Most Wickets in Cricket History: Every Major Bowling Record Explained (2026)
Muralitharan's 1,347 international wickets, Warne's 708, Anderson's 704 as a pacer, Laker's 19 in a match and Malinga's five hat-tricks — the complete guide to cricket's bowling records.
· CricLiveOnline staff
Batting records get the headlines; bowling records last longer. Several of the marks below have stood for half a century or more, and one of them — nineteen wickets in a single match — may stand forever. The complete picture as of 2026.
Most wickets: the all-time lists
Test cricket
| Wickets | Bowler | Style |
|---|---|---|
| 800 | Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka) | Off-spin |
| 708 | Shane Warne (Australia) | Leg-spin |
| 704 | James Anderson (England) | Fast-medium — most ever by a pacer |
| 619 | Anil Kumble (India) | Leg-spin |
| 604 | Stuart Broad (England) | Fast-medium |
One-day internationals
| Wickets | Bowler |
|---|---|
| 534 | Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka) |
| 502 | Wasim Akram (Pakistan) — first ever to 500 |
| 416 | Waqar Younis (Pakistan) |
Muralitharan holds the Test record (800), the ODI record (534) and the combined international record — 1,347 wickets — and took his 800th with the last ball of his career. Shane Warne’s 708 is the wrist-spin summit; James Anderson’s 704, built over 21 years before his 2024 retirement, is the most by any fast bowler and arguably the most durable career the game has seen. Wasim Akram was the first bowler in history to 500 ODI wickets.
The single-match records nobody will touch
Jim Laker: 19 for 90. Old Trafford, 1956. Laker took 9/37 in Australia’s first innings and all ten — 10/53 — in the second. Nineteen of twenty possible wickets, in an era of uncovered pitches, by one off-spinner. To break it, someone must take all twenty. It has stood for 70 years and counting.
All ten in an innings — the three-man club. Only Laker (10/53, 1956), Anil Kumble (10/74 vs Pakistan, Delhi 1999) and Ajaz Patel (10/119 for New Zealand vs India, Mumbai 2021) have taken every wicket in a Test innings. Patel’s is the strangest tale: he was left out of New Zealand’s very next Test.
Best ODI figures: Chaminda Vaas, 8/19 vs Zimbabwe in 2001 — including a wicket with the first ball of the match. In T20Is, the record book now belongs to the Associate world, where figures like Nigeria’s 6/5 have redefined “perfect spell.”
Hat-trick heaven
- Most international hat-tricks: Lasith Malinga — 5, including the only two instances of four wickets in four consecutive balls in international cricket (2007 World Cup vs South Africa; 2019 T20I vs New Zealand).
- Wasim Akram remains the only player with two Test and two ODI hat-tricks.
Wickets per series and per year
- Most wickets in a Test series: Sydney Barnes (England) — 49 in four Tests vs South Africa, 1913–14. Over a century old and never seriously threatened.
- Most Test wickets in a calendar year: Shane Warne — 96 in 2005.
- Most World Cup wickets (career): Glenn McGrath (Australia) — 71. Single edition: Mitchell Starc — 27 in 2019.
Why bowling records outlive batting records
Flatter pitches, heavier bats and shorter boundaries mean batting records inflate with each era — while bowling records deflate. Two-Test series and franchise-first calendars make 500 Test wickets, let alone 800, close to structurally impossible for anyone starting today. Murali’s mountain isn’t just unclimbed; the route to it has been demolished.
More records: greatest world records in cricket · Cricket World Cup records
RecordsMuralitharanShane WarneJames AndersonBowling