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List of international cricket five-wicket hauls by Bob Willis

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A head and shoulder shoot of an Englishman standing at the Taunton Cricket Ground, wearing a black shirt and spectacles
Willis took 16 five-wicket hauls in Test cricket.

Bob Willis was a right-arm fast bowler, who represented the England cricket team in 90 Tests between 1971 and 1984.[1][2] In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five-for" or "fifer")[3] refers to a bowler taking five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded as a notable achievement,[4] and as of October 2024, only 54 bowlers have taken 15 or more five-wicket hauls at international level in their cricketing careers.[2] In Test cricket, Willis took 325 wickets, including 16 five-wicket hauls.[1][5] The Wisden Cricketers' Almanack named him one of their cricketers of the year in 1978, and termed him "one of the world's foremost fast bowlers."[6]

Willis made his Test debut during the fourth Test of the 1970–71 Ashes series, against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground.[7] His first Test five-wicket haul came in the third Test of the 1974–75 Ashes series at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.[8] Willis' career-best figures for an innings were 8 wickets for 43 runs—seventh among Top 100 Bowling performances of all time by Wisden[9]—at Headingley, during the 1981 Ashes series.[10] He never took ten wickets in a match; his best performance for a match was 9 wickets for 92 runs against New Zealand in 1983 at Headingley.[11][12] He was most successful against Australia, taking seven five-wicket hauls.[13]

Willis made his One Day International (ODI) debut against the West Indies at Headingley, during the 1973 Prudential Trophy.[14] He never took a five-wicket haul in ODIs; his career-best figures for an innings were 4 wickets for 11 runs against Canada during the 1979 Cricket World Cup, a match England won by 8 wickets at Old Trafford.[15][16] As of 2021, Willis is thirty-ninth overall among all-time combined five-wicket haul takers.[n 1]

Key

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A panoramic view of a cricket ground with players occupying the field
Willis took three of his five-wicket hauls at Headingley.[17]
Key for the Test five-wicket hauls table
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
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 England team in that match
† Captained the England cricket team
Drawn The match was drawn

Test five-wicket hauls

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Five-wicket hauls in Test cricket by Bob Willis
No. Date Ground Against Inn Overs Runs Wkts Econ Batsmen Result
1 26 December 1974 Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne  Australia 2 21.7[n 2] 61 5 2.09 Drawn[8]
2 22 July 1976 Headingley, Leeds  West Indies 3 15.3 42 5 2.70 Lost[20]
3 1 January 1977 Eden Gardens, Calcutta[n 3]  India 1 20.0 27 5 1.35 Won[21]
4 28 January 1977 Karnataka State Cricket Association Stadium, Bangalore[n 4]  India 1 17.0 53 6 3.11 Lost[22]
5 16 June 1977 Lord's Cricket Ground, London  Australia 2 30.1 78 7 2.58 Drawn[23]
6 28 July 1977 Trent Bridge, Nottingham  Australia 3 26.0 88 5 3.38 Won[24]
7 25 August 1977 Kennington Oval, London  Australia 2 29.3 102 5 3.45 Drawn[25]
8 10 February 1978 Basin Reserve, Wellington  New Zealand 3 15.0[n 2] 32 5 1.60 Lost[18]
9 15 June 1978 Lord's Cricket Ground, London  Pakistan 2 13.0 47 5 3.61 Won[26]
10 27 July 1978 Kennington Oval, London  New Zealand 1 20.2 42 5 2.06 Won[27]
11 15 December 1978 WACA Ground, Perth  Australia 2 18.5[n 2] 44 5 1.77 Won[19]
12 5 June 1980 Trent Bridge, Nottingham  West Indies 4 26.0 65 5 2.50 Lost[28]
13 16 July 1981 Headingley, Leeds  Australia 4 15.1 43 8 2.83 Won[10]
14 10 June 1982† Lord's Cricket Ground, London  India 3 28.0 101 6 3.60 Won[29]
15 26 November 1982† Brisbane Cricket Ground, Brisbane  Australia 2 29.4 66 5 2.22 Lost[30]
16 28 July 1983† Headingley, Leeds  New Zealand 4 14.0 35 5 2.50 Lost[12]

Notes

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  1. ^ Willis shares the position with Terry Alderman, B. S. Chandrasekhar, Shoaib Akhtar, Graham McKenzie, Richie Benaud and Chaminda Vaas.[2]
  2. ^ a b c Eight-ball overs were bowled in this match.[8][18][19]
  3. ^ Calcutta has since been renamed the Kolkata.
  4. ^ Karnataka State Cricket Association Stadium has since been renamed the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.

References

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  1. ^ a b "Bob Willis". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  2. ^ a b c "Records / Combined Test, ODI and T20I records / Bowling records / Most five-wickets-in-an-innings in a career". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 28 October 2016.
  3. ^ "Swinging it for the Auld Enemy – An interview with Ryan Sidebottom". The Scotsman. 17 August 2008. Retrieved 5 February 2013. ... I'd rather take fifers (five wickets) for England ...
  4. ^ Pervez, M. A. (2001). A Dictionary of Cricket. Orient Blackswan. p. 31. ISBN 978-81-7370-184-9. Retrieved 5 February 2013.
  5. ^ "Records / Test matches / Bowling records / Most five-wickets-in-an-innings in a career". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 28 October 2016.
  6. ^ "Wisden:Cricketer of the year 1978 – Bob Willis". Wisden. ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
  7. ^ "England tour of Australia, 1970/71: The Ashes – 4th Test". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  8. ^ a b c "England tour of Australia, 1974/75: The Ashes – 4th Test". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  9. ^ "Top 100 Bowlers of all time". Rediff.com. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
  10. ^ a b "Australia tour of England, 1981 – 3rd Test". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  11. ^ "Statistics / Statsguru / Bob Willis / Test matches". ESPNcricinfo. Archived from the original on 28 September 2013. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  12. ^ a b "New Zealand tour of England, 1983: Test series – 2nd Test, Group A". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  13. ^ "Statistics / Statsguru / Bob Willis / Test matches". ESPNcricinfo. Archived from the original on 28 September 2013. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  14. ^ "West Indies tour of England, 1973: Prudential Trophy – 1st ODI". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  15. ^ "Statistics / Statsguru / Bob Willis / One-Day Internationals". ESPNcricinfo. Archived from the original on 28 September 2013. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  16. ^ "Prudential World Cup, 1979 – 8th match, Group A". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  17. ^ "Records / Headingley, Leeds / Test matches / Most five-wickets-in-an-innings". ESPNcricinfo. Archived from the original on 28 September 2013. Retrieved 20 August 2013.
  18. ^ a b "England tour of New Zealand, 1977/78 – 1st Test". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  19. ^ a b "England tour of Australia, 1978/79 – 2nd Test". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  20. ^ "West Indies tour of England, 1976 – 4th Test". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  21. ^ "England tour of India, 1976/77 – 2nd Test". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  22. ^ "England tour of India, 1976/77 – 4th Test". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  23. ^ "Australia tour of England, 1977 – 1st Test". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  24. ^ "Australia tour of England, 1977 – 3rd Test". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  25. ^ "Australia tour of England, 1977 – 5th Test". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  26. ^ "Pakistan tour of England, 1978 – 2nd Test". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  27. ^ "New Zealand tour of England and Netherlands, 1978 – 1st Test". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  28. ^ "West Indies tour of England, 1980 – 1st Test". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  29. ^ "India tour of England, 1982 – 1st Test". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  30. ^ "England tour of Australia, 1982/83 – 2nd Test". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
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