On December 17, 2021, MJ Neser became the fifth Australian bowler and his feat provides the 95th occasion in the world to claim a wicket in his first over of a Test match, when he got England opener Haseeb Hameed caught by MA Stars with his second delivery on the second day of the second Test match Adelaide Oval, Adelaide, the second test of the Ashes series 2021-22

The feat of capturing a wicket in the first over on Test debut is not as rare as it seems. It has taken place on as many as 95 occasions, thirtysix for England, ten for New Zealand, fifteen for Australia, eight for West Indies, six for India, five for Pakistan, eight for South Africa, five for Sri Lanka and two for Zimbabwe.

The prime feat is, of course, to capture a wicket with the first delivery of the first over bowled by a test debutant. There are twenty-one bowlers who have achieved this feat, the last being GP Vijolen of South Africa who dismissed England opener AN Cook at Johannesburg in 2015-16.

The others to do so are six Englishmen: Bill Bradley v Aus (Victim: F. Laver) at Manchester 1899, Ted Arnold v Aus (V.T. Trumper) at Sydney 1903-04, George Macaulay v SA (G.A.L. Hearne) at Cape Town 1922-23, Maurice Tate v SA (M.J. Susskind) at Birmingham 1924, Dick Howarth v SA (D.V. Dyer) at The Oval in 1947 and Richard Illingworth v WI (P.V. Simmons) at Nottingham in 1991. Two Australians, Arthur Coningham v Eng (A.R. Maclaren) at Melbourne 1894-95, and NM Lyon v SL (KC Sangakkara) at Galle in 2011, two New Zealanders namely, Matthew Henderson v Eng (E.W. Dawson) in 1929-30 and Horace Dennis Smith v Eng (E. Paynter) in 1932-33 both at Christchurch, a Pakistani, Intikhab Alam v Australia (C.C. McDonald) at Karachi in 1959-60, and a West Indian, Tyrell Francis Johnson v Eng (W.W. Keeton) at the Oval in 1939, two Sri Lankans MKGCP Lakshitha v Ban (Mohd Ashraful) at Col-SSC in 2002, RMS Eranga v Aus (SR Watson) at Col-SSC in 2011, Two South Africans DL Piedt v Zimbabwe (MA Vermeulen) at Harare in 2014 and GP Vijolen v Eng (AN Cook) at Johannesburg in 2015-16.

One finds it quite extraordinary that, an Aussie Coningham, two Kiwis, Henderson and Smith and a West Indian Johnson, were never again chosen to represent their country after their only Test appearance, when they took a wicket with the very first delivery. As amazing as the classic instances of batsmen, Andy Ganteaume of West Indies and Robert Redmond of New Zealand, who scored a debut century in the first and only Test of their career, and then never appeared again in Test cricket.

Seven bowlers have also claimed a wicket in their first over on debut, New Zealand’s Alan Fisher Lissett v WI (A.P. Binns) at Dunedin 1955-56; Eric William Dempster v SA (D.J. McGlew) at Auckland 1952-53 and Bert Sutcliffe v Eng (A. Wharton) at Headingley in 1949, England’s A Hornby v Aus (F.E. Allan) at Melbourne in 1878-79; Maurice Leyland v WI (G. Challenor) at The Oval 1928; M.S. Nicholas v NZ (H. Foley) at Christchurch in 1929-30 and West Indies’ Lester Anthony King v Ind (M.L. Jaismha) at Kingston in 1961-62. But I am unable to trace which specific delivery of the first over it was. Can any reader throw some light on this?

Those who have taken a wicket with the second ball of their first over on Test debut are two Englishmen, Wilf Barber v SA (H.B. Cameron) at Leeds in 1935 and Bob Appleyard v Pak (Hanif Mohammad) at Nottingham in 1954. Five Australians, Colin McCool v NZ (D.A.N. McRae) at Wellington in 1945-46; Frank Mission v WI (C.C. Hutton) at Melbourne in 1960-61; Peter Philpott v WI (C.C. Hunte) at Kingston in 1964-65 and Geoff Dymock v NZ (J.M. Parker) at Adelaide in 1973-74, MJ Neser v Eng (Haseeb Hameed} at Adelaide in 2021-22, two South Africans George Alexander Rowe v Eng (T.C.O’Brian) at Johannesburg in 1895-96 and Geoffrey Walter Ashton Cubb v England (J.T. Ikn) at Nottingham in 1951; and a West Indian John Cameron v Eng (H. Gimblett) at Lord’s in 1939 and a New Zealander, Bruce Alexander Grenfell Murray v India (S. Abid Ali) at Wellington in 1967-68.

