25 wickets in a day Gloucestershire vs Glamorgan — A rare event today, but not as rare as you would think

The Cheltenham Cricket Festival is not what it once was.

Gloucestershire County Cricket Club played their first game at the College ground in 1872, and since then it has been the traditional Cricket Festival on the ground,  one of the oldest traditions of the game. However, in recent years, the charm and the fanfare associated with the event has been rather muted and lukewarm.

And against the dark gloom of overcast skies, the splendour of the uncertain game was etched out yet again this year, bringing an element of near impossibility into the action … uncertainty that characterises much of cricket.

It was Glamorgan who batted first on a seaming wicket under dense cloud cover and were bowled out for 117 in just 32.1 overs. But then Gloucestershire floundered against a truly international seam attack. South African Test player Merchant de Lange, the Australian-born Dutch cricketer Timm van der Gugten, alongside the captain Michael Hogan, who played his initial cricket for New South Wales … the three together restricted the hosts to 141 in 41.2 overs.

In the second innings, Nick Selman and Jacques Rudolph went after David Payne, the most successful Gloucestershire bowler of the first innings. But after a rousing start of 36 in just 8 overs, Glamorgan lost 5 wickets in the last 9, finishing with 59 for 5 at the end of the bizarre day’s cricket. They now lead by 35, and the match hangs on razor’s edge.

25 wickets in a day is really a rare occurrence in the current day.

However, it is by no means as rare as it may seem. In fact, First-Class cricket has seen instances of even all 40 wickets being lost in a day.

It is true that most of these occurrences took place way back in time. Indeed, for the first such instance of a 40-wicket day, we have to go back to Broad Halfpenny Down, Hambledon, the cradle of cricket. Hampshire scored 167, following which England were bowled out for 112; and when Hampshire piled 182 in the second innings, England surrendered to Richard Nyren and Noah Mann for just 88. It is a testimony to his quality that in such a low scoring game John Small, the first man to use a straight bat, got 65 in the first innings.

40 wickets were lost again in 1787 in a Middlesex-Essex game played on the Old Lord’s Ground in Marylebone. In the 19th century it happened four more times, three of them taking place in Cambridge. But 1827 was the last time one witnessed a full monty of wickets in one day.

In contrast, 39 wickets in a day do have a significantly modern instance.

The first such incident did take place in 1806, a match featuring famed cricketers of the era such as William Lambert, Silver Billy Beldham, Tom Walker and Lord Frederick Beauclerk.

However, the fourth and final instance happened as recently as in 1958. And if the weather gods had not allowed the few overs on the first day, in which Derbyshire scored 8 for the loss of 1 wicket, this game at the Ind Coope Ground in Burton-on-Trent could well have seen 40 on the second day. The second saw Derek Shackleton and Malcolm Heath destroy Derbyshire for 74. Following this Leslie Jackson and Harold Rhodes routed Hampshire for 23, the top score being 5  by Harry Barnard. Shackleton and Heath were at the Derbyshire men again, dismissing them for 107. Set 159 to win, Hampshire lost 7 for 46 to Jackson and Rhodes before Derby captain Donald Carr played spoilsport and introduced the first bowling change of the match. Promptly Derek Morgan, who had played the best innings in the game with 46, picked up the last three wickets to give Derbyshire a win by 103 runs.

In fact, the 1950s was a decade when such remarkable matches could be witnessed. Especially at The Oval, where wickets were tailored for the Jim Laker-Tony Lock spin twins. And they came into the fray only if Alec Bedser, Peter Loader and Stuart Surridge had not dismissed the opponents already. So, on Day 3 at The Oval, in the match against Gloucestershire in 1952, 38 wickets fell on the second day as Surrey emerged victorious by 135 runs. Laker and Lock had 8 wickets each.

In all 38 wickets have fallen just 3 times in a day’s play, and the one time in the 20th century was after a long, long gap, following the MCC-Cambridge game of 1848.

37 wickets in a day saw the first time such a feat happening outside England. At Basin Reserve, Wellington, the hosts and Auckland managed to lose that many wickets on the second day in 1873-74.

36 wickets have never been captured in the 20th or 21st centuries. But the last time it happened was in a match featuring an international side. At Aston Lower Grounds, Birmingham, 1884, Fred Spofforth ripped through an England XI, while Dick Barlow returned the compliments for the hosts. But when Spofforth took 7 more in the second innings to dismiss England XI for just 26, the Australians were left with just 33 to win. They lost six wickets for 28 before managing to knock off the runs.

