Hat-trick (threefold achievement in sport and beyond)
A hat-trick is the accomplishment of a feat three times in a single game, sequence, or competition. It appears across many sports and as a general idiom for a triple success.
A hat-trick denotes completing the same notable action three times, typically during a single game, match or continuous sequence. In sport the phrase most often describes three goals, three wickets, or three tries by one player; it is also used more loosely to mark any trio of similar successes outside sports, such as three wins in a row or three key achievements in a single event.
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Common forms by sport and characteristics
- Cricket: A hat-trick occurs when a bowler takes wickets on three consecutive deliveries. This is a narrowly defined and celebrated event because dismissals must be consecutive balls, even if separated by overs or innings.
- Association football (soccer): Scoring three goals in a single match constitutes a hat-trick. Variations such as the perfect hat-trick—one goal with the left foot, one with the right and one with the head—are popular distinctions among fans and commentators.
- Ice hockey and other goal sports: Recording three goals in one game is a hat-trick; a natural hat-trick denotes three uninterrupted goals by the same player with no other goals scored between them.
- Rugby and Gaelic games: Scoring three tries or points by an individual is often called a hat-trick and is noted in match reports and statistics.
- Motorsport and other fields: The term is applied to specific triples, for example pole position, race victory and fastest lap in the same weekend in motorsport, or three major wins in succession.
The term dates to the 19th century and cricketing tradition, when a bowler who achieved three wickets in consecutive deliveries was sometimes rewarded or celebrated with a hat or hat-money. From that origin the concept spread to other sports and to general usage as a convenient label for a triple feat.
Variations, records and cultural use
- Variants include the double hat-trick (six of a kind) and named forms such as the perfect or natural hat-tricks described above.
- Some sports and leagues maintain precise definitions for official statistics; others adopt looser, media-driven usages. A hat-trick can influence match momentum, public recognition and player legacies.
Beyond formal records, "hat-trick" is widely used as an idiom for achieving three related successes in short order. Because the precise conditions vary by sport, commentators and statisticians often clarify whether a hat-trick met the sport's strict criteria or is being applied more informally.
Word Origin
The term has its origins in cricket. As far as is known today, in 1858 at Hyde Park Ground in Sheffield, Heathfield Harman ("HH") Stephenson became the first bowler to convert three successive throws into three wickets. He was presented with a hat (English hat) as a special award for this sporting achievement. In connection with the word for a feat (English trick), this developed into the phrase hat trick, which was adopted as a foreign word in German usage when written together.
Cricket
So far, there have been 45 hat-tricks in Test cricket and 49 in One-Day Internationals. In Twenty20s, there have been 13 hat-tricks so far (as on 21 February 2020).
Four wickets in four consecutive balls is sometimes referred to as a double hat-trick, as in a sense it contains two sequences of three consecutive wickets each. Although there have been several instances in first-class cricket, it has only occurred once in international cricket, and that was during the 2007 Cricket World Cup match between Sri Lanka and South Africa. Sri Lanka fast bowler Lasith Malinga achieved this feat when he successively bowled out first Shaun Pollock and Andrew Hall and then Jacques Kallis and Makhaya Ntini with the first two balls of his next over.