The bowlers who claimed a wicket with their third ball are five Englishmen, Rolly Jenkins v SA (E.A.B. Rowan) at Durban in 1948-49; Mike Hendrick v India (E.D. Solkar) at Manchester in 1974 and Greame Hick v WI (P.V. Simmons) at Lord’s in 1991, GP Swann Vs Ind (G Gambhir} at Chennai in 2008-09, R Johnson v Zim (M Vermeulen) at Chester-le-Street in 2003, two Australians, Ian Johnson v Eng (L. Hutton) at Sydney in 1946-47 and Eric Freeman v India (S. Abid Ali) at Brisbane in 1967-68. Two Sri Lankans, Kuruppuarachchi v Pak (Mudassar Nazar) in 1985-86 and Duleep Liyanage v Ind (M.A. Taylor) in 1992-93, both at Colombo, two West Indians, Peter Lashley v Eng (G. Boycott) at Leeds in 1966 and Cletan Lambert v Eng (M.R. Ramprakash) at The Oval in 1991, two New Zealanders, Keith Thomson v India (F. M. Engineer) at Wellington in 1967-68 and Brendon Bracewell v Eng (G.A. Gooch) at The Oval in 1978, an Indian Manohar Hardikar v WI (R.B. Kanhai) at Bombay in 1958-59 and a Zimbabwean, Henry Olanga v Pak (Saeed Anwar) at Harare in 1994-95.

Those who took a wicket with their fourth ball are nine Englishmen, Nobby Clarke v SA (R.H. Caterall) at the Oval in 1929; Dough Wright v Aus (J.H.W. Fingleton) at Nottingham in 1938; Jim Laker v West Indies (C.L. Walcott) at Bridgetown 1947-48; Harold Rhodes v Ind (P. Roy) at Leeds in 1959; David Steele v Aus (A.A. Mallett) at Lord’s 1975, John Emburey v NZ (B.A. Edgar) at Lord’s in 1978, Edward Ernest Hemmings v Pak (Javed Miandad) at Birmingham in 1982 and Chris Cowdrey v Ind (Kapil Dev) at Bombay in 1984-85, R Johnson v Zim (S Carlisle) at Chester-le-Street in 2003, two West Indians, David Holford (F.J.Titmus) at Manchester in 1966 and Jimmy Adams v SA (W.J. Cronje) at Bridgetown 1991-92, an Australian, Fredrick William Freer v Eng (C. Washbrook) at Sydney in 1946-47, a South African Athol Matthew Rowan v England (L. Hutton) at Nottingham 1947, an Indian, Woorkery Raman v WI (C.A. Walsh) at Madras 1987-88, a New Zealander Gordon Lindsay Weir (G. B. Legge) at Wellington in 1929-30 and a Sri Lankan, Saliya Ahangama v Ind ( M.A. Azharuddin) at Colombo in 1985-86, a Zimbabwean, Robert Peall v Pak (Aamer Sohail) and a Pakistani Shahid Nazir v Zim (A.D.R. Campbell) at Sheikhupura in 1996-97.

Those who took a wicket with their fifth ball are five Englishmen, George Simpson, Hayward v SA (J.W. Zulch) at Johannesburg 1909-10; Len Coldwell v Pak (Imtiaz Ahmed) at Lord’s 1962; Robin Jackman v WI (C.G. Greenidge) at Bridgetown 1980-81; Darren Gough v NZ (Martin Crowe) at Old Trafford 1994 and Ronnie Irani v Ind (M.A. Azharuddin) at Edgbaston in 1996, an Australian, Ashley Mallett v Eng (M.C. Cowdrey) at The Oval in 1968, a South African, Graham Anton Chevalier v Aus (A.P. Sheahan) at Cape Town in 1969-70, a New Zealander, Brain Yuile v Eng (E.R. Dexter) at Auckland in 1962-63, and two Indians, Montu Banerjee v WI (D.St E. Atkinson) at Calcutta in 1948-49, Chetan Sharma v Pak (Mohsin Khan) at Lahore in 1984-85 and a Pakistani, Mohammad Sami v NZ (Mark Richardson) at Auckland in 2000-01.

Those who took a wicket with their sixth ball are six Englishmen Maurice Leyland v WI (G. Challenor) at The Oval 1928, Edward Winchester Clarke v SA (R.H. Catterall) at The Oval 1929, Geoff Pullar v WI (F.M.M. Worrell) at Port-of-Spain 1959-60; Mike Selvey v WI (R.C. Fredericks) at Manchester in 1976 and Derek Pringle v Ind (Yashpal Shrama) at Lord’s in 1982, GP Swann v Ind (R Dravid) at Chennai in 2008-09, a South African, Denys Paul Beck Morkel v Eng (P. Holmes) at Johannesburg in 1929-30, an Indian, Vaman Kumar v Pak (Imtiaz Ahmed) at Delhi 1961-62 and a Pakistani Fazl-e-Akbar v SA (G. Kirsten) at Durban in 1997-98.

