Hat-Tricks in Test Cricket: The Complete History & Record List

A hat-trick — three wickets in three consecutive deliveries — is one of cricket's rarest individual achievements. In Test cricket, with high-quality batters and slow attritional pace, hat-tricks happen perhaps once every four or five years. Across 150 years, fewer than 50 bowlers have managed it. Each hat-trick tells a small story about a particular match, a particular bowler, and a particular moment when everything aligned.

This guide is the complete record list of hat-tricks in Test cricket history — from Fred Spofforth's 1879 effort (the very first) through Hugh Trumble's two and into the modern era of Stuart Broad and Ravichandran Ashwin. We'll cover the most famous, the most surprising, and the India connections.

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The complete Test hat-trick list

#	Bowler	Country	Match	Year	Venue
1	Fred Spofforth	Australia	vs England	1879	Melbourne
2	Billy Bates	England	vs Australia	1882	Melbourne
3	Johnny Briggs	England	vs Australia	1891	Sydney
4	George Lohmann	England	vs South Africa	1896	Port Elizabeth
5	J.T. Hearne	England	vs Australia	1899	Leeds
6	Hugh Trumble (1st)	Australia	vs England	1902	Melbourne
7	Hugh Trumble (2nd)	Australia	vs England	1904	Melbourne
8	Tom Matthews (2 in 1 match)	Australia	vs South Africa	1912	Manchester
9	Maurice Allom	England	vs New Zealand	1930	Christchurch
10	Tom Goddard	England	vs South Africa	1939	Johannesburg
11	Peter Loader	England	vs West Indies	1957	Leeds
12	Lindsay Kline	Australia	vs South Africa	1957	Cape Town
13	Wes Hall	West Indies	vs Pakistan	1959	Lahore
14	Geoff Griffin	South Africa	vs England	1960	Lord's
15	Lance Gibbs	West Indies	vs Australia	1961	Adelaide
16	Peter Petherick	New Zealand	vs Pakistan	1976	Lahore
17	Courtney Walsh	West Indies	vs Australia	1988	Brisbane
18	Merv Hughes	Australia	vs West Indies	1988	Perth
19	Damien Fleming	Australia	vs Pakistan	1994	Rawalpindi
20	Shane Warne	Australia	vs England	1994	Melbourne
21	Dominic Cork	England	vs West Indies	1995	Manchester
22	Saqlain Mushtaq (1st)	Pakistan	vs Sri Lanka	1999	Lahore
23	Saqlain Mushtaq (2nd)	Pakistan	vs Sri Lanka	1999	Peshawar
24	Wasim Akram (1st)	Pakistan	vs Sri Lanka	1999	Lahore
25	Wasim Akram (2nd)	Pakistan	vs Sri Lanka	1999	Dhaka
26	Glenn McGrath	Australia	vs West Indies	2000	Perth
27	Harbhajan Singh	India	vs Australia	2001	Kolkata
28	Mohammad Sami	Pakistan	vs Sri Lanka	2002	Lahore
29	Jermaine Lawson	West Indies	vs Australia	2003	Bridgetown
30	Alok Kapali	Bangladesh	vs Pakistan	2003	Peshawar
31	Andrew Flintoff	England	vs West Indies	2004	Bridgetown
32	Lasith Malinga	Sri Lanka	vs South Africa	2007	Guyana (CWC)
33	Irfan Pathan	India	vs Pakistan	2006	Karachi
34	Ryan Harris	Australia	vs Sri Lanka	2011	Melbourne
35	Stuart Broad	England	vs India	2011	Nottingham
36	Peter Siddle	Australia	vs England	2010	Brisbane
37	Sohag Gazi	Bangladesh	vs New Zealand	2013	Chittagong
38	Stuart Broad	England	vs Sri Lanka	2014	Leeds
39	Mohammed Shami	India	vs New Zealand	2014	Auckland
40	Mark Wood	England	vs West Indies	2019	Bridgetown
41	Naseem Shah	Pakistan	vs Bangladesh	2020	Rawalpindi
42	Keshav Maharaj	South Africa	vs West Indies	2021	Gros Islet
43	Stuart Broad (2nd)	England	vs Australia	2023	Edgbaston
44	Mitchell Starc	Australia	vs India	2024	Adelaide

The list is approximate to mid-2026 and includes Test hat-tricks officially recorded by the ICC. Some early matches have variable record-keeping; the list above is the consensus tally.

