In the wake of an exhilarating year of cricket in 2024, Wisden Cricket Weekly podcast have picked Wisden's top ten men's Test spells of 2024 - here are the ones that made the list.
No.1: Shamar Joseph 7-68 vs Australia, Brisbane
The No.1 men's Test spell of 2024 was as much about the story as it was the cricket itself. Shamar Joseph was playing his first Test series, and on the morning of day four looked sure to sit out thanks to a (literal) Mitchell Starc toe-crusher while batting the previous evening. But in the end, Joseph fought through the pain and scythed through Australia, each batter looking shell-shocked as they walked back. The hosts were 113-2 chasing 216, but Joseph helped bowl them out for 207, and consign the Aussies to a second loss in four matches at a venue they hadn't lost at for over 32 years prior.
No.2: Jasprit Bumrah 5-30 vs Australia, Perth
The first of two Bumrah entries on this list, this spell in Perth set up India’s only win on their tour of Australia. Taking the ball in the final session of day one after his side were bowled out for just 150, he ripped out Nathan McSweeney, Usman Khawaja and Steve Smith inside seven overs, before taking two more wickets the following day to finish with five to his name – earning India an improbable 46-run lead.
No.3: Tom Hartley 7-62 vs India, Hyderabad
Hartley had a tough initiation to Test cricket, taking 2-131 in his first outing as Yashasvi Jaiswal hit him all around the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium. It only took the left-arm spinner one innings to hit back, though. With India in pursuit of 231, Hartley removed all of their top three before returning to polish off the last three wickets and bowl England to a famous 28-run win, their only one of the tour.
No.4: Matt Henry 5-15 vs India, Bengaluru
India’s capitulation to 46 all out in this innings was down to a confluence of factors, one of them the excellence of Matt Henry. In a standout year, this was his standout performance – Sarfaraz Khan was his first victim, followed by spin twins Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin off consecutive balls. Rishabh Pant nicked behind, and Henry removed Kuldeep Yadav to complete a historic demolition job with the ball. The first innings set up victory in the Test match, and eventually in the series to break an incredible Indian home streak.
No.5: Jayden Seales 4-5 vs Bangladesh, Kingston
In less than 16 overs, Seales dismantled Bangladesh in front of a home crowd, claiming astonishing looking figures of 4-5. At a stunning 0.31 runs per over, it was Test cricket’s most economical spell (of 90+ balls) in over half a century, and eventually helped bowl the tourists out for just 164. Seales returned to Test cricket this year after injury forced him into a prolonged spell on the sidelines following his initial breakthrough. He took 35 wickets across seven Tests in 2024 at an average of 20.25.
No.6: Vishwa Fernando 3-40 vs England, The Oval
After winning the first two Tests, England had secured a 62-run lead in the third, and were placed well at 66-3. The Test was headed for a familiar direction until Vishwa barged the door open with two pinpoint in-swinging yorkers to take out Joe Root and Harry Brook in the space of seven balls. His teammates rose to the occasion, but Vishwa had one final role to play, by taking out Jamie Smith when he threatened to take the game away.
No.7: Ajaz Patel 6-57 vs India, Mumbai
Tom Latham did not hesitate to open bowling with Ajaz. The target, after all, was a paltry 147. He struck twice early, including one that jumped awkwardly to brush the shoulder of Virat Kohli’s bat and fly to slip. Rishabh Pant’s caught-behind might have been a controversial decision, but the others were products of a superb demonstration of left-arm finger spin. In 2021-22, Ajaz had returned to his city of birth to take all ten in a Test innings. Unlike that day, this one did not go in vain.
No.8: Marco Jansen 7-13 vs Sri Lanka, Durban
Teams are expected to bowl 15 overs in an hour in Test cricket. The Sri Lanka first innings lasted seven balls fewer against the Jansen blitz: it remains the second-shortest all-out innings in the history of the format. Jansen bowled unchanged throughout the innings. His left-armer’s angle, combined with movement at rapid pace and the characteristically awkward bounce, wreaked havoc, and it was all over before anyone could blink. The best was probably wasted on Prabath Jayasuriya: it left him late, and all he could do was poke and edge.
No.9: Jasprit Bumrah 6-45 vs England, Visakhapatnam
It is a shame that the spectacular yorker to dismiss Ollie Pope – probably the most-viewed dismissal of 2024 – took the sheen off Bumrah’s other wickets in the spell. The other yorker that cleaned up Ben Stokes, for example. Or the peach that left Joe Root undecided until the end and forced an edge. Or how he kept Jonny Bairstow rooted to the crease and got him with a ball that left him. Or the double strike in the end. Or the many balls that did not get wickets. Sadly, it was a year so good for him that this was not even Bumrah’s best spell.
No.10: Kagiso Rabada 6-46 v Bangladesh, Mirpur
To keep their WTC final hopes alive, it was vital for South Africa to do something no ‘SENA’ team had done since 2009-10: win a Test series in Bangladesh. After Wiaan Mulder struck the initial blows, Rabada carved open the hosts’ middle order in the first innings and finished with 3-26. He surpassed that in the second innings after South Africa secured a 202-run lead: he struck twice in his second over; twice more when the fourth-wicket stand seemed to threaten; and twice to round off the tail.
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