Review of Aus-SA Tests, 2022-23 Part 2

Hope you have read Part 1.

We now take up Bowling records:

Most wickets (Minimum 50 or more):

Warne has the most wickets, with Grimmett following at a distance. Recent players Steyn and MG Johnson are next. Grimmett (8) and Warne (7) have the most 5wis. Grimmett (4) also has the most 10wms, followed by MG Johnson and Warne.

Best innings bowling (including all 7wi):

MG Johnson is the only one with an 8wi.

Best match bowling (including all 10wm):

Grimmett has 2 of the best 3 performances here.

Bowling averages (Minimum 2000 balls, all instances):

Grimmett and Whitty have the best averages, Goddard and Grimmett the best economy rates, with Whitty and Steyn having the best strike rates.

Now for Fielding:

Most dismissals (25 or more):

Boucher has the most dismissals, although Oldfield has the most stumpings. Ponting (35) and de Villiers (34) have the most catches by fielders.

Most dismissals in an innings (5 or more):

Grout and Lindsay were once Test record-holders in this category.

Most dismissals in a match (7 or more):

de Kock is the only recent player at the top.

Best dismissal rate (0.650 or more):

Headed by Lindsay and Haddin. The best by a pure fielder is 0.964 by RB Simpson, although the “hybrid” de Villiers is a little higher at 1.085.

All-round performances:

Overall (see criteria below):

MG Johnson is a little ahead of TL Goddard.

Match performances (50+ runs and 5+wi):

The best performances include 100/5wi (Kelleway and Benaud) and 50/10wm (Steyn).

Test Fielding Records-1

While batting and bowling records are well covered in most sources of cricket statistics, fielding receives lesser attention (as the data points are only for catches and stumpings). Here we take a closer look at this neglected field.

Most dismissals in an innings (6 and above):

The first keeper to take 6 catches/dismissals in an innings was Wally Grout in 1957-58.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/australia/content/player/5449.html

The record was then shared by DT Lindsay, JT Murray and SMH Kirmani, the last instance being in 1975-76.

Wasim Bari then became the first to take 7 dismissals in an innings in 1978-79. He was followed by Bob Taylor (though that was overshadowed by Botham’s 13 wickets + century as well as a total eclipse) in 1979-80. Later Ian Smith and Ridley Jacobs joined the 7-catch club.

Most catches in an innings by a non-keeper (5 and above):

The first non-keeper to take 5 catches in an innings was Victor Richardson, who is nowadays better-known as the maternal grandfather of the Chappells. Some resemblance can be seen:

http://www.espncricinfo.com/australia/content/player/7346.html

The second to do so was India’s Yajurvindra Singh on his debut in 1976-77. A total of 12 fielders have now reached the mark of 5 catches in an innings.

Now we look at match performances.

Most dismissals in a match (9 and above):

The first to make 9 dismissals was Australia’s Gilbert Langley in 1956 (Laker’s series).

http://www.espncricinfo.com/australia/content/player/6258.html

No one else took 9 in a match until 1979-80, when Bob Taylor took 10 (along with 7 in an innings in the match of Botham and the eclipse).

http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/player/21494.html

Before anyone else could cross 10, the new record of 11 was set by RC Russell in 1995-96.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/player/19500.html

Subsequently several others have taken 10 dismissals (a total of 4 including WP Saha and Sarfaraz Ahmed) and 11 dismissals in a match (a total of 3 including AB de Villiers and Rishabh Pant).

And finally;

Most dismissals in a match by a non-keeper (7 and above):

The first to take 7 catches in a match was Greg Chappell in 1974-75. Unfortunately his grandfather did not see this as he had passed away a few years earlier, although he had lived long enough to see Ian Chappell make a good start in Tests.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/australia/content/player/4558.html

And the second was Yajurvindra Singh on his debut in 1976-77.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/india/content/player/36072.html

Unfortunately he played only in 4 Tests.

Several others took 7 in a match. The next record of 8 catches was set by AM Rahane in 2015 (although India lost that Test).

http://www.espncricinfo.com/india/content/player/277916.html

He continues to have that record to himself, although you will see ABD with 8 catches as a fielder. However, he took these 8 catches as a keeper substituting for the injured Q de Kock. He is listed as a non-keeper here as he was not the nominated keeper for this Test.

de Villiers was also the captain in this Test. This was a day-night Test against Zimbabwe which got over in 2 days.

https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/18067/scorecard/1122310/south-africa-vs-zimbabwe-only-test-zim-in-sa-dec-2017-2017-18

Meanwhile, several others took 7 catches in a match. The last was KL Rahul in 2018.