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The most famous Test hat-tricks

Fred Spofforth, 1879 — the first

The very first Test hat-trick. Spofforth, the original "Demon Bowler," took three wickets in consecutive balls during Australia's tour of England. The match was at Melbourne, and Spofforth's deliveries — fast, full, swinging away — bowled three English batsmen in succession.

Spofforth's career, while short by modern standards, set the template for Australian fast bowling. His action was high-arm and side-on, and his deliveries were timed to confuse the batter's expected line.

Hugh Trumble, two hat-tricks (1902 and 1904)

Trumble was the first bowler to take two Test hat-tricks. Both came against England at the MCG. Trumble was an off-spinner who turned the ball sharply and bowled with a high, looping action — both his hat-tricks came on damp pitches that suited his style.

Tom Matthews, 1912 — two in one match

The most extraordinary hat-trick in Test history. Matthews took two hat-tricks in the same match for Australia vs South Africa at Old Trafford. He took 5/30 in South Africa's first innings (with the first hat-trick) and 4/35 in the second (with another). It is the only instance of two hat-tricks in a single Test.

Wes Hall, 1959 — pace and pace and pace

Hall bowled at 145+ km/h on a fast Lahore pitch. His three balls in succession all bowled the Pakistan tail-enders. The hat-trick was emblematic of the West Indies pace tradition that would dominate the 1970s and 1980s.

Shane Warne, 1994 — the leg-spinner

A leg-spin hat-trick is rare. Warne's came at the MCG vs England. The three deliveries were a leg-break (Phil DeFreitas bowled), an outside edge (Ian Healy caught), and a leg-break (Devon Malcolm bowled). Warne celebrated with the pitch invasion of the entire Australian team.

Glenn McGrath, 2000 — the perfect line

McGrath's hat-trick at Perth came against the West Indies — three Test-experienced batsmen in succession, all caught in the slip cordon (or behind the wicket). The deliveries were almost identical: top-of-off-stump, full length, swing away. A textbook of fast-bowling consistency.

Harbhajan Singh, 2001 — the Kolkata stunner

The most famous Indian hat-trick. Harbhajan took three wickets in consecutive balls at Eden Gardens against Australia — Ricky Ponting (LBW), Adam Gilchrist (LBW), and Shane Warne (caught and bowled). It is the only Test hat-trick by an Indian bowler.

The match itself was historic — India came back from following on to win, with VVS Laxman's 281 and Rahul Dravid's 180 the centrepieces of the rescue. Harbhajan's hat-trick set up the second-innings collapse that gave India the chance.

Stuart Broad, 2011 — vs India at Trent Bridge

Broad took three wickets in three balls at his home ground (Nottingham). The dismissals were Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Praveen Kumar, and Suresh Raina. England won the match.

Broad's second Test hat-trick came in 2023, vs Australia, at Edgbaston — making him the only bowler since Hugh Trumble (1904) and Wasim Akram (1999) to take two Test hat-tricks.

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India and the hat-trick

India have had three Test hat-trick takers across all formats:

• Harbhajan Singh — 2001 vs Australia (Test, Kolkata) — the only Indian Test hat-trick.
• Irfan Pathan — 2006 vs Pakistan (Test, Karachi) — three wickets in three balls in the very first over of the Test, dismissing Salman Butt, Younis Khan, and Mohammad Yousuf. The most opening-over hat-trick in Test history.
• Mohammed Shami — 2014 vs New Zealand (Test, Auckland) — three wickets in three balls in a single over.

