Five-Wicket Haul (Fifer) in Cricket — What It Is and Why It Matters
A five-wicket haul, or fifer, is when a bowler takes 5 or more wickets in a single innings. Learn why it's treated as a landmark achievement in cricket, who holds the most Test fifers, the records in ODIs and T20s, and how rare it actually is.
A five-wicket haul, commonly called a 'fifer' or '5-for', is one of cricket's most celebrated individual bowling achievements — the equivalent of a century for batters. It means a bowler has taken five or more wickets in a single innings of a match. In Tests, it is a serious milestone. In ODIs it is rare enough to be notable. In T20 cricket, it is extraordinarily uncommon. Any bowler who takes a fifer has had a dominant day.
Why 5 wickets?
There are 10 wickets available in any innings (the last batsman has no partner to be dismissed with). Taking 5 means a bowler has personally removed half the batting side — a clear sign of individual dominance rather than just picking up the tail. The benchmark of 5 was established in the early days of Test cricket and has since become one of cricket's most widely recognized individual milestones, alongside the century (100 runs) for batters.
Five-wicket haul records
| Format | Most fifers (overall) | Holder | Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| Test cricket | Most Test fifers | Muttiah Muralitharan | 67 |
| Test cricket | Second most | Shane Warne | 37 |
| Test cricket | Best figures | Jim Laker | 10/53 vs Australia, 1956 |
| ODI cricket | Most ODI fifers | Muttiah Muralitharan | 10 |
| T20I cricket | First T20I fifer | Multiple bowlers — very rare | N/A |
How rare is a fifer?
In Test cricket, across all matches in history, a five-wicket haul occurs in approximately 15–20% of all innings — so in any given Test, there is roughly a 1-in-5 chance of a fifer appearing. In ODI cricket, with only 50 overs per side, fifers are far rarer: roughly 1–2% of ODI innings feature one. In T20 cricket, where a bowler faces fewer than 24 balls in a full quota, taking 5 wickets requires an extraordinary spell — it happens in fewer than 0.5% of T20 innings.
Ten-wicket haul
Taking wickets in BOTH innings of a Test match for a total of 10+ is called a ten-wicket haul. It is extremely rare. Jim Laker's 19 wickets (9 in the first innings, all 10 in the second) for England vs Australia in 1956 at Old Trafford remains the greatest bowling performance in Test history. Anil Kumble is the only other bowler to take all 10 in a Test innings, doing so for India vs Pakistan at Feroz Shah Kotla in 1999.
Hat-trick vs fifer
A hat-trick (three wickets in three consecutive balls) and a five-wicket haul are separate milestones and can both occur in the same spell. A bowler can take a hat-trick as part of a fifer, or a fifer without a hat-trick (e.g., taking 5 wickets spread across different overs). The two are both celebrated individually on the scoreboard and in the match summary.
Frequently asked questions
What is a five-wicket haul in cricket?
A five-wicket haul (fifer) is when a bowler takes 5 or more wickets in a single innings of a cricket match. It is one of cricket's most celebrated individual bowling achievements, equivalent in prestige to a batsman's century.
Who has taken the most Test fifers?
Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka) holds the record with 67 five-wicket hauls in Tests, followed by Shane Warne (Australia) with 37. Both are spin bowlers, reflecting how spin dominates over long innings in favourable conditions.
What is the difference between a fifer and a hat-trick?
A five-wicket haul (fifer) means taking 5+ wickets in an innings (spread across any number of overs). A hat-trick means taking 3 wickets in 3 consecutive balls. They are separate milestones and a bowler can achieve both in the same spell.
Who took all 10 wickets in a Test innings?
Two bowlers: Jim Laker (England), who took 10/53 vs Australia in the 1956 Manchester Test — still the only 10-wicket haul in Ashes history — and Anil Kumble (India), who took 10/74 vs Pakistan in Delhi in 1999.