Nowadays, bowling has become a difficult task, with the conditions favouring batters the most. There’s hardly any support from the pitch, so bowlers have to rely on their skills to outfox batters.
We have seen bowlers displaying their skilful bowling, which resulted in them taking wickets. Now a bowler may get a wicket or two off consecutive deliveries, but it’s rare to see a bowler complete a hat-trick.
But there have been a few instances where bowlers not only registered hat-tricks but also picked up six wickets in six balls. What? Yes, you read that right.
While no bowler has emulated the feat in international cricket, five bowlers have done so in domestic club cricket.
So here are the five bowlers who have taken six wickets in six balls in cricket.
1. Aled Carey (2017)
Aled Carey became the first-ever bowler in cricket history to take six wickets in six balls. He achieved the feat while playing in the Ballarat Cricket Association fourth-team fixture match in Australia’s Victoria.
Carey turned up for Golden Point Cricket Club and racked up six balls and six wickets against East Ballarat Cricket Club. East Ballarat were 40 for two after eight overs, but the next over turned the tables upside down.
Carey ran through the middle order of East Ballarat to reduce them to eight down on 40. The first two wickets were caught-out dismissals, while LBW on the third gave him the hat-trick. Carey continued his mayhem and got three back-to-back bowled dismissals to create this record.
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2. Harshit Seth (2021)
“A Perfect Over”.
— Harshit Seth (@Harshit_seth04) December 5, 2021
Harshit created a history in the U19 Cricket yesterday when he took 6 wickets in 6 balls in a U19 league match against U19 team from Pakistan. The match held in Ajman Oval approved by Ajman Cricket Council organized by Karwan called Karwan Global League!!!!! pic.twitter.com/dGoQuynDIc
Harshit Seth became the second bowler to pick up six wickets in six balls. He achieved the feat in the Karwan Under-19 Global T20 league organised in the UAE’s Ajman.
Seth was bowling for DCC Starets while defending a modest total of 137 runs. Their opposition, Hyderabad Hawks Academy RCG, were on 12 runs in 2.5 overs.
Then Seth drew the first blood on the last ball of the third over. He then returned in the fifth over and racked up four wickets on the last four balls, completing his double hat-trick.
Seth came to bowl his final over and clean bowled two batters on the first two deliveries of the seventh over to etch his name in the record books.
The Hawks were left in disarray at 16 for nine and eventually lost the match by 93 runs. Seth finished with the figures of eight wickets for four runs in four overs.
3. Virandeep Singh (2022)
Five years later, a Malaysian bowler and his team imitated Carey’s feat in Nepal’s Pro Club Championship. It was a 20-over match between Push Sports Delhi and Malaysia Club XI in 2022.
Push Sports Delhi were 130 for three after 19 overs and were looking to finish with a good score. But then Virandeep Singh put their plans in awry with the help of his team.
Singh started the final over with a wide before claiming his first victim. On the second ball, the Malaysian club inflicted a run out before Singh took another wicket, making it a team hat-trick.
The left-arm spinner then cleaned up another batter on the fourth delivery and completed his hat-trick on the fifth ball with a caught & bowled dismissal. Singh bowled a stump-to-stump sixth ball to rattle the wickets and complete his double hat-trick.
Singh’s last over bout went in his team’s favour as they cruised to the target of 133 runs with 15 balls to spare.
4. Oliver Whitehouse (2023)
Among these senior pros, a young, promising bowler from England replicated this impossible feat. In June 2023, Oliver Whitehouse, who was 12 years old then, achieved this remarkable feat.
Hailing from Worcestershire, Whitehouse turned up for Bromsgrove Cricket Club against Cookhill. The left-arm spinner got six consecutive wickets in his first over itself and bowled another over with two wickets.
Whitehouse didn’t concede even a single run in his two overs and returned with figures of 2-2-8-0.
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5. Gareth Morgan (2023)
Gareth Morgan became the latest entrant on this list, imitating the feat of his fellow countryman, Aled Carey. In November 2023, he logged the achievement in a division three match of the Gold Coast’s Premier League.
Morgan gave a perfect example of leading from the front while captaining Mudgeeraba Nerang and Districts Cricket Club. His team was defending their total of 178 against Surfers Paradise, who were inches closer to the target, needing five runs to win the match.
The Surfers Paradise were on 174 for four heading into the final over. But then Morgan took matters into his hands and delivered a memorable over.
With five runs to win, Paradise’s opener, Jake Garland, tried to close the game with a big hit, but he handed a catch, opening up the doors for an epic over. Morgan then got three more batters caught out before rattling the stumps on the last two balls to take his home.
