- Started again with his side under pressure
- Turn the match upside down with a shock display
A hat-trick is every cricketer’s dream, but an Australian bowler etched his name in the record book by taking five wickets from five balls in a spell that may never be repeated.
Glen Parker was playing for Brighton in the Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association when his side started leaking early runs against Hoopers Crossing last Saturday.
Parker walked to his end, determined not to be beaten for ten runs as he had in his previous over, and began his run-up.
Then the unthinkable happened. Parker claimed an incredible five wickets in five consecutive deliveries, all in the same period – a feat never achieved in the association’s 116-year history.
‘Pete [captain-coach Pete Cassidy] said the same thing to Port Melbourne, ‘you know your best ball, try to sneak one through the gate’,” said Parker News Corp.
‘This time he said the same advice and luckily I landed it exactly where I wanted, snuck it through the gate and managed to bowl it.
‘Last year was my first, this year it was more of a bit of fun, if you’re lucky enough to get it then happy days, if not then you never really expect it to happen.
“I think I was a little more relaxed this time.”
Brighton bowler Glen Parker (right) holds the match-winning ball with skipper Peter Cassidy after taking five wickets with five consecutive deliveries in one over
Parker’s astonishing spell included a whopping four golden ducks as he sliced the order
Parker celebrates one of his five wickets as he completely turns the match on its head
The rare triple hat-trick is a feat never seen before in first-class cricket.
New Zealand bowler Neil Wagner took five in an over against Wellington in 2011, the first and only time this has happened in first-class cricket, but not all were consecutive balls.
Remarkably, there has yet to be a triple hat-trick in Australian cricket – and that too was in Victoria.
Yallourn North’s Nick Gooden achieved the feat against Latrobe in the Central Gippsland competition in 2017.
And what makes his triple hat-trick even more special is the fact that he had already scored a hat-trick in his previous spell, taking eight wickets in a thrilling 10-ball spell.
“There’s nothing special about it, there’s absolutely no pace involved,” Gooden told Weekend Sunrise at the time.
“The general plan when we got there was to get out as quickly as possible so we could get on the foam,” he said.
“I said to the guys, ‘Let’s go by these guys and get out and have a beer.’ I think we had a beer around three o’clock.’
Hedley Verity, the slow left-armer from Yorkshire, holds the record for the best bowling figures in first-class cricket with 10 for 10 against Nottinghamshire in 1932, but it took him a whopping 118 deliveries to get those posts.
Tim Wall holds the record for Australia, claiming all 10 wickets for South Australia in a Shield match against New South Wales in 1933. His 10-36 in the first innings came from a stingier 12.4 overs and included the wicket of the great Donald Bradman. for 56.
