Batting Hattrick In Cricket
A Batting Hattrick in Cricket is a rare collection of 3 dismissals in 3 balls by one batter, across 3 consecutive innings, in any one of the game's formats.
It requires the batter scoring at least 2 consecutive golden ducks!
Adam Gilchrist scored one in the Australian Cricket Tour to India 2001. Out for 122 in the 1st Test in Mumbai, Gilly then suffered a King Pair in the 2nd Test, Australia Vs India at Eden Garden's, Calcutta (Kolkata) 2001.
A batting double-hattrick would be 4 dismissals in four balls.
An unique triple batting hattrick of 5 dismissals in 5 balls was earned by India’s Ajit Agarkar on the India Tour of Australia 1999-2000.
Out for 19 in the 1st inning in Adelaide, Agarkar scored a Golden Duck on his next 4 trips to the middle.
He was caught off his 2nd ball in the 2nd inning of Australia Vs India 3rd Test in Sydney 2000, to give him a Silver Duck and thus avoiding a quadruple batting hattrick. At the next Australia vs India 1st Test in Mumbai 2001, Agarkar scored another Pair, though off a very lacklustre 27 balls!
Conversely, for all the outstanding batters that never scored a century at Lord’s Cricket Ground, Ajit Agarkar did with 109* in the 2nd Inning, England Vs India 1st Test 2002 getting his name onto the much revered Honours Boards in the visitors' dressing room.
Pakistan’s Asif Masood’s hold the record for the longest time taken to achieve a batting hattrick, his 3 balls faced over 3 Tests, over 2 years, the achievement reached in 1971.
Australia’s last batting hattrick was Travis Head in 2024. Scoring 119 in the Australia vs West Indies 1st Test in Adelaide 2024, Travis backed this up with a King Pair in the 2nd Test in Brisbane!