Two Australian bowlers captured a wicket with the seventh delivery of their first over (8 ball over), Ron Gaunt v SA (R.J. Westcott) at Durban in 1957-58 and Tony Mann v Ind (G.R. Viswanath) at Brisbane in 1977-78.

It may be noted that Aussie, Ian Johnson, West Indians Peter Lashley and Cleton Lambert, New Zealand’s Bruce Murray and Keith Thomson and England’s Greame Hick had made their debut in an earlier Test before they bowled their first over in a later Test.

No	Bowler	Batsman	Team	Opp	Ground	Season	Del
1	TP Horan	WW Read	Aus	Eng	Sydney	1882/83	1
2	A Coningham	AC MacLaren	Aus	Eng	Melbourne	1894/95	1
3	WM Bradley	FJ Laver	Eng	Aus	Manchester	1899	1
4	EG Arnold	VT Trumper	Eng	Aus	Sydney-SCG	1903/04	1
5	AEE Vogler	EG Hayes	SAF	Eng	Jo’burg	1905/06	1
6	JN Crawford	AEE Vogler	Eng	SAF	Jo’burg	1905/06	1
7	GG Macaulay	GAL Hearne	Eng	SAF	Cape Town	1922/23	1
8	MW Tate	MJ Susskind	Eng	SAF	Birmingham	1924	1
9	M Henderson	EW Dawson	NZl	Eng	Christchurch	1929/30	1
10	HD Smith	E Paynter	NZl	Eng	Christchurch	1932/33	1
11	TF Johnson	WW Keeton	Win	Eng	The Oval	1939	1
12	KR Miller	WA Hadlee	Aus	NZl	Wellington	1945/46	1
13	R Howorth	DV Dyer	Eng	SAF	The Oval	1947	1
14	Intikhab Alam	CC McDonald	Pak	Aus	Karachi	1959/60	1
15	RK Illingworth	PV Simmons	Eng	Win	Nottingham	1991	1
16	NM Kulkarni	MS Atapattu	Ind	Srl	Col-RPS	1997	1
17	M Lakshitha	MohdAshraful	Srl	Ban	Col-SSC	2002	1
18	NM Lyon	Sangakkara	Aus	Srl	Galle	2011	1
19	RMS Eranga	SR Watson	Srl	Aus	Col-SSC	2011	1
20	DL Piedt	MAVermeulen	SAF	Zim	Harare	2014	1
21	GC Viljoen	AN Cook	SAF	Eng	Jo’burg	2015/16	1
22	GA Rowe	TC O’Brien	SAF	Eng	Jo’burg	1895-96	2
23	W Barber	HB Cameron	Eng	SAF	Leeds	1935	2
24	J Cameron	H Gimblett	Win	Eng	Lord’s	1939	2
25	B Appleyard	Hanif Mohd	Eng	Pak	Nottingham	1954	2
26	F Mission	CC Hutton	Aus	WI	Melbourne	1961	2
27	GWA Cubb	JT Ikin	SAF	Eng	Nottingham	1961	2
28	C McCool	DAN McRae	Aus	NZl	Wellington	1964-65	2
29	P Philpott	CC Hunte	Aus	WI	Kingston	1964-65	2
30	G Dymock	JM Parker	Aus	NZl	Adelaide	1973-74	2
31	BAG Murray	S Abid Ali	NZl	Ind	Wellington	1967-68	2
32	M Neser	H Hameed	Aus	Eng	Adelaide	2021-22	2
33	I Johnson	L Hutton	Aus	Eng	Sydney	1946-47	3
34	R Jenkins	EAB Rowan	Eng	SAF	Durban	1948-49	3
35	MS Hardikar	RB Kanhai	Ind	Win	Mumbai-BS	1958-59	3
36	P Lashley	G Boycott	Win	Eng	The Oval	1966	3
37	E Freeman	S Abid Ali	Aus	Ind	Brisbane	1967-68	3
38	K Thomson	FM Engineer	NZL	Ind	Wellington	1967-68	3
39	M Hendrick	ED Solkar	Eng	Ind	Manchester	1974	3
40	B Bracewell	GA Gooch	NZl	Eng	The Oval	1978	3
41	Karupparachhi	MudassarNazar	Srl	Pak	Col-SSC	1985-86	3
42	G Hick	PV Simmons	Eng	Win	Lord’s	1991	3
43	C Lambert	MRRamprakash	Win	Eng	The Oval	1991	3
