in Australia – that is as tough as it could get.

#6 Best bowling figures in a match

Jim Laker picked up 19 wickets in a Test match against Australia in 1956

Jim Laker holds the record for best figures in an innings and in a match. Laker’s 10/53 in 1956 for England against Australia is hard to surpass, although Anil Kumble did come a close second with 10/74.

However, the real biggie is Laker’s match haul of 19/90, having picked up 9 more wickets in the other innings. To put things into perspective, Harbhajan Singh has the best figures in the 21st century, 15/217 against Australia in Chennai.

Also, only in 16 instances in Test history has a bowler managed to pick up 9 wickets in an innings and in only 10 of those instances has a bowler conceded fewer runs in that innings than what Laker conceded in the entire match.

So, even if a bowler manages to pick the full 10 in one innings, almost repeating it a second time in the same Test while giving away so few runs is next to impossible. No wonder then that the record has stood for 59 years and will stand longer.

#5 Most wickets in a series

Sid Barnes was considered to be the ‘Bradman of bowling’

In a series that spanned three months from December 1913 to February 1914, Sydney Barnes picked up 49 wickets in just 4 Tests for England against South Africa at an astounding average of 10.93. He took seven 5-wicket hauls and picked up 10 wickets in a match thrice.

The series had 5 Tests, but Barnes missed one of them, depriving him of an opportunity to pick 50 wickets and pushing that record even further. Nevertheless, what Barnes did in 4 Tests, many great bowlers haven’t managed to surpass even in 6 Tests.

The great Jim Laker picked up 46 wickets in 5 Tests in 1956. Barnes’ record has now stood for more than a century and will, in all likelihood stand the test of time. Barnes in the first decade of the 20th century was to bowling what Bradman became for batting later, picking up 189 wickets in just 27 Tests at an average of 16.43.

Barnes was considered the Bowler of the Century, thanks to his ability to spin the ball both ways and swing it both ways and sometimes combine, spin and swing. In modern day Test cricket, 5 Tests are the norm and the pitches, big bats and batting techniques ensure no bowler can dominate a series so completely, especially in the era of covered pitches. So, this record seems safe!

#4 Most consecutive 5-wicket hauls

Charlie Turner (Image courtesy: The Australian)

The record is held by Charlie Turner of Australia, who picked five-wicket hauls in 6 consecutive innings against England in 1888. Yes, you read it right – the record has stood for 127 years and it doesn’t look like it will ever be breached.

A close second is 5 by Tom Richardson who did it for England against Australia in 1895 – 120 years ago. AV Bedser and S Shillingford have also picked up 5 wicket hauls in 5 consecutive innings, Shillingford doing it for West Indies against Zimbabwe and India as late as in 2013 before he was reported for suspect action.

#3 Oldest player to take a 5-wicket haul

Bert Ironmonger played cricket until the age of 51 (Image courtesy: Fox Sports)

Given the rigours of modern day Test cricket and the competition, this is another record that will definitely never be breached. The record for the oldest player to take a 5-wicket haul is Bert Ironmonger. Ironmonger picked 74 wickets in a 14 match career.

The left arm slow-medium bowler playing for Australia picked 6/18 versus South Africa in 1932 at the age of 49 years and 311 days. Since 2000, Courtney Walsh has been the oldest at 38 years and 138 days to pick a 5-wicket haul. That explains why it is impossible to break this record. Playing so long after 40 and be good enough to pick a 5-wicket haul? Impossible!

#2 Most 10-wickets-in-a-match hauls

Murali also holds the record for most number of 10-wicket hauls in a match

Picking 10 wickets in one match is a phenomenal effort, so phenomenal that only two bowlers have ever reached double digits as far as 10-wickets-in-a-match-hauls are concerned. Warne has ten 10-wicket hauls. Guess, who owns the record? M Muralitharan, from Sri Lanka, of course, with a whopping 22 10-wicket hauls.

That’s a 10-wickets’-in-a-match haul every 10.5 innings or approximately every 6 Tests. Hadlee and Kumble have 9 and 8 of those respectively. The great Dale Steyn in contemporary cricket has 5 and so does Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis. Explains how tough it is to break this one, isn’t it?

#1 Most 5-wicket hauls

Muralitharan has the most five-wicket hauls in Test cricket

In order to understand how intimidating a record is, one only needs to look at what the number at the second position shows and usually it is an unfathomable gap for unbreakable records. By that benchmark, M Muralitharan has racked up some seriously stunning records.

One of them is the number of times he has picked up a haul of five or more wickets in one innings of a Test match. Muralitharan has done it 67 times in 133 Tests and 230 innings. That accounts to a 5-wicket haul every 2 Tests or roughly every 3.5 innings.

The significance of this record is highlighted by the fact that the next best number is by another legend, Shane Warne. Warne appeared in 12 Tests more but has 37 5-wicket hauls to show for his efforts, one and two more than Sir Richard Hadlee and Anil Kumble respectively, although Hadlee racked up 5-wicket hauls at a pace similar to that of Muralitharan.

Hadlee played just 86 Tests for his 36 5-wicket hauls. It is impossible to break Murali’s record for two reasons. A bowler needs to keep picking wickets throughout an entire career at an incredible rate and also start early to have enough time to pick as many five-wicket hauls.