5 players with a crazy number of hat-tricks in cricket

3. Tom Goddard

Thomas Goddard is the fifth highest wicket-taker in first-class cricket

Thomas William John Goddard has an enviable record with 6 hat tricks and is known to be the 5th highest wicket-taker in first-class cricket history after Wilfred Rhodes, ‘Tich’ Freeman, Parker, and Jack Hearne. He started as a fast bowler but could not get much success and finally the 6’3″ Englishman turned to off-spin and is known to have been able to turn the ball even on the greenest of pitches.

Goddard played 593 first class matches and took 2979 wickets. Incredibly he has 251 5-fors and 86 10-fors placing him fifth and third respectively in the all-time lists. However for the national side, he only managed to play 8 Tests and take 22 wickets though his hat-trick for England against South Africa in 1938-39 may suggest his potential for improvement if he had been given more opportunities. Besides the hat-trick for the national team, four of his other hat tricks came playing for Gloucestershire against Sussex(1924), Glamorgan(1930), (1947) and Somerset (1947). His only other hat trick was playing for MCC against Rhodesia in 1938-39.

He formed the most deadly bowling pair with Charlie Parker and both remain legends for Gloucestershire. Parker is joint second with Goddard on 6 first class hat tricks though Parker has no hat trick playing for England.