In Test cricket, taking five wickets in an innings is the gold standard for bowlers, equivalent to a batsman scoring a century. Usually, it is a grind that takes hours of patience, planning, and persistence.
But sometimes, a bowler catches fire. Sometimes, a spell is so devastating that the opposition lineup is blown away in the blink of an eye.
So, who holds the record for the fastest 5-wicket haul in Test history? The answer depends slightly on how you measure it (balls from the start of a spell vs. a cluster of wickets), but three names stand tall in the history books for the "19-Ball Club," while a New Zealander holds the record for the fastest cluster.
Here is the detailed breakdown of the fastest 5-wicket hauls ever witnessed in the 148-year history of Test cricket.
When measuring the fastest 5-wicket haul from the start of a spell, three bowlers share the world record. They all managed to take their fifth wicket just 19 deliveries after taking their first (or from the start of the innings).
This is widely considered the most famous spell of modern times. On a cloudy morning in the 2015 Ashes, Stuart Broad produced a masterclass of seam bowling. He dismissed Chris Rogers with his 3rd ball and didn't look back. Within 19 deliveries of his opening spell, he had removed Rogers, Steve Smith, Shaun Marsh, Adam Voges, and Michael Clarke. Australia was reduced to a humiliating 60 all out, and Broad finished with career-best figures of 8/15.
The original record-holder. Ernie Toshack was a left-arm medium pacer who destroyed the Indian lineup on a sticky wicket (a pitch affected by rain and sun) in 1947. He ran through the Indian batting order, taking five wickets for just two runs in a span of 19 balls. For 68 years, he held this record alone until Broad equaled it.
In a fairytale debut on his home ground, Scott Boland decimated England in the Boxing Day Test. Coming on as a replacement, he bowled with unrelenting accuracy. In a frantic second innings, he took six wickets for just seven runs, completing his 5-wicket haul in just 19 balls to join Toshack and Broad in the history books.
While the above three hold the record for the fastest 5-for from the start of a spell, New Zealand’s Trent Boult holds the record for taking five wickets in the fewest number of deliveries sequentially (a "cluster" of wickets).
In 2018, Trent Boult produced 15 minutes of absolute chaos. Sri Lanka was batting, and Boult went on a rampage. He dismissed Roshen Silva, Niroshan Dickwella, Dilruwan Perera, Suranga Lakmal, and Dushmantha Chameera in the space of just 11 legal deliveries. He finished with figures of 6/30, but that 11-ball burst remains the most concentrated period of destruction in Test history.
If you are asked who holds the record:
These spells are reminders that in Test cricket, the game can change not just in a session, but in a matter of minutes.
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