So last night I got totally hooked on this random cricket trivia question: who actually bagged the most wickets bowling in a SINGLE day of a test match? Sounds simple, right? Man, the internet made it a mess. Saw forums full of wrong guesses and incomplete stats. Ugh. Decided to roll up my sleeves and actually dig up the real records myself. Way harder than I thought.
My Messy Search Begins
Started off searching stuff like “most wickets in one day test cricket.” Got tons of articles about best bowling figures in an innings or a whole match. Not what I needed! Needed that one magic day where the bowler just went berserk. Felt like chasing a ghost. Clicked through dozens of sites feeling more lost each time.
The Tipping Point: Got frustrated. Like, properly annoyed. How hard could it be to find this simple record? That’s when I scrapped the lazy route. Went old school. Figured the only way to be sure was to look at actual historical scorecards myself. Grabbed my laptop and headed deep into official cricket archives. Time to hunt.
Digging Through the Archives
This part got real tedious, real fast. Started pulling up famous bowling performances where someone dominated. Remembered Jim Laker – dude took 10 wickets in an innings! Crazy! Looked up that iconic 1956 Ashes test scorecard. Okay, day one? Not crazy. Day two? Bit better. Day three? Boom! July 31st, 1956. He took 9 wickets in the day! Held my breath seeing the numbers. Definitely had to be near the top.
Thought about Richard Hadlee. Found the 1985 Brisbane test against Australia. Scorecard shows he ripped through them on day two – November 9th, 1985. Took 8 wickets that single day? Whoa. Solid, but maybe beatable? I needed more!
Kept digging. Found folks talking about Sri Lankan spinner Prabath Jayasuriya recently. July 25th, 2022 vs Pakistan, Galle. Checked the day-by-day. Found it! Day three. He grabbed 7 wickets. Very good, yeah, but not topping the others I already had. Paused, thinking… is Laker’s 9 the top? I felt like maybe someone else got close.
The Big Surprise
Kept scrolling through these old dusty digital scorecards. Almost missed it. Stumbled upon India’s tour of England, 1967. At Edgbaston. Found the scorecard for BS Chandrasekhar… August 1st, 1967. Started reading: how many did he take day three? Flicked wickets… 2? Slow start. Then day four? Wait… wait… seriously? He took 6 wickets BEFORE lunch. Then came back later? Grabbed another 3! That’s 9 wickets in the whole day! Tied with Laker! I legit sat back staring. This leg-spinner, just like Laker, had demolished a side in a single day? Unbelievable intensity.
My list solidified:
- Jim Laker (England) – 9 wickets on Day Three vs Australia (July 31, 1956)
- BS Chandrasekhar (India) – 9 wickets on Day Four vs England (Aug 1, 1967)
- Richard Hadlee (NZ) – 8 wickets on Day Two vs Australia (Nov 9, 1985)
- Prabath Jayasuriya (SL) – 7 wickets on Day Three vs Pakistan (July 25, 2022)
What Struck Me
Doing this myself felt way better than reading some list. Seeing the actual scorecards – the dates, the fall of wickets column by column – made it real. Both Laker and Chandrasekhar getting NINE wickets? Just thinking about bowling ALL DAY long in a test match is exhausting. Taking that many wickets? Pure physical and mental mayhem. These weren’t just good days; these were superhuman slogs where they carried their team almost single-handedly for hours on end.
The chase was frustrating, yeah. Wading through crummy info sucks. But finding that gold – those specific days etched in scorecards – that feels awesome. Never imagined two guys had actually done that. Cricket records can be wild!
