NEW DELHI: Australia’s formidable bowling quartet of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, and Nathan Lyon etched their names in cricketing history on Friday by becoming the first bowling unit to collectively take 500 Test wickets while playing together.
The milestone was reached during the first session of the opening Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test against India in Perth. Starc and Hazlewood struck twice each early in the innings, pushing the quartet’s tally to the historic mark.
Scorecard: India vs Australia, 1st Test
Australian media outlet ABC Sport celebrated the achievement on social media, highlighting the combined contributions of the bowlers: Cummins with 130 wickets, Starc and Hazlewood with 124 each, and Lyon with 122 while playing as a group.
This quartet stands well above their closest competitors: England’s James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Ben Stokes, and Moeen Ali, who collectively took 415 wickets when playing together. However, among them, only Stokes remains active in international cricket.
Among the All-Time Greats
- Individually, Lyon (530 wickets), Starc (360), Hazlewood (275), and Cummins (269) have been pillars of Australia’s bowling arsenal.
- Although Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee, and Jason Gillespie dominate as Australia’s best bowling foursome based on individual career totals (1840 wickets combined), they only played 16 Tests together.
The current quartet, however, has consistently proven their dominance across formats and conditions, playing a pivotal role in Australia’s successes in recent years.
This historic milestone further underscores the legacy of Cummins, Starc, Hazlewood, and Lyon as one of the most formidable and consistent bowling units in Test cricket.
Gautam Gambhir was never the first choice to be India head coach