Three Australian Bowlers with highest wickets on their Test Debut

Australian bowlers with highest wickets on Test debut: The Australians have always had a great bowling line-up when it comes to Test Cricket. They seem to unearth one bowling talent after the other which has made one of the feared sides in Cricket. Over the years, the Aussies have seen some great bowling performances on debut. Let us look at three of them.

#1 Bob Massie (16/137) was one of the Australian bowlers with highest wickets on Test debut

Robert Arnold Lockyer Massie also known as Bob Massie delighted on his debut at the Lord’s where he took a total of 16 wickets for 137 runs against arch-rivals England in the Ashes on 22nd June, 1972. The Right-Arm Fast Medium Bowler from Western Australia went on to play six Test Matches and three One Day Internationals for the Aussies in 1972 and 1973.

He eclipsed all other players in the match and single-handedly took 8 wickets for 84 runs in the first innings. His second innings display was better – he accounted for 8 wickets for 53 runs. His figures of 16/137 remained a World Record for a long time, which was ultimately broken by India’s Narendra Hirwani who took the same number of wickets on his debut giving away 1 less run.

#2 Jason Krejza (12/358) was another of the Australian bowlers with the highest wickets on Test debut

There are only a few bowlers to take 8 or more wickets in an innings and Jason John Krejza is one of them. On the tour of India in 2008-09, Krejza had a poor first outing and his chances of playing a Test seemed unlikely. But he was chosen ahead of Stuart Clark for the final test at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur and returned with staggering figures of 12 wickets for 358 runs.

In the first innings, he scalped 8 wickets for 215 runs while claiming 4 for 143 in the second. His performance had a flip side though, as he conceded more runs than anyone on their Test debut. It was however, a brilliant comeback for Krejza who was suspended from the pre season training of Tasmania after he was caught drink-driving and speeding.

#3 Clarrie Grimmet (11/82) is the third big name in this feat

Clarrie Grimmet was a right-arm leg-break bowler for Australia in the early 1900s. His influence on thousands who followed and researched about him was profound, especially in the era of spin drought. He debuted against England on 27th February, 1925 at the Sydney Cricket Ground. In the first innings Grimmet took 5 wickets for 45 runs which helped his side gain an early advantage. He did better in the second innings, taking 6 wickets for 37 runs making it 11 wickets for 82 runs for the match.

His figures in the match are one of the best records in Test Cricket of all-time. He played a total of 37 matches for Australia taking 216 wickets overall.