Last Updated on 2 years by Charbel Coorey
Cricket News: Best bowling figures on Test debut for Australia | Who has the best bowling figures on debut for Australia?
Todd Murphy made headlines with his outstanding bowling in Australia’s horror loss in the Test against India in Nagpur. Several Australian bowlers over the years have produced similar or even better performances in their debut Tests, just like Murphy.
Let us take a look at the top five bowling figures on debut for Australia in this article.
AE Trott – vs England, 1895
Albert Trott clinched the record for the best bowling figures in a Test debut way back in 1895 when he dismissed eight Englishmen in the second innings of their game in Adelaide. Trailing by 525, the visitors were already down and out by the time of the fourth innings. Trott capitalized on their misery by running down their lineup with sheer pace as he scalped eight wickets for 43 runs in merely 27 overs. England were bowled out for a partly 143 and Australia won the Test match by 382 runs.
RAL Massie – vs England, 1972
Robert Arnold Lockyer Massie, better known as Bob Massie, made heads turn with an incredible eight-wicket haul in the first innings of Australia’s second Test against England in Lords in 1972. Amongst his victims were the likes of Geoff Boycott, Tony Greig and Alan Knott. The remaining two wickets were taken by Dennis Lillee.
Interestingly, Massie played merely six Tests throughout his career but still managed to scale a feat in his debut that is etched at the top of the record books 53 years down the line. Moreover, Massie took eight wickets yet again in the second English innings to finish off with a remarkable figure of 16 scalps in his very first Test match.
Jason Krejza – vs India, 2008
Jason Krejza took eight wickets in the first innings of the fourth Test between India and Australia in Nagpur in 2008. The likes of Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and MS Dhoni fell for the debutant’s off-spin on a placid surface back then.
However, Krejza also conceded runs at an economy rate of 4.9 as he gave away 215 runs for his eight scalps in 43.5 overs. The Aussies kept him going on from one end as they tried to deter the Indian batting effort. Eventually, the home side posted 441 in the first innings and won the game by 172 runs.
Tom Kendall – vs England, 1877
Australian pacer Tom Kendall took seven wickets for 55 runs in 33.1 overs in the final innings of the home side’s Test against England in Melbourne in 1877. He helped Australia bundle out the Englishmen for merely 108 runs in 66 overs as Australia secured a close victory in a tightly-contested game by only 45 runs. Kendall only played two Tests throughout his career with both of them coming in that particular series itself.
Todd Murphy – vs India, 2023
23-year-old off-spinner Todd Murphy is the latest to join these ranks with his impressive outing of 7/124 in 47 overs in the first Indian innings of the ongoing Test in Nagpur. Having received his Baggy Green from Nathan Lyon, Murphy managed to outclass his senior counterpart by bowling flatter, quicker through the air and deceiving key Indian batsmen like KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja in the process. Murphy has shown incredible potential so far and it will be exciting to see if he sustains this form over the course of the coming four games.
