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 notable achievement, and , only 54 bowlers have taken 15 or more five-wicket hauls at international level in their cricketing careers. Courtney Walsh, a former cricketer, who represented the West Indies cricket team from 1984 to 2001, took 23 five-wicket hauls in international cricket. He played 132 Tests and 205 One Day Internationals (ODIs), and took 519 and 227 wickets respectively. A right-arm fast bowler, Walsh took 22 five-wicket hauls in Tests and 1 in ODIs. In 1987, when he was named one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year, the cricket almanack Wisden noted his "three distinct speeds, all delivered with the same action", and his "sparing use of the bouncer, his shorter deliveries generally threatening the batsman's rib-cage, a tactic which, allied to change of pace, produced many catches in the short-leg area off splice or glove." He was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in October 2010.

Walsh made his Test debut in November 1984 against Australia at the WACA Ground, Perth, a match West Indies won by an innings and 112 runs. His first Test five-wicket haul came in 1987 against New Zealand at the Eden Park, Auckland; the match was won by West Indies by 10 wickets. His career-best bowling figures for an innings were 7 wickets for 37 runs against the same team at the Basin Reserve, Wellington, in February 1995. He took another 6 wickets in the next innings, accumulating 13 wickets for 55 runs in the match—his solitary pair of five-wicket hauls. West Indies won the match by an innings and 322 runs, and his performance earned him a man of the match award. Walsh took more five-wicket hauls against England than any other nation: five. He took ten or more wickets in a match on three occasions.

Walsh made his ODI debut during the 1984–85 World Series Cup against Sri Lanka at the Tasmania Cricket Association Ground, Hobart. His solitary ODI five-wicket haul came against the same team in December 1986, a match which West Indies won at the Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium, Sharjah by 193 runs. He took five wickets conceding one run in the match. Cricinfo declared that it was the "cheapest" five-wicket haul in the history of international cricket. As of 2014, he is sixteenth among all-time combined five-wicket haul takers.

Key

Symbol Meaning Date Date the match was held, or starting date of the match for Test matches Inn The innings of the match in which the five-wicket haul was taken Overs Number of overs bowled in that innings Runs Runs conceded Wkts Number of wickets taken Batsmen The batsmen whose wickets were taken in the five-wicket haul Econ Bowling economy rate (average runs per over) Result The result for the West Indies team in that match One of two five-wicket hauls by Walsh in a match Walsh selected as "Man of the match" 10 wickets or more taken in the match § Captained the West Indies cricket team

Tests + Five-wicket hauls in Test cricket by Courtney WalshNo.DateGroundAgainstInnOversRunsWktsEconBatsmenResult 1 Eden Park, Auckland John Wright Jeff Crowe Richard Hadlee Ian Smith Stephen Boock Won 2 Feroz Shah Kotla Ground, Delhi Arun Lal Dilip Vengsarkar Kiran More Arshad Ayub Chetan Sharma Won 3 Wankhede Stadium, BombayBombay has since been renamed as Mumbai. Krishnamachari Srikkanth Arun Lal Mohinder Amarnath Arshad Ayub Maninder Singh Drawn 4 Sabina Park, Kingston Navjot Singh Sidhu Mohammad Azharuddin Sanjay Manjrekar Kiran More Kapil Dev Arshad Ayub Won 5 Sabina Park, Kingston Wayne Larkins Allan Lamb David Capel Jack Russell Devon Malcolm Lost 6 Kensington Oval, Bridgetown Michael Atherton Alec Stewart Mark Ramprakash Graeme Hick Graham Thorpe Lost 7 Wankhede Stadium, Bombay Manoj Prabhakar Navjot Singh Sidhu Vinod Kambli Sachin Tendulkar Anil Kumble Venkatapathy Raju Lost 8 Basin Reserve, Wellington Bryan Young Andrew Jones Stephen Fleming Shane Thomson Adam Parore Murphy Su'a Simon Doull Won 9 Basin Reserve, Wellington Bryan Young Darrin Murray Stephen Fleming Murphy Su'a Simon Doull Danny Morrison Won 10 Antigua Recreation Ground, St John's Michael Slater David Boon Mark Waugh Brendon Julian Shane Warne Glenn McGrathDrawn 11 Edgbaston, Birmingham Michael Atherton Dominic Cork Peter Martin Jason Gallian Darren GoughWon 12 § Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney Ricky Ponting Mark Waugh Greg Blewett Ian Healy Michael Kasprowicz Lost 13 § WACA Ground, Perth Mark Waugh Steve Waugh Michael Bevan Ian Healy Paul Reiffel Won 14 § Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar Aamer Sohail Mohammad Wasim Azhar Mahmood Shahid Nazir Mushtaq Ahmed Lost 15 § Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi Aamer Sohail Inzamam-ul-Haq Mohammad Wasim Waqar Younis Shoaib Akhtar Lost 16 Centurion Park, Centurion Gary Kirsten Herschelle Gibbs Shaun Pollock Mark Boucher Lance Klusener Paul Adams Lost 17 Kensington Oval, Bridgetown Matthew Elliott Mark Waugh Ricky Ponting Shane Warne Stuart MacGill Won 18 Kensington Oval, Bridgetown Mohammad Wasim Younis Khan Yousuf Youhana Moin Khan Waqar Younis Drawn 19 Antigua Recreation Ground, St. John's Inzamam-ul-Haq Abdul Razzaq Saqlain Mushtaq Waqar Younis Mushtaq Ahmed Won 20 Edgbaston, Birmingham Michael Atherton Mark Ramprakash Graeme Hick Andrew Flintoff Robert Croft Won 21 Lord's Cricket Ground, London Michael Atherton Mark Ramprakash Michael Vaughan Graeme Hick Alec Stewart Craig White Lost 22 Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain Herschelle Gibbs Gary Kirsten Jacques Kallis Nicky Boje Shaun Pollock Allan Donald Lost

One Day Internationals + Five-wicket hauls in ODI cricket by Courtney WalshNo.DateGroundAgainstInnOversRunsWktsEconBatsmenResult 1 Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium, Sharjah Duleep Mendis Ashantha de Mel Ravi Ratnayeke Rumesh Ratnayake Graeme Labrooy Won

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