From 118 to 435 - how the record has evolved

How does the cliche go? Records are meant to be broken. That is particularly so with the proliferation of cricket matches these days. Sidney Barnes' Test tally of 189 wickets in 27 games stood as the record from 1914 to 1936. Of course it must be immediately said that World War I took off more than 6-1/2 years from that period. All the same, the record was his over 116 Tests. Clarrie Grimmett who broke Barnes' record and extended the tally to 216 wickets from 37 Tests, remained the champion wicket taker till 1953. But of course, thanks to World War II, no Test cricket was played again for about 6-1/2 years.

Still Grimmett remained on top through 126 Tests. But even without any interruptions, Alec Bedser who broke Grimmett's record remained the leading wicket taker in Test cricket till 1963, when another Englishman Brian Statham went past the 236 wicket mark to be on top for about a month. Bedser had held the mark for 163 Tests but Statham's name was at the top of the list for only four Tests. He extended the mark till 242 when his fellow fast bowler Freddie Trueman overtook him and as is well known crossed a significant landmark by becoming the first bowler to top the 300 wicket mark. When he retired in 1965, Trueman's mark of 307 seemed almost unsurpassable. Though as he put it in a typically colourful phrase ``whoever breaks my record will be bloody tired.''

Well, it certainly was not surpassed till 1976 and 227 Tests later. Hitherto only English or Australian bowlers held the honour of being the leading wicket takers in Tests but the privilege now passed on to a West Indian - Lance Gibbs. Of course whereas Trueman had taken his 307 wickets in 67 Tests, Gibbs played 79 Tests in finishing with 309. Trueman bowled 15178 balls, Gibbs took his 308th wicket with his 26853rd ball.

By now it had become obvious that with so much Test cricket being played, there was always a chance for existing records, no matter how impressive, to be broken. Suddenly where once it seemed that 300 wickets was impossible, now it looked like 400 wickets was just round the corner. Still Gibbs' record stood for almost six years, till Australian fast bowler Dennis Lillee made it his own by taking his 310th wicket in his 58th Test, coincidentally at Melbourne, where Gibbs had broken Trueman's record. Incidentally Gibbs had remained at top for about 150 Tests.

By now of course taking 300 wickets, while still a great feat, was no more an impossible one. Lillee retired in 1984 with 355 wickets from 70 Tests. But after he had held the record from December 1981 to August 1986, he lost it to Ian Botham. The great English all rounder, playing in his 85th Test, took wickets no 355 and 356 on the first morning of the Test against New Zealand at the Oval. Botham's 355 wickets came from 19201 balls while Lillee had bowled 18467 at the time of his retirement. Significantly, while Botham played 15 more Tests than Lillee to cross the mark, he had taken only nine years whereas Lillee had taken 13. Incidentally, Lillee had been at the top of the list for some 130 Tests.

But by now, other great bowlers were already hot on Botham's trail and it was obvious that whatever Botham's final mark, it would not last for very long. Sure enough, in November 1988 at Bangalore, Richard Hadlee put his name on top of the list. Playing in his 75th Test, the outstanding New Zealand bowler, after waiting for 318 days since equalling Botham's then record of 373, finally took wicket No 374. Botham had held the record for 56 Tests.

The magic figure of 400 was surely only a matter of time and in February 1990, Hadlee predictably became the first to get to this mark when bowling Sanjay Manjrekar at Christchurch. Later that year Hadlee retired after taking 431 wickets in 86 Tests. But by now the most likely contender to break this mark was on the horizon. Indian all rounder Kapil Dev had already gone past Botham and was second only to Hadlee in the wicket taker's list.

At Perth in February 1992, Kapil Dev became the second bowler to take 400 wickets in Test cricket and suddenly the all important figure of 432 did not seem too far away. On the contrary, it did become an effort for Kapil Dev as the gallant Indian all rounder struggled past 410, 420 and then 430. Finally in January 1994, just past his 35th birthday Kapil Dev, amidst scenes of great jubilation got to wicket No 431 against Sri Lanka at Bangalore. Hadlee by now was willing him on to break his record and Kapil Dev duly obliged when a week later - February 8 - he picked up wicket No 432, that of Hashan Tillekeratne at Ahmedabad. Hadlee had held the record for about 140 Tests but now it was Kapil's. It was in his 130th Test and he had sent down over 27000 deliveries - also a world record. The strain of going for the record told on his well built frame and the Indian all rounder, by now a tired man played in only one more Test - in New Zealand in March 1994 - before calling it a day.

Now the magic figure had been extended to 435. But there already seemed to be many contenders for the leading wicket taker's slot. West Indian fast bowler Courtney Walsh headed a list of front runners which included fellow West Indian fast bowler Curtley Ambrose, Australia's Shane Warne and Pakistan's Wasim Akram. When Walsh became the third bowler to top the 400 wicket mark, it was obvious that he would be the bowler to cross Kapil Dev's mark. Now it was only a matter of waiting and watching. Like in Kapil Dev's case, it proved to be quite an effort for the big fast bowler to get to 410, 420, 430. But on Monday, six years after Kapil Dev had scaled his Mount Everest, Walsh finally got to 435 in his 114th Test to set a new peak. The West Indian, now in his 38th year, bowled some 2500 balls less in breaking Kapil Dev's mark. The Indian had been at the top of the list for some 245 Tests.

Even as he savours the champagne moment, Walsh surely is all too familar with the cliche that records are meant to be broken. Already, Ambrose (377), Akram (383) and Warne (363) are on the trail. All the same, at the start of the new millennium, it is worth taking a trip down memory lane to see how the record has evolved. In 1900, the record was held by England's left arm spinner John Briggs who had 118 wickets from 33 Tests. By 1925 the record has passed on to Sidney Barnes with 189 wickets from just 27 Tests. By 1950, the record holder was Clarrie Grimmett with 216 wickets in 37 Tests. By 1975, the bowler at the top of the list was Freddie Trueman with 307 wickets from 67 Tests. In the last quarter of a century, however the record has passed from Trueman to Gibbs to Lillee to Botham to Hadlee to Kapil Dev and now on to Walsh. With the proliferation of Test matches, it is not hard to believe those who predict that Warne will end with 500 wickets.