35 wickets have fallen in a day on four occasions in First-Class cricket, only once in the 20th century when Warwickshire fell for 47 on their own turf against Alex Coxon and Bill Bowes in 1947.

The Victoria-Tasmania encounter of 1851-52 saw 34 wickets fall in a day, the highest number to topple in a day in Australia. That was in Emerald Hill, Melbourne. The same number of wickets fell on two separate days at Scarborough, when Yorkshire played Hampshire in 1946 and Middlesex in 1959.

With 33 wickets, we come to very modern times. After a wet first day at Bristol, 1981, Somerset was bowled out twice and Gloucestershire once, the latter conceding a first innings lead of 71. Chasing 252 to win, Gloucestershire ended the second day well placed on 150 for 3 in the second innings, Zaheer Abbas having stroked his way to an unbeaten 50. However, the following morning, Joel Garner ripped through the batting and the hosts were all out for 193.

A similar pattern followed the game between Nottinghamshire and Lancashire two years later at Trent Bridge. With rain allowing Notts to reach 17 without loss on the first day, the second saw the lush green wicket being used to magnificent us by Stephen Jefferies. The Notts were bowled out for 86. But Mike Hendricks and Eddie Hemmings struck back to restrict the Lancashire lead to 72. On an extended day the Nottinghamshire men piled up 294 in the second innings before reducing Lancashire to 27 for 3. Hemmings picked up all 7 the next day and Lancashire were routed for 65.

Among the 17 instances of 32 wickets a day, we find two that have encroached into the current century.

In December 2006, Shabbir Ahmed and Kashif Raza bowled Habib Bank out for 125, the last eight wickets falling on the second day after a curtailed first day’s play at National Bank Sports Complex, Karachi.  Azhar Mahmood and Shahid Afridi returned the favours, and Water and Power Development Authority were skittled for 72. Thereafter Mushtaq Ahmed picked up five wickets for Water and Power, but Afridi struck the ball hard and often to get 100 off 91 balls. By the end of the day, Habib Bank had picked up four second innings wickets and were in the driver’s seat. They won the following morning, by a whopping 178 runs.

At the De Beers Diamond Oval, Jandre Coetzee pulverised the Easterns and Hardus Viljoen did likewise to Griqualand, the first two innings of the match finishing by the 63rd over. After that Charl Pietersen struck with his left arm seamers to vanquish the Easterns again. The 39 run target was chased down by the Griqualand batsmen for the loss of 2 wickets. The match was over within a day.

A day of First-Class cricket has seen 31 wickets fall 25 times, 20 of them before the First World War. But then it happened twice in 1925, the College Ground in Cheltenham witnessing it’s first wicket-falling-festival against Nottinghamshire. Unfortunately for the hosts, Tom Richmond’s 14 wickets got better of the efforts of Charlie Parker and Percy Mills.

Curiously, in 1967 there was a double bill of 31 once again. In late June, in the picturesque County Ground New Road, Worcestershire, Fred Titmus, Brian Brain and the others picked up wickets by the bushel before Peter Parfitt’s unbeaten 162 led Middlesex to a 4-wicket victory. And then in Gillingham, in the second half of August, Don Shepherd and Jeff Jones struck for Glamorgan while Derek Underwood and Alan Brown did so for Kent. Finally the result was a thin 26-run win for the latter.

And finally, in April 2006, Pakistan International Airlines beat Karachi Harbour in a battle between air and sea that saw 31 wickets fall on Day 2.

There have been as many as 30 instances of 30 wickets falling in a day. 7 of them have taken place after the Second World War.

The most recent was at Luton in June 1995. Graham Gooch, Mark Waugh, Nasser Hussain, Ronnie Irani were among the batsmen dismissed for 127 against a seaming David Capel, following which Mark Illott picked up 9 for 19 to rout the Alan Lamb-led Northamptonshire for 46. It was Paul Taylor who did the damage to Essex second time around, and Northampton finished day one on one without loss, requiring 192 to win. After 8 wickets had been lost for 161 on the following day, Lamb and the Indian leg-spinner Anil Kumble batted with plenty of pluck to see the Northants through to a 2-wicket win.

In all 30 or more wickets have fallen during a single day of First-Class cricket on as many as 168 occasions.

So, 25 wickets in a day is rare… but not as rare as one may think.

The complete list of 30 or more wickets in a day is given below.

