A Test hat trick is an occasion when a bowler takes three wickets on three continuous deliveries in a test match. This can be three consecutive wickets separated by an over or even an innings in some cases. The event happens very rarely and since 1877 when the first test match was played, only 37 hat tricks have been recorded. The term hat-trick was initially used in 1858 to describe HH Stephenson’s achievement. In 1878, this term was used for the first time in print. India remains the only cricket team against which nobody has recorded a hat-trick yet.
Two hat-tricks in a match
Jimmy Matthews of Australia is the only person to have achieved the feat in a test match played against South Africa in 1912.
Multiple Test hat-tricks
Off Spinner, Hugh Trumble of Australia recorded two hat-tricks in separate games played in 1902 and 1904 respectively.
Fast bowler, Wasim Akram of Pakistan recorded hat-tricks on two different occasions in 1999.
Hat-trick on Test debut
This feat was achieved by Maurice Allom of England in 1930, Peter Petherick of New Zealand in 1976 and Damien Fleming of Australia in 1994.
List of Test Hat-tricks
| Bowler | Country | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Fred Spofforth | AUS | 2 January, 1879 |
| Billy Bates | ENG | 20 January, 1883 |
| Johnny Briggs | ENG | 2 February, 1892 |
| George Lohmann | ENG | 14 February, 1896 |
| Jack Hearne | ENG | 30 June, 1899 |
| Hugh Trumble | AUS | 4 January, 1902 |
| Hugh Trumble | AUS | 8 March, 1904 |
| Jimmy Matthews | AUS | 28 May, 1912 |
| Jimmy Matthews | AUS | 28 May, 1912 |
| Maurice Allom | ENG | 10 January, 1930 |
| Tom Goddard | ENG | 26 December, 1938 |
| Peter Loader | ENG | 25 July, 1957 |
| Lindsay Kline | AUS | 3 January, 1958 |
| Wes Hall | WI | 29 March, 1959 |
| Geoffrey Griffin | SAF | 24 June, 1960 |
| Lance Gibbs | WI | 30 January, 1961 |
| Peter Petherick | NZ | 9 October, 1976 |
| Courtney Walsh | WI | 18 November, 20 November, 1988 |
| Merv Hughes | AUS | 3 December, 4 December, 1988 |
| Damien Fleming | AUS | 9 October, 1994 |
| Shane Warne | AUS | 29 December, 1994 |
| Dominic Cork | ENG | 30 July, 1995 |
| Darren Gough | ENG | 2 January, 1999 |
| Wasim Akram | PAK | 6 March, 1999 |
| Wasim Akram | PAK | 14 March, 1999 |
| Nuwan Zoysa | SL | 26 November, 1999 |
| Abdul Razzaq | PAK | 21 June, 2000 |
| Glenn McGrath | AUS | 1 December, 2000 |
| Harbhajan Singh | IND | 11 March, 2001 |
| Mohammad Sami | PAK | 8 March, 2002 |
| Jermaine Lawson | WI | 2 May, 5 May 2003 |
| Alok Kapali | BAN | 29-Aug-03 |
| Andy Blignaut | ZIM | 22-Feb-04 |
| Matthew Hoggard | ENG | 3-Apr-04 |
| James Franklin | NZ | 20-Oct-04 |
| Irfan Pathan | IND | 29-Jan-06 |
| Ryan Sidebottom | ENG | 8-Mar-08 |