The Ashes is one of the fieriest rivalries in cricket between Australia and England. Basically, the first edition was played way back in the year 1882 in Australia. Test cricket is surely the format where each player has to be at the top for all five days. A lot of bowlers have magical wicket-taking spells in The Ashes. Let us have a look at the Top 5 highest wicket takers in The Ashes.
Many of the bowlers from both Australia and England have played in this Ashes and single-handedly turned the match in favour of their team. From Hugh Trumble to James Anderson, we have seen records getting broken in each and every edition of the Ashes by the bowlers. It might surprise you, but James Anderson, one of England’s legendary bowlers, is not in the list of the Top 5 highest wicket takers in The Ashes.
Top 5 highest wicket takers in The Ashes
Shane Warne (Australia)
There is no doubt to admit that Shane Warne is surely one of the greatest or even the greatest spinner to play cricket. He has played a total of 36 matches in The Ashes and managed to take 195 wickets. Shane Warne has taken a total of 15 four-wicket hauls and 11 five-wicket hauls in The Ashes. His best bowling figures are 8/71, which came at the iconic Lord’s stadium in 1993. Shane Warne still holds the record for the most wickets in The Ashes, and it seems very tough for any current player to break the record.
Glenn McGrath (Australia)
It was the year 1997, and the match was at the Adelaide Oval when Glenn McGrath single-handedly destroyed the England batting line-up. He picked up 8/38 in that match. Glenn McGrath has played a total of 30 matches in The Ashes and managed to take 157 wickets. He has picked up seven four-wicket hauls and 10 five-wicket hauls in The Ashes. Glenn McGrath has one of the best bowling averages in this series.
Stuart Broad (England)
Basically, Stuart Broad is one of the most recent players to say goodbye to test cricket and the only English bowler in this list. He has picked up six four-wicket hauls and 8 five-wicket hauls in The Ashes in the 40 matches he played. In total, Stuart Broad has 153 wickets in the Ashes. His best bowling figure in the Ashes is 8/15, which came at Trent Bridge in the 2015 Ashes. He dismantled the Australian batting, and they were bowled out on 60.
Hugh Trumble (Australia)
One of the players to play in the early stages of the Ashes is Hugh Trumble. He played from 1890 to 1904 for the Australian team. During that period, he managed to play 31 matches in the Ashes and was very lethal with the ball. Hugh Trumble picked up a total of 141 wickets in his Ashes career. His best bowling figures came at Lord’s. He picked up 8/65, which is one of the best performances in the early stages of the rivalry. Hugh Trumble has picked up eight four-wicket hauls and 9 five-wicket hauls in The Ashes.
Dennis Lillee (Australia)
He played in the Ashes during the year 1970 and was the leader of the bowling department for the Australian team. During his Ashes career, he picked up eight four-wicket hauls and 7 five-wicket hauls in The Ashes. Lillee has played a total of 24 matches in The Ashes and has managed to take 128 wickets for Australia. His best performance in The Ashes came in the 1974 Ashes, as he picked up 7/89 at Melbourne, which helped Australia retain the Ashes.