 

Wickets	Match	Venue	Day of Match	Year
40	Hampshire v England	Broad Halfpenny Down, Hambledon	1	1779
40	Middlesex v Essex	Lord’s Old Ground, Marylebone	1	1787
40	England v Surrey	Lord’s Old Ground, Marylebone	1	1802
40	England v Surrey	Lord’s Old Ground, Marylebone	1	1807
40	Cambridge Town Club v Cambridge University	Parker’s Piece, Cambridge	1	1817
40	Cambridge University v Cambridge Town Club	University Ground, Barnwell, Cambridge	1	1821
40	Cambridge Union Club v Cambridge University	Parker’s Piece, Cambridge	1	1827
39	England v Surrey	Lord’s Old Ground, Marylebone	1	1806
39	Surrey Club v Marylebone Cricket Club	Kennington Oval, Kennington	2	1848
39	Oxford University v Marylebone Cricket Club	Magdalen Ground, Oxford	2	1880
39	Derbyshire v Hampshire	Ind Coope Ground, Burton-on-Trent	2	1958
38	Cambridge Town Club v Cambridge University	Parker’s Piece, Cambridge	1	1819
38	Marylebone Cricket Club v Cambridge University	Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood	1	1848
38	Surrey v Gloucestershire	Kennington Oval, Kennington	2	1952
37	Wellington v Auckland	Basin Reserve, Wellington	2	1873/74
37	Surrey v Northamptonshire	Kennington Oval, Kennington	3	1913
36	Marylebone Cricket Club v Oxford University	Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood	1	1832
36	Marylebone Cricket Club v Oxford University	Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood	2	1850
36	Tasmania v Victoria	Launceston Cricket Club Ground, Launceston	1	1850/51
36	England XI v Australians	Aston Lower Grounds, Birmingham	1	1884
35	Manchester v Yorkshire	Moss Lane, Manchester	2	1844
35	Gentlemen v Players	Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood	2	1853
35	Marylebone Cricket Club v Surrey	Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood	2	1872
35	Warwickshire v Yorkshire	Edgbaston, Birmingham	2	1947
34	Victoria v Tasmania	Emerald Hill, Melbourne	1	1851/52
34	Marylebone Cricket Club v Lancashire	Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood	2	1886
34	South v North	Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood	1	1887
34	Marylebone Cricket Club v Oxford University	Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood	2	1898
34	Lancashire v Leicestershire	Whitegate Park, Blackpool	3	1907
34	Yorkshire v Hampshire	North Marine Road, Scarborough	2	1946
34	Yorkshire v Middlesex	North Marine Road, Scarborough	2	1959
33	Cambridge Town Club v Cambridge University	Parker’s Piece, Cambridge	1	1819
33	England v Kent	Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood	2	1847
33	Marylebone Cricket Club v Surrey Club	Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood	1	1848
33	Gentlemen of England v Gentlemen of Kent	Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood	1	1849
33	Marylebone Cricket Club v Sussex	Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood	2	1850
33	England v Kent	Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood	3	1860
33	Marylebone Cricket Club v Oxford University	Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood	1	1863
33	Marylebone Cricket Club v Lancashire	Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood	1	1869
33	Gloucestershire v Northamptonshire	Spa Ground, Gloucester	2	1907
33	Gloucestershire v Somerset	Phoenix County Ground, Bristol	2	1981
33	Nottinghamshire v Lancashire	Trent Bridge, Nottingham	2	1983
32	C Lennox’s XI v G Leycester’s XI	Lord’s Old Ground, Marylebone	1	1802
32	Marylebone Cricket Club v England	Lord’s Old Ground, Marylebone	1	1804
32	Marylebone Cricket Club v Sussex	Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood	1	1823
32	Cambridge University v Marylebone Cricket Club	Parker’s Piece, Cambridge	1	1836
32	Cambridge University v Marylebone Cricket Club	Parker’s Piece, Cambridge	1	1837
32	Marylebone Cricket Club v Oxford University	Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood	1	1843
32	Marylebone Cricket Club v Oxford University	Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood	2	1848
32	Marylebone Cricket Club v Nottinghamshire	Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood	2	1879
32	Otago v Auckland	Caledonian Ground, Dunedin	1	1889/90
32	Lancashire v Somerset	Old Trafford, Manchester	2	1892
32	Canterbury v Hawke’s Bay	Lancaster Park, Christchurch	2	1893/94
32	Otago v Fiji	Carisbrook, Dunedin	2	1894/95
32	Middlesex v Gentlemen of Philadelphia	Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood	1	1908
32	Kent v Middlesex	Mote Park, Maidstone	1	1913
