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Much has already been written on Australian pace bowler Peter Siddle’s hat-trick on the opening day of the Brisbane Test yesterday. But how many know about the origin of the term hat-trick?
This term first appeared in ‘The Sportsman’ (England) of 29 August 1878 when Australia’s celebrated bowler Fred ‘Demon’ Spofforth clean-bowled three batsmen with three consecutive balls, “thus accomplishing the hat-trick” when playing for the touring Australians against 18 of Hastings & Districts at The Oval.
He was also the first cricketer to claim a Test hat-trick against England four months later in Melbourne on 2 January 1879.
Although the term hat-trick was first mentioned in print in 1878, the earliest instance of a hat being presented to a bowler for three victims in three balls came much earlier. In September 1858, the famous Surrey professional HH Stephenson captured three wickets in three deliveries at Sheffield, England, for the All England XI against 22 of Hallam & Staveley, thereby “entitling himself to a new hat which was presented to him by the XI.”
Coming to the present, Siddle became the 35th bowler to take 38 hat-tricks in 133 years of Test cricket. Australia’s Hugh Trumble (1901-02 and 1903-04) and TJ Matthews (1912), and Pakistan’s Wasim Akram (1998-99) are the only ones to perform it twice. And remarkably, TJ Matthews did it twice in the same Test, one in each innings, against South Africa in Manchester in 1912!
Siddle is the eighth Australian to perform 10 Test hat-tricks. And yesterday’s hat-trick was the second in Brisbane, the first one in Brisbane was by West Indian Courtney Walsh vs. Australia in 1988-89.
Australia has hosted most Test hat-tricks, 12; a record five in Melbourne, two each in Sydney, Perth and Brisbane and one in Adelaide. The first two Test hat-tricks were witnessed in Melbourne, by Spofforth vs. England as mentioned above in 1878-79 and by England’s Billy Bates against Australia in 1882-83.
Siddles hat-trick yesterday was the ninth in the Australia-England Test series. I had the privilege to interview three Australian hat-trick takers, Merv Hughes, Damien Fleming and Shane Warne.
Hughes did not celebrate his hat-trick in the Perth Test against the Windies in 1988-89. He was more worried about his pace partner Geoff ‘Henry’ Lawson struck by a bouncer from Curtly Ambrose and hospitalised. About his hat-trick he said that evening, “That will look good on my record but there are more important things to worry about. There’s a team-mate in hospital.”
Fleming is one of the three bowlers to take a hat-trick in his debut Test, the other two being Maurice Allom of England (1929-30) and New Zealand’s Peter Petherick (1976-77).
Recalled Fleming, “You don’t think about a hat-trick in your first Test which was against. Pakistan at Rawalpindi in 1994. I was just delighted to be picked and bowl alongside ‘Billy’ [Craig McDermott]. I dismissed Aamer Malik and Inzamam-ul-Haq off successive balls which marked the end of my over. Then came drinks. All our players knew about the possibility of my hat-trick the next over but not the double centurion Salim Malik. And I got him with an out-swinger. It was a tremendous feeling.”
Warne was absolutely thrilled with his hat-trick against England in the Boxing Day Test of 1994. He recalled with relish, “My third in a row victim was Devon Malcolm. It was a leg-spinner, it kicked a bit and Booney [David Boon] took a great catch. It was the quickest I’ve ever run to Booney. I think I stuck my tongue in his ear.”
Great moments from great bowlers! And now Peter Siddle has joined the ranks of immortals from ‘Demon’ Spofforth, George Lohmann, Wes Hall and Lance Gibbs to Wasim Akram and Warnie.
The Ashes could not have had a better start and Siddle a more memorable birthday.