Indian batters have been on the wrong end of hat-tricks twice — Stuart Broad in 2011 (the famous Trent Bridge hat-trick), and Mitchell Starc in 2024 vs Adelaide.

For more on India's spin tradition, see our left-arm orthodox spin history.

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Hat-trick by bowling type

A breakdown of all Test hat-tricks by type:

• Fast/seam bowlers: ~28
• Off-spinners: ~6
• Leg-spinners: ~3
• Left-arm orthodox: ~5

Fast-medium and seam bowlers dominate the list, which makes sense — pace and movement create the lbw and caught-behind dismissals that come in clusters.

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What conditions produce a hat-trick?

Three patterns from the historical data:

1. Damp or fading pitches. Old-ball conditions where the ball reverses or seam-moves significantly. Many hat-tricks come on day 4-5 of Tests.
2. Tail-end clusters. Hat-tricks often come against tail-enders bunched together — three lower-order batters facing the same bowler in succession.
3. Pressure phases. Hat-tricks are statistically more likely when a team is collapsing — the third wicket in a hat-trick is often the result of cumulative pressure rather than a brilliant ball.

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Why hat-tricks are so rare

The math: a Test bowler typically bowls 4-6 wickets per match. The probability of three consecutive wickets is roughly 1 in 200-400, depending on the bowler's strike rate. Across an entire bowler career of 5,000-15,000 deliveries, that's a low probability of capture.

The result: a Test hat-trick happens roughly once every 12-18 months globally. Some years see two or three; some years see none.

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The most recent hat-trick

As of mid-2026, the most recent recorded Test hat-trick was Mitchell Starc against India at Adelaide in late 2024 — three wickets in three balls during Australia's home Test series.

For broader Test cricket reading, see our most Test wickets all-time list and the highest individual scores in Test cricket.

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A note on hat-trick celebrations

The celebration of a Test hat-trick has its own choreography. The bowler typically:

1. Pumps fists or runs to the boundary
2. Is mobbed by teammates
3. Receives the ball from the umpire (a tradition for the bowler to keep the match ball)
4. Is interviewed during the post-match presentation
5. Has the dismissal sequence replayed in commentary

The match ball is universally retained by the hat-trick taker — many sit in cricket museums or family collections.

For more on cricket records and milestones, see our most centuries in cricket all formats and the most runs in Test cricket all-time.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Who took the first Test hat-trick? Fred Spofforth of Australia, in the 1879 Melbourne Test against England. It was the very first hat-trick in Test cricket history.

How many Test hat-tricks has India taken? Three: Harbhajan Singh (2001 vs Australia), Irfan Pathan (2006 vs Pakistan), and Mohammed Shami (2014 vs New Zealand). Harbhajan's remains the most famous Indian Test hat-trick.

Who has taken the most Test hat-tricks? Several bowlers have taken two hat-tricks each: Hugh Trumble, Wasim Akram, Saqlain Mushtaq, and Stuart Broad. Tom Matthews of Australia is unique in taking two hat-tricks in the same match (1912).

What is the rarest type of Test hat-trick? Hat-tricks by leg-spinners are the rarest. Across all Test history, only 3-4 leg-spinners have taken hat-tricks, with Shane Warne's 1994 dismissal of England being the most famous.

Has anyone taken a hat-trick on Test debut? Yes — Maurice Allom of England, in his Test debut at Christchurch in 1930 vs New Zealand. He took 5/38 including a hat-trick in his first Test. It is one of the rarest debut achievements in cricket history.

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The Test hat-trick is one of those cricket records that survives the test of time. It is short, dramatic, and binary — three balls, three wickets, in less than a minute of cricket. Across a century and a half, fewer than 50 bowlers have managed it. Each name on the list is a small permanent landmark in the sport's history.