Roy Tattersall and Malcolm Hilton took over 100 wickets and the team finished a close second to Surrey in the championship. Statham struggled on the unhelpfully slow pitches and failed to reach the hundred wicket milestone, taking 91 at 14.84 with a best of six for 27. In July, he achieved the first hat-trick of his professional career against Sussex at Old Trafford. His victims were Jim Parks (lbw), Ken Suttle (lbw) and Derek Semmence (bowled). Statham appeared in only three of the five Tests including the one at Old Trafford in which Jim Laker took his world record nineteen wickets. Statham took seven wickets in the series at 26.28 with a best of three for 33 at the Oval. He ruefully summarised the series by saying that he was mainly a fielder. He always performed well in the field given his athleticism and, in the Old Trafford Test, he held a difficult catch on the boundary to dismiss Richie Benaud as one of Laker's nineteen. 1956–57 in South Africa As in 1955, South Africa recovered from being two down to level the series but this time, with one match drawn, the series ended with two wins apiece. Questions were raised about pitch preparation as there were instances of rapid deterioration. Statham played in four of the Tests and took fourteen wickets at 24.92 with a best of three for 37. Wisden remarked that he had days when he looked the best fast bowler in the world but he was troubled by injuries and his form faded towards the end of the tour. Statham played in four matches at the newly built Wanderers Stadium near Johannesburg. It is 5,700 feet above sea level and Statham had breathing problems because of the rarefied air, though his teammate Peter Loader found it helpful in clearing his asthma. To help Statham, Harold Dalton had an oxygen cylinder placed in the MCC dressing room and Statham said that using this for five minutes during each interval solved his problem. In the first match at the Wanderers against Transvaal, Statham took an all-bowled hat-trick to dismiss Gerald Ritchie, Morris Charnas and Peter Heine. The first Test at the Wanderers was played late December and Statham took his 100th Test wicket. 1957 to 1959 1957 season Lancashire dropped to sixth in the County Championship, winning ten of their 28 matches. Statham took 112 wickets for the