32	Ireland v New Zealanders	Observatory Lane, Rathmines, Dublin	1	1937
32	Habib Bank Limited v Water and Power Development Authority	National Bank of Pakistan Sports Complex, Karachi	2	2006/07
32	Griqualand West v Easterns	De Beers Diamond Oval, Kimberley	1	2010/11
31	Cambridge University v Marylebone Cricket Club	FP Fenner’s Ground, Cambridge	2	1850
31	Marylebone Cricket Club v Sussex	Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood	1	1856
31	Oxford University v Cambridge University	Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood	1	1863
31	Otago v Canterbury	South Dunedin Recreation Ground, Dunedin	1	1867/68
31	North of the Thames v South of the Thames	Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood	1	1868
31	Cambridge University v Marylebone Cricket Club	FP Fenner’s Ground, Cambridge	2	1870
31	Marylebone Cricket Club v Surrey Club	Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood	1	1873
31	Kent v Sussex	Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood	1	1873
31	Marylebone Cricket Club v Australians	Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood	1	1878
31	Marylebone Cricket Club v Hampshire	Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood	1	1881
31	North v Australians	Old Trafford, Manchester	1	1886
31	Nelson v Wellington	Victory Square, Nelson	1	1887/88
31	Marylebone Cricket Club v Sussex	Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood	1	1889
31	Wellington v Canterbury	Basin Reserve, Wellington	1	1890/91
31	Middlesex v Yorkshire	Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood	2	1891
31	Yorkshire v Surrey	Bramall Lane, Sheffield	1	1893
31	Auckland v New South Wales	Auckland Domain, Auckland	2	1893/94
31	West Indies v RA Bennett’s XI	Queen’s Park Oval, Port of Spain	2	1901/02
31	Marylebone Cricket Club v London County	Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood	3	1903
31	Lancashire v Nottinghamshire	Aigburth, Liverpool	1	1906
31	Lancashire v Somerset	Old Trafford, Manchester	2	1925
31	Gloucestershire v Nottinghamshire	College Ground, Cheltenham	2	1925
31	Worcestershire v Middlesex	County Ground, New Road, Worcester	2	1967
31	Kent v Glamorgan	Garrison Ground 2, Gillingham	2	1967
31	Pakistan International Airlines v Karachi Harbour	Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan	2	2005/06
30	Cambridge University v Cambridge Union Club	University Ground, Barnwell, Cambridge	1	1827
30	England v The Bs	Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood	1	1831
30	Cambridge Town Club v Cambridge University	Parker’s Piece, Cambridge	1	1831
30	Marylebone Cricket Club v Oxford University	Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood	1	1834
30	England v Kent	Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood	1	1834
30	Marylebone Cricket Club v Cambridge University	Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood	1	1835
30	Marylebone Cricket Club v Sussex	Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood	1	1837
30	Marylebone Cricket Club v Oxford University	Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood	1	1838
30	Marylebone Cricket Club v Cambridge Town Club	Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood	1	1840
30	Marylebone Cricket Club v Oxford University	Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood	1	1840
30	Marylebone Cricket Club v Oxford University	Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood	1	1844
30	Oxford University v Marylebone Cricket Club	Magdalen Ground, Oxford	1	1845
30	Marylebone Cricket Club v Cambridge University	Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood	1	1845
30	Marylebone Cricket Club v Cambridge University	Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood	2	1847
30	Kent v England	St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury	2	1848
30	Marylebone Cricket Club v Cambridge University	Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood	1	1849
30	Gentlemen of England v Gentlemen of Kent	Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood	1	1850
30	South v North	Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood	1	1850
30	Gentlemen of England v Gentlemen of Kent	Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood	1	1853
30	Marylebone Cricket Club v Surrey Club	Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood	1	1854
30	Tasmania v Victoria	Lower Domain Ground, Hobart	1	1857/58
