Top 3 bowlers with the most Test wickets in a calendar year
2019 has been a memorable year for bowlers from many nations, particularly Australia and India. Aussie paceman Pat Cummins headlined the year with 59 wickets in 12 Tests at an average of 20.13. He picked up incredible match figures of 10 for 62 at Brisbane against Sri Lanka at the start of the year.
Fellow Aussie Nathan Lyon is second on the list with 45 wickets in 12 Tests at an average of 33.26. The off-spinner bowled Australia to victory with figures of 6 for 49 in the Ashes Test at Birmingham.
England pacer Stuart Broad completes the top three for 2019 with 43 wickets in 11 matches at an average of 25.11.
Among Indians, Mohammed Shami was the leading wicket-taker with 33 scalps in eight Tests at an average of 16.66. Further, Ishant Sharma picked up 25 in six, and Umesh Yadav 23 in four.
Let’s go back in history now, and look at the top three bowlers with most wickets in Tests in a calendar year.
3. Dennis Lillee (85 wickets in 1981)
Australia’s pace bowling legend Dennis Lillee is at number three in the list, having claimed 85 wickets in 13 Tests in 1981. Lillee’s scalps came at an average of 20.95, and a strike rate of 43.6. He picked up five five-fors, and two 10-wicket match hauls in the year.
Lillee’s best bowling figures of 7 for 83 in the year came against West Indies at Melbourne in the Boxing Day Test. He dismissed Desmond Haynes, Colin Croft and Sir Viv Richards as West Indies were bowled out for 201 in response to Australia’s 198.
Lillee claimed three more in the second innings to finish with 10 for the match as the Aussies won the Test by 58 runs.
Earlier in the year, Lillee claimed 7 for 89 against England in the first innings at The Oval. Lillee got the scalps of centurion Geoff Boycott as well as Wayne Larkins, Mike Gatting and Ian Botham, restricting the opposition to 314 in reply to Australia’s 352.
Lillee claimed 4 for 70 in the second innings as England finished on 261 for 7 in their chase of 383.
Lillee was also the man of the match in the Nottingham Test of that same series, with figures of 3 for 34 and 5 for 46.
In the Perth Test against Pakistan in November, he ended with sensational figures of 5 for 18 as the visitors were rolled over for 62 in their first innings. They ended up losing the Test by 286 run. This was a Pakistan squad led by Javed Miandad, and also had Imran Khan.