List of international cricket five-wicket hauls by Fred Trueman

A statue of England bowler Fred Trueman in bowling pose
Statue of Trueman, who took seventeen five-wicket hauls in Test cricket.

Fred Trueman was an English cricketer, an "aggressive"[1] fast bowler widely known as "Fiery Fred".[1] He is generally acknowledged to have been one of the greatest bowlers in cricket history.[1][2] He represented England in 67 Test matches, and was the first bowler to take 300 wickets in a Test career, taking twelve years and 65 Tests to reach the landmark.[3]

Trueman's wicket tally included seventeen five-wicket hauls (also known as "five-fors" or "fifers")[4][5] which refer to a bowler taking five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded as a notable achievement,[4] as of March 2014 only 41 bowlers have taken more than 15 five-wicket hauls at international level in their cricketing careers.[6][7] Trueman's seventeen five-wicket hauls places him joint-third in a list of most five-wicket hauls by England Test players, behind Ian Botham and Sydney Barnes.[8] It includes three instances of him taking five or more wickets in each innings of the same Test match, and only one of the Tests in which he took a five-for ended in defeat for England.

His first five-for came in July 1952 against India in only his third Test match.[9] It was also his career-best performance, eight wickets while conceding 31 runs, which remains the ninth most successful bowling figures by an England player.[10] Five of his five-wicket hauls were taken against Australia, and six came against the West Indies. Four of the latter came during the 1963 West Indies tour of England, across which he took a career-best 34 wickets.[11] He is joint-third in a tally of most five-fors taken against the West Indies in Test matches.[12] He did not get the opportunity to play in One Day International cricket as it was not introduced until the 1970–1971 cricket season, several years after his retirement.[13]

  1. ^ a b c "Farewell 'Fiery Fred'". BBC News. 1 July 2006. Retrieved 7 March 2014.
  2. ^ "Player Profile: Fred Trueman". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 8 March 2014.
  3. ^ "Records / Test matches / Bowling records / Fastest to 300 wickets". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  4. ^ a b Pervez, M. A. (2001). A Dictionary of Cricket. Orient Blackswan. p. 31. ISBN 978-81-7370-184-9.
  5. ^ "Swinging it for the Auld Enemy – An interview with Ryan Sidebottom". The Scotsman. 17 August 2008. Retrieved 30 October 2009. ... I'd rather take fifers (five wickets) for England ...
  6. ^ "Records / Test matches / Bowling records / Most five-wickets-in-an-innings in a career". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 30 September 2011.
  7. ^ "Records / One-Day Internationals / Bowling records / Most five-wickets-in-an-innings in a career". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 30 September 2011.
  8. ^ "Records / England / Test matches / Most five-wickets-in-an-innings". ESPNcricinfo. Archived from the original on 11 June 2014. Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  9. ^ "Statistics / Statsguru / FS Trueman / Test matches". ESPNcricinfo. Archived from the original on 11 June 2014. Retrieved 8 March 2014.
  10. ^ "Records / England / Test matches / Best bowling figures in an innings". ESPNcricinfo. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  11. ^ "Statistics / Statsguru / FS Trueman / Test matches". ESPNcricinfo. Archived from the original on 11 June 2014. Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  12. ^ "Records / v West Indies / Test matches / Most five-wickets-in-an-innings". ESPNcricinfo. Archived from the original on 11 June 2014. Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  13. ^ "England in Australia ODI Match Australia v England – ODI no. 1 – 1970/71 season". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 8 March 2014.