Glorious beginning: Bowlers who took a wicket on the first ball of their Test career
Test cricket is a format that every young player aspires to play. All the players want to contribute their best for the team in the debut match which is true for both batsmen and bowlers. In this article, we are going to list out all the bowlers who have picked up a wicket off the first ball of their Test career. Till now there have been 20 such instances where the bowlers have managed to provide a breakthrough with their first ball.
Of these 20 instances, 5 have come in the 21st century and 4 after 2010. Among Indian players, only one bowler Nilesh Kulkarni has taken a wicket off the very first ball. He dismissed Marvan Atapattu of Sri Lanka in the Colombo Test, 1997. Hardus Viljoen of South Africa was the last bowler to achieve this milestone. He dismissed English captain Alastair Cook in the Johannesburg Test, 2016.
Only 4 players among these 20 are still playing for their country. This includes Nathan Lyon from Australia, Shaminda Eranga from Sri Lanka and Dan Piedt from South Africa. Lyon who started his Test career with a first-ball wicket has been very successful in the longest format. He has played 100 Test matches till now in which he has taken nearly 400 wickets.
Shaminda Eranga has not been a regular fixture for Sri Lanka in the five-day format and last played a Test match in 2016. He dismissed Shane Watson on the very first ball of his Test career in Colombo Test, 2011.
Dan Piedt who has been part of the Proteas team particularly in the Asian conditions started his career in the whites very well with a wicket on the first ball. He dismissed Mark Vermeulen of Zimbabwe in Harare.
The very first player to achieve this milestone was Tom Horan of Australia when he dismissed Walter Read of England in the Sydney Test, 1883. Arthur Coningham was the second player to achieve the feat.
Most of these instances have come in the 20th century when a total of 12 players were successful in taking a wicket off the very first ball of their Test career. Most players from the list are from England (7) followed by South Africa (3) and Australia (3).
