Who has taken the most wickets in a first-class match?

The 1956 Ashes Test in Manchester witnessed a dream bowling effort from the England leg-spinner Jim Laker who returned with 19 wickets. Laker picked up nine wickets in the first innings and ten more in the second essay to help the home team to take a series lead of 2-1. Graham Lock was the only other bowler fortunate enough to have bagged a wicket for England in that match.

Flurry of records

This effort helped Jim Laker bag various records – becoming the first player to take a perfect ten in a Test match, taking most wickets in a Test match and dismissing all the 11 batsmen of the opposition. A major first-class record that was breached in this due course by Laker was that of most wickets in a first-class match. Laker became the first player to bag as many as 19 wickets in a first-class game and still remains the only player to do so. Prior to Laker, two players had picked as many as 18 wickets in a first-class match; both on England soil.

During the 1837 season, William Lillywhite took 18 wickets representing the Players team against the Gentlemen team. However, the Gentlemen were allowed to play with a team of 16; a possibility of 15 wickets in the innings. Lillywhite picked up eight wickets in the first innings and claimed ten in the second. This effort was replicated by Henry Arkwright in 1861 when he claimed nine wickets apiece in the two innings.

No player since Laker has picked up more than 17 wickets in an FC game but there are 23 instances of a player claiming 17 wickets in a match. The last of those 23 instances was recorded by Kyle Abbott in the 2019 County Championship for Hampshire against Somerset. The best first-class match figures outside England were recorded by Bill Howell who took 17/54 for the Australians against the Western Province in Cape Town during Australia’s tour of South Africa in the 1902-03 season.

(Stats as on September 1, 2020)