In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five-for" or "fifer") refers to a bowler taking five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded as a significant achievement. , 174 cricketers have taken a five-wicket haul on their debut in a Test match, with ten of them being taken by West Indian players. They have taken a five-wicket haul on debut against five opponents: four times against England, twice against India and Australia, and once against Pakistan and Sri Lanka each. Of the ten occasions, the West Indies won the match four times, and drew once. The players have taken five-wicket hauls at four venues, two in the West Indies and two overseas. The most common venue for a West Indies player to achieve the feat is Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica, where it has occurred five times. Of the overseas hauls, three occurred at Old Trafford in Manchester, England.
Hines Johnson was the first West Indian player to take a five-wicket haul on his Test debut, taking five wickets for 41 runs against England in 1948. Alf Valentine, Darren Sammy and Franklyn Rose took eight, seven and six wickets respectively, while six others have taken five wickets on their debut. Valentine took eight wickets for 104 runs, the best bowling figures by a West Indian bowler on debut, against England in 1950, at Old Trafford, Manchester. He accumulated 11 wickets for 204 runs in the match. Johnson and Valentine are the only West Indians to have taken ten wickets in a match on debut; Johnson is one of only nine bowlers to take two five-wicket hauls on debut. Amongst the bowlers, Johnson is the most economical, with 1.17 runs per over, and Sammy has the best strike rate. , the most recent bowler to achieve the feat was Shamar Joseph, taking five wickets for 94 runs in his debut Test, against Australia at the Adelaide Oval in January, 2024.
Key + Key Symbol Meaning Bowler The bowler who took the five-wicket haul 10 wickets or more taken in the match The bowler was selected as man of the match Date Starting date of the Test match Ground The Test cricket ground where the match was played Against The team the bowler was playing against Inn The innings of the match in which the five-wicket haul was taken Overs Number of overs bowled in the innings Runs Runs conceded Wkts Number of wickets taken Econ Bowling economy rate (average runs per over) Batsmen The batsmen whose wickets were taken in the five-wicket haul Result The result for the West Indies team in that match
Five-wicket hauls + Five-wicket hauls on Test debut by West Indian bowlersNo.BowlerDateGroundAgainstInnOversRunsWktsEconBatsmenResult 1 Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica Len Hutton Jack Robertson Ken Cranston Jim Laker Maurice Tremlett Won Jack Robertson Joe Hardstaff Jr Gubby Allen Godfrey Evans Maurice Tremlett 2 Old Trafford, Manchester, England Len Hutton Reg Simpson Bill Edrich Hubert Doggart Tom Dollery Norman Yardley Godfrey Evans Jim Laker Lost 3 Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain, Trinidad Imtiaz Ahmed Saeed Ahmed Hanif Mohammad Fazal Mahmood Haseeb Ahsan Lost 4 Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica M. L. Jaisimha Vijay Mehra Salim Durani Vijay Manjrekar Chandu Borde Won 5 Old Trafford, Manchester, England Geoffrey Boycott Basil D'Oliveira Alan Knott Barry Knight John Snow Lost 6 Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica V. V. S. Laxman Rahul Dravid Sachin Tendulkar Sourav Ganguly Mohammad Azharuddin Abey Kuruvilla Drawn 7 Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica Matthew Elliott Justin Langer Steve Waugh Greg Blewett Stuart MacGill Won 8 Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica Kumar Sangakkara Mahela Jayawardene Thilan Thushara Muttiah Muralitharan Prabath Nissanka Won 9 Old Trafford, Manchester, England Michael Vaughan Paul Collingwood Ian Bell Matt Prior Liam Plunkett Steve Harmison Monty Panesar Lost 10 Adelaide Oval, Adelaide, Australia Steve Smith Marnus Labuschagne Cameron Green Mitchell Starc Nathan Lyon Lost
See also List of Test cricketers who have taken five wickets on debut
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