30	England v Kent	Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood	1	1858
30	Marylebone Cricket Club v Lancashire	Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood	2	1867
30	Gentlemen v Players	Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood	1	1867
30	Oxford University v Cambridge University	Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood	2	1869
30	Otago v Canterbury	South Dunedin Recreation Ground, Dunedin	1	1869/70
30	Kent v Surrey	Mote Park, Maidstone	1	1873
30	Wellington v Nelson	Basin Reserve, Wellington	1	1873/74
30	South v North	Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood	2	1874
30	Marylebone Cricket Club v Oxford University	Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood	1	1874
30	South v North	Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood	1	1875
30	Players v Australians	Kennington Oval, Kennington	2	1878
30	Yorkshire v Middlesex	Fartown, Huddersfield	2	1879
30	Middlesex v Gloucestershire	Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood	1	1881
30	Nelson v Wellington	Botanical Gardens, Nelson	1	1883/84
30	Yorkshire v Australians	Park Avenue Cricket Ground, Bradford	1	1884
30	Wellington v Canterbury	Basin Reserve, Wellington	1	1886/87
30	Yorkshire v Nottinghamshire	Bramall Lane, Sheffield	1	1888
30	Lancashire v Surrey	Old Trafford, Manchester	1	1888
30	Marylebone Cricket Club v Nottinghamshire	Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood	1	1891
30	Hawke’s Bay v Taranaki	Farndon Park, Napier	1	1891/92
30	Marylebone Cricket Club v Sussex	Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood	1	1892
30	Marylebone Cricket Club v Sussex	Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood	1	1894
30	Derbyshire v Lancashire	County Ground, Derby	1	1894
30	Lancashire v Somerset	Old Trafford, Manchester	2	1894
30	Yorkshire v Somerset	Fartown, Huddersfield	1	1894
30	Yorkshire v Gloucestershire	Headingley, Leeds	2	1894
30	Yorkshire v Leicestershire	St George’s Road, Harrogate	2	1894
30	Marylebone Cricket Club v Kent	Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood	1	1896
30	Leicestershire v Surrey	Grace Road, Leicester	1	1897
30	Taranaki v Canterbury	Bayly Park, Hawera	1	1897/98
30	Hampshire v Yorkshire	County Ground, Southampton	2	1898
30	Middlesex v Somerset	Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood	2	1899
30	Middlesex v Gloucestershire	Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood	1	1899
30	Marylebone Cricket Club v Derbyshire	Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood	1	1903
30	Kent v Hampshire	Angel Ground, Tonbridge	1	1904
30	Kent v Surrey	Foxgrove Road, Beckenham	2	1905
30	Leicestershire v Northamptonshire	Aylestone Road, Leicester	1	1905
30	Marylebone Cricket Club v Nottinghamshire	Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood	2	1906
30	Marylebone Cricket Club v Leicestershire	Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood	1	1906
30	Transvaal v Orange Free State	Old Wanderers Top Back Ground, Johannesburg	1	1906/07
30	Middlesex v Gloucestershire	Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood	1	1907
30	Derbyshire v Sussex	County Ground, Derby	2	1907
30	Gloucestershire v Nottinghamshire	Spa Ground, Gloucester	1	1909
30	Gloucestershire v Middlesex	Ashley Down Ground, Bristol	1	1909
30	Nottinghamshire v Middlesex	Trent Bridge, Nottingham	1	1910
30	Kent v Gloucestershire	Crabble Athletic Ground, Dover	1	1912
30	Eastern Province v Orange Free State	St George’s Park, Port Elizabeth	1	1912/13
30	Gentlemen of Philadelphia v Australians	Merion Cricket Club Ground, Haverford	1	1913
30	Warwickshire v Kent	Edgbaston, Birmingham	1	1914
30	Somerset v Hampshire	Clarence Park, Weston-super-Mare	1	1919
30	Somerset v Surrey	County Ground, Taunton	1	1919
30	Natal v Transvaal	Kingsmead, Durban	1	1925/26
30	Freelooters v Nizam’s State Railway A	Gymkhana Ground, Secunderabad	1	1931/32
30	Griqualand West v Orange Free State	Willowmoore Park Main Oval, Benoni	1	1931/32
30	Madras v Mysore	Madras Cricket Club Ground, Chepauk, Madras	1	1934/35
30	Northamptonshire v Gloucestershire	Town Ground, Peterborough	1	1946
30	Derbyshire v Somerset	Queen’s Park, Chesterfield	1	1947
30	Lancashire v Sussex	Old Trafford, Manchester	1	1950
30	Somerset v Lancashire	Recreation Ground, Bath	1	1953
30	Northamptonshire v Essex	Town Ground, Peterborough	2	1956
30	Kent v Worcestershire	The Nevill Ground, Tunbridge Wells	1	1960
30	Northamptonshire v Essex	Wardown Park, Luton	1	1995

Source: ACS Cricket