44	D Liyanage	MA Taylor	Srl	Aus	Col-SSC	1992-93	3
45	HK Olanga	Saeed Anwar	Zim	Pak	Harare	1994-95	3
46	R Johnson	M Vermeulen	Eng	Zim	Ch-le-St	2003	3
47	GP Swann	G Gambhir	Eng	Ind	Chennai	2008-09	3
48	N Clarke	RH Caterall	Eng	SAF	The Oval	1929	4
49	GL Weir	GB Legge	NZl	Eng	Wellington	1929-30	4
50	D Wright	JHWFingleton	Eng	Aus	Nottingham	1938	4
51	FW Freer	C Washbrook	Aus	Eng	Sydney	1946-47	4
52	AM Rowan	L Hutton	SAF	Eng	Nottingham	1947	4
53	J Laker	CL Walcott	Eng	Win	Bridgetown	1947-48	4
54	H Rhodes	P Roy	Eng	Ind	Leeds	1959	4
55	DJ Holford	FJ Titmus	Win	Eng	Manchester	1966	4
56	D Steele	AA Mallett	Eng	Aus	Lord’s	1975	4
57	J Emburey	BA Edgar	Eng	NZl	Lord’s	1978	4
58	EE Hemmings	J Miandad	Eng	Pak	Birmingham	1982	4
59	CS Cowdrey	Kapil Dev	Eng	Ind	Bombay-WS	1984-85	4
60	SAhangama	MAAzharuddin	Srl	Ind	Col-SSC	1985-86	4
61	Shahid Naxie	ADR Campbell	Pak	Zim	Sheikhupura	1986-87	4
62	WV Raman	CA Walsh	Ind	Win	Madras	1987-88	4
63	J Adams	WJ Cronje	Win	SAF	Bridgetown	1991-92	4
64	SG Peall	Aamer Sohail	Zim	Pak	Karachi	1993	4
65	R Johnson	S Carlisle	Eng	NZl	Ch-le-St	2003	4
66	GS Hayward	JW Zulch	Eng	SAF	Jo’burg	1909-10	5
67	SN Bannerjee	DS Atkinson	Ind	Win	Calcutta	1948-49	5
68	L Coldwell	Imtiaz Ahmed	Eng	Pak	Lord’s	1962	5
69	A Mallett	MC Cowdrey	Aus	Eng	The Oval	1962	5
70	B Yuile	ER Dexter	NZl	Eng	Auckland	1962-63	5
71	GA Chevalier	AP Shehaun	SAF	Aus	Cape Town	1969-70	5
72	R Jackman	CG Greenidge	Eng	Win	Bridgetown	1980-81	5
73	Chethan Sharma	Mohsin Khan	Ind	Pak	Lahore	1984-85	5
74	D Gough	MD Crowe	Eng	NZl	Manchester	1994	5
75	R Irani	MAAzharuddin	Eng	Ind	Edgbaston	1996	5
76	Mohd Sami	MHRichardson	Pak	NZl	Auckland	2000-01	5
77	M Leyland	G Challenor	Eng	Win	The Oval	1928	6
78	EW Clarke	RM Caterall	Eng	SAF	The Oval	1929	6
79	DPB Morkel	P Holmes	SAF	Eng	Jo’burg	1929-30	6
80	G Pullar	FMM Worrell	Eng	Win	Trinidad	1959-60	6
81	VV Kumar	Imtiaz Ahmed	Ind	Pak	Delhi	1961-62	6
82	M Selvey	RC Fredericks	Eng	Win	Manchester	1976	6
83	DR Pringle	YashpalSharma	Eng	Ind	Lord’s	1982	6
84	Fazl-e-Akbar	G Kirsten	Pak	SAF	Durban	1997-98	6
85	GP Swann	R Dravid	Eng	Ind	Chennai	2008-09	6
86	Tabish Khan	T Musukunda	Pak	Zim	Harare	2021	6
87	R Gaunt	RJ Westcott	Aus	SAF	Durban	1957-58	7
88	AL Mann	GRViswanath	Aus	Ind	Brisbane	1977-78	7
89	TE Bailey	VJ Scott	Eng	NZl	Leeds	1949	8
No	Bowler	Batsman	Team	Opp	Ground	Season	Del
90	AN Hornby	FE Allan	Eng	Aus	Melbourne	1878-79	NK
91	M Leyland	G Challenor	Eng	WI	The Oval	1929-30	NK
92	MS Nicholas	H Folley	Win	NZl	Ch’Church	1929-30	NK
93	EW Dempster	DJ McGlew	NZl	SAF	Auckland	1952-53	NK
94	AF Lisset	AP Binns	NZl	Win	Dunedin	1955-56	NK
95	LA King	MLJaisimha	Win	Ind	Kingston	1961-62	NK