<P> In the sport of cricket , a hat - trick is an occasion where a bowler takes three wickets in consecutive deliveries . As of 31 July 2017 , this feat has only been achieved 43 times in more than two thousand Test matches , the form of the sport in which national representative teams compete in matches of up to five days ' duration . The first Test hat - trick was recorded on 2 January 1879 , in only the third Test match to take place , by the Australian pace bowler Fred Spofforth , nicknamed `` The Demon Bowler '' , who dismissed three English batsmen with consecutive deliveries at the Melbourne Cricket Ground . The most recent bowler to achieve the feat was English spin bowler Moeen Ali against South Africa on 31 July 2017 . At least one bowler from each of the ten nations that have played Test cricket have taken a Test hat - trick . </P>
<P> In the sport of cricket , a hat - trick is an occasion where a bowler takes three wickets in consecutive deliveries . As of 31 July 2017 , this feat has only been achieved 43 times in more than two thousand Test matches , the form of the sport in which national representative teams compete in matches of up to five days ' duration . The first Test hat - trick was recorded on 2 January 1879 , in only the third Test match to take place , by the Australian pace bowler Fred Spofforth , nicknamed `` The Demon Bowler '' , who dismissed three English batsmen with consecutive deliveries at the Melbourne Cricket Ground . The most recent bowler to achieve the feat was English spin bowler Moeen Ali against South Africa on 31 July 2017 . At least one bowler from each of the ten nations that have played Test cricket have taken a Test hat - trick . </P>
first bowler to take hattrick in test cricket
first bowler to take hattrick in test cricket
Fred Spofforth
Fred Spofforth