List of international cricket five-wicket hauls by Bob Willis explained

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, 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]}, Willis is thirty-ninth overall among all-time combined five-wicket haul takers.

Key

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

Five-wicket hauls in Test cricket by Bob Willis

No.	Date	Ground	Against	Inn	Overs	Runs	Wkts	Econ	Batsmen	Result
1									Wally Edwards Greg Chappell Ian Chappell Max Walker Jeff Thomson	Drawn
2									Viv Richards Deryck Murray Vanburn Holder Michael Holding Andy Roberts	Lost^[17]
3									Sunil Gavaskar Brijesh Patel Eknath Solkar Erapalli Prasanna B. S. Chandrasekhar	Won^[18]
4									Brijesh Patel Yajurvindra Singh Syed Kirmani Karsan Ghavri E. A. S. Prasanna B. S. Chandrasekhar	Lost^[19]
5									Greg Chappell Craig Serjeant Doug Walters Rod Marsh Kerry O'Keeffe Max Walker Jeff Thomson	Drawn^[20]
6									Rick McCosker Ian Davis Rod Marsh Max Walker Jeff Thomson	Won^[21]
7									Craig Serjeant Rick McCosker Doug Walters Ray Bright Jeff Thomson	Drawn^[22]
8									John Wright Geoff Howarth Bev Congdon John Parker Richard Hadlee	Lost^[23]
9									Mudassar Nazar Sadiq Mohammad Javed Miandad Wasim Bari Iqbal Qasim	Won^[24]
10									John Wright Mark Burgess Richard Hadlee Lance Cairns Brendon Bracewell	Won^[25]
11									Kim Hughes Graham Yallop Gary Cosier Rodney Hogg Alan Hurst	Won^[26]
12									Gordon Greenidge Alvin Kallicharran Clive Lloyd Deryck Murray Malcolm Marshall	Lost^[27]
13									John Dyson Trevor Chappell Kim Hughes Graham Yallop Rod Marsh Ray Bright Geoff Lawson Dennis Lillee	Won
14									Sunil Gavaskar Ghulam Parkar Dilip Vengsarkar Yashpal Sharma Ashok Malhotra Syed Kirmani	Won^[28]
15									Kepler Wessels Allan Border Bruce Yardley Geoff Lawson Carl Rackemann	Lost^[29]
16									John Wright Bruce Edgar Geoff Howarth Martin Crowe Jeff Crowe	Lost

External links

• Web site: Statistics / Statsguru / Bob Willis / Test matches . https://archive.today/20130922162248/http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/22462.html?class=1;filter=advanced;template=results;type=bowling;view=innings;wicketsmin1=5;wicketsval1=wickets . dead . 2013-09-22 . .

Notes and References

1. Web site: Bob Willis . . 22 September 2013.
2. Web site: Records / Combined Test, ODI and T20I records / Bowling records / Most five-wickets-in-an-innings in a career . 28 October 2016. ESPNcricinfo.
3. Web site: Swinging it for the Auld Enemy – An interview with Ryan Sidebottom. . 5 February 2013. 17 August 2008. ... I'd rather take fifers (five wickets) for England ....
4. Book: Pervez, M. A.. A Dictionary of Cricket. . 2001. 31. 978-81-7370-184-9. 5 February 2013.
5. Web site: Records / Test matches / Bowling records / Most five-wickets-in-an-innings in a career . . 28 October 2016.
6. Web site: Wisden:Cricketer of the year 1978 – Bob Willis . 25 August 2013 . Wisden . ESPNcricinfo .
7. Web site: England tour of Australia, 1970/71: The Ashes – 4th Test . ESPNcricinfo . 22 September 2013.
8. Web site: England tour of Australia, 1974/75: The Ashes – 4th Test . ESPNcricinfo . 22 September 2013.
9. Web site: Top 100 Bowlers of all time. Rediff.com. 4 October 2013.
10. Web site: Australia tour of England, 1981 – 3rd Test . ESPNcricinfo . 22 September 2013.
11. Web site: Statistics / Statsguru / Bob Willis / Test matches . ESPNcricinfo . 22 September 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130928080618/http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/22462.html?class=1%3Bfilter%3Dadvanced%3Btemplate%3Dresults%3Btype%3Dbowling%3Bview%3Dinnings%3Bwicketsmin1%3D4%3Bwicketsval1%3Dwickets . 28 September 2013 . dmy-all .
12. Web site: New Zealand tour of England, 1983: Test series – 2nd Test, Group A. ESPNcricinfo . 22 September 2013.
13. Web site: Statistics / Statsguru / Bob Willis / Test matches . ESPNcricinfo . 22 September 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130928071310/http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/22462.html?class=1%3Bfilter%3Dadvanced%3Btemplate%3Dresults%3Btype%3Dbowling%3Bview%3Dinnings%3Bwicketsmin1%3D5%3Bwicketsval1%3Dwickets . 28 September 2013 . dmy-all .
14. Web site: West Indies tour of England, 1973: Prudential Trophy – 1st ODI . ESPNcricinfo . 22 September 2013.
15. Web site: Statistics / Statsguru / Bob Willis / One-Day Internationals . ESPNcricinfo . 22 September 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130928080539/http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/22462.html?class=2%3Bfilter%3Dadvanced%3Btemplate%3Dresults%3Btype%3Dbowling%3Bview%3Dinnings%3Bwicketsmin1%3D4%3Bwicketsval1%3Dwickets . 28 September 2013 . dmy-all .
16. Web site: Prudential World Cup, 1979 – 8th match, Group A. ESPNcricinfo . 22 September 2013.
17. Web site: West Indies tour of England, 1976 – 4th Test . ESPNcricinfo . 22 September 2013.
18. Web site: England tour of India, 1976/77 – 2nd Test . ESPNcricinfo . 22 September 2013.
19. Web site: England tour of India, 1976/77 – 4th Test . ESPNcricinfo . 22 September 2013.
20. Web site: Australia tour of England, 1977 – 1st Test . ESPNcricinfo . 22 September 2013.
21. Web site: Australia tour of England, 1977 – 3rd Test . ESPNcricinfo . 22 September 2013.
22. Web site: Australia tour of England, 1977 – 5th Test . ESPNcricinfo . 22 September 2013.
23. Web site: England tour of New Zealand, 1977/78 – 1st Test . ESPNcricinfo . 22 September 2013.
24. Web site: Pakistan tour of England, 1978 – 2nd Test . ESPNcricinfo . 22 September 2013.
25. Web site: New Zealand tour of England and Netherlands, 1978 – 1st Test . ESPNcricinfo . 22 September 2013.
26. Web site: England tour of Australia, 1978/79 – 2nd Test . ESPNcricinfo . 22 September 2013.
27. Web site: West Indies tour of England, 1980 – 1st Test . ESPNcricinfo . 22 September 2013.
28. Web site: India tour of England, 1982 – 1st Test . ESPNcricinfo . 22 September 2013.
29. Web site: England tour of Australia, 1982/83 – 2nd Test . ESPNcricinfo . 22 September 2013.