Mitchell Starc’s two hat-tricks in the same game for New South Wales has been attracting plenty of head-lines ahead of the Ashes – but it was a rare feat also achieved by a Worcestershire bowler nearly 70 years ago.
The County’s leg spinner Roly Jenkins pulled off the hat-trick ‘double’ in a County Championship match against Surrey at New Road in August 1949.
In Surrey’s first innings, John Parker (57), Alec Bedser (0) – brother of Eric – and Stuart Surridge (0) fell in successive deliveries from Jenkins.
Then in the second innings Michael Barton (1), Arthur McIntyre (0) and, for the second time in the game, Alec Bedser (0) sucumbed to the trickery of Jenkins.
By then Surrey must have been well and truly fed up with facing Jenkins who had also taken another hat-trick against them at The Oval the previous season.
Jenkins is part of an elite band with Aussie paceman Starc becoming only the eighth player to register two hat-tricks in the same first class match.
When he hung up his spikes, Jenkins had taken 1,309 first class wickets at an average of 23.64 and also scored 10,073 first class runs.
The ‘double hat-trick’ eight are:
1) Alfred Shaw – Nottinghamshire v Gloucestershire (Nottingham) 1884
2) Albert Trott – Middlesex v Somerset (Lord’s) 1907
3) Jimmy Matthews – Australia v South Africa (Manchester) 1912
4) Charlie Parker – Gloucestershire v Middlesex (Bristol) 1924
5) ROLY JENKINS – WORCESTERSHIRE V SURREY (WORCESTER) 1949
6) Joginder Rao – Services v North Punjab (Amritsar) 1963
7) Amin Lakhani – Combined X1 v Indians (Multan) 1978
8) Mitchell Starc – New South Wales v Western Australia (Sydney) 2017