| Test Match Hat Tricks | |||||||
| No. | Bowler | Country | Opponents | Location | Season | ||
| 1 | Fred Spofforth | Australia | England | 1878/79 | |||
| 2 | Billy Bates | England | Australia | Melbourne Cricket Ground | 1882/83 | ||
| 3 | John Briggs | England | Australia | 1891/92 | |||
| 4 | George Lohmann | England | South Africa | St George's Park, Port Elizabeth | 1895/96 | ||
| 5 | Jack Hearne | England | Australia | Headingley, Leeds | 1899 | ||
| 6 | Hugh Trumble | Australia | England | Melbourne Cricket Ground | 1901/02 | ||
| 7 | Hugh Trumble | Australia | England | Melbourne Cricket Ground | 1903/04 | ||
| 8 | Jimmy Matthews1 | Australia | South Africa | Old Trafford, Manchester | 1912 | ||
| 9 | Jimmy Matthews1 | Australia | South Africa | Old Trafford, Manchester | 1912 | ||
| 10 | Maurice Allom2 | England | New Zealand | Lancaster Park, Christchurch | 1929/30 | ||
| 11 | Tom Goddard | England | South Africa | Johannesburg | 1938/39 | ||
| 12 | Peter Loader | England | West Indies | Headingley, Leeds | 1957 | ||
| 13 | Lindsay Kline | Australia | South Africa | Newlands Cricket Ground, Cape Town | 1957/58 | ||
| 14 | Wesley Hall | West Indies | Pakistan | Lahore Stadium, Lahore | 1958/59 | ||
| 15 | Geoff Griffin | South Africa | England | Lord's Cricket Ground, London | 1960 | ||
| 16 | Lance Gibbs | West Indies | Australia | Adelaide Oval | 1960/61 | ||
| 17 | Peter Petherick2 | New Zealand | Pakistan | Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore | 1976/77 | ||
| 18 | Courtney Walsh3 | West Indies | Australia | Brisbane Cricket Ground | 1988/89 | ||
| 19 | Mervyn Hughes3 | Australia | West Indies | WACA Ground, Perth | 1988/89 | ||
| 20 | Damien Fleming2 | Australia | Pakistan | Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium | 1994/95 | ||
| 21 | Shane Warne | Australia | England | Melbourne Cricket Ground | 1994/95 | ||
| 22 | Dominic Cork | England | West Indies | Old Trafford, Manchester | 1995 | ||
| 23 | Darren Gough | England | Australia | Sydney Cricket Ground | 1998/99 | ||
| 24 | Wasim Akram4 | Pakistan | Sri Lanka | Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore | 1998/99 | ||
| 25 | Wasim Akram4 | Pakistan | Sri Lanka | Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka | 1998/99 | ||
| 26 | Nuwan Zoysa | Sri Lanka | Zimbabwe | Harare Sports Club | 1999/00 | ||
| 27 | Abdur Razzaq | Pakistan | Sri Lanka | Galle International Stadium | 2000 | ||
| 28 | Glenn McGrath | Australia | West Indies | WACA Ground, Perth | 2000/01 | ||
| 29 | Harbhajan Singh | India | Australia | Eden Gardens, Calcutta | 2000/01 | ||
| 30 | Mohammed Sami | Pakistan | Sri Lanka | Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore | 2001/02 | ||
| 31 | Jermaine Lawson3 | West Indies | Australia | Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados | 2003 | ||
| 32 | Alok Kapali | Bangladesh | Pakistan | Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar | 2003 | ||
| 33 | Andy Blignaut | Zimbabwe | Bangladesh | Harare | 2003/04 | ||
| 34 | Matthew Hoggard | England | West Indies | Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados | 2003/04 | ||
| 35 | James Franklin | New Zealand | Bangladesh | Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka | 2004/05 | ||
| 36 | Irfan Pathan5 | India | Pakistan | National Stadium, Karachi | 2005/06 | ||
| 37 | Ryan Sidebottom | England | New Zealand | Seddon Park, Hamilton | 2007/08 | ||
| 38 | Peter Siddle6 | Australia | England | Brisbane Cricket Ground | 2010/11 | ||
| 39 | Stuart Broad | England | India | Trent Bridge, Nottingham | 2011 | ||
| 40 | Sohag Gazi | Bangladesh | New Zealand | Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chittagong | 2013/14 | ||
| 41 | Stuart Broad | England | Sri Lanka | Headingley, Leeds | 2014 | ||
| 42 | Ranga Herath | Sri Lanka | Australia | Bile | 2016 | ||
| 43 | Moeen Ali | England | South Africa | The Oval, London | 2017 | ||
| 44 | jasprit bumrah | India | West Indies | Sabina Park, Kingston | 2019 | ||
| 45 | Naseem Shah | Pakistan | Bangladesh | Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium | 2019/20 | ||
1 A hat trick in both innings of the game.
2 In his first test match
3 Not all in the same innings
4 In consecutive matches
5 With the last three throws of the first over of the match.
6 On his 26th birthday
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Author
AlegsaOnline.com Hat-trick (threefold achievement in sport and beyond) Leandro Alegsa
URL: https://en.alegsaonline.com/art/42779