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The Cricket’s oldest rivalry, the Ashes is back as Australia hosts England for a blockbuster five-Test campaign, which gets underway at Perth Stadium from 21-25 November. It will be the 74th Test series between the rivals, with Australia the victor on 34 occasions compared to England’s 32.
That fixture will be a day-night match using a pink ball - the first time an Ashes Test has been held under floodlights at the ground. England will then head to the Adelaide Oval for the third Test from 17 to 21 December. That match will be followed by the traditional Boxing Day Test at the 100,024-capacity Melbourne Cricket Ground from 26 to 30 December. The five-match series concludes at the Sydney Cricket Ground from 4 to 8 January.
So, before the start of the series, let's have a look at the bowlers with most wickets in Ashes history.
Also Read: Most Runs in Ashes History
Most Wickets in Ashes History
6. Ian Botham | 128 Wickets
England's Ian Botham find himself tied for fifth on the list with 128 Ashes wickets, spearheading England’s attack against the Aussies between 1977 and 1989. He was also named in England's Greatest Test XI by the ECB in 2018. In 58 innings, Botham took 128 wickets for 7,252 runs, while he accumulated 232 maidens at a 2.97 economy rate.
His performances in the 1981 series have gone down in history as possibly the greatest individual displays in Ashes history.
5. Dennis Lillee | 128 Wickets
The Aussie Dennis Lillee was considered one of the greatest fast bowlers of his generation as part of a stunning attack with Jeff Thomson. Lillee had England’s batters on the back foot between 1971 and 1982, across 24 matches, 47 innings and 6,998 deliveries.
Lillee went for just 2,858 runs, which is second-best of any player on this list. When he retired, Lillee had taken 355 Test wickets from just 70 matches – an average of five per match. Arguably his most famous performance against England came in the 1977 Centenary Match, which marked 100 years since the first Test Australia played. Lillee took 6-26 and 5-139 in a match-winning display.
4. Hugh Trumble | 141 Wickets
Hugh Trumble's 141 Ashes wickets was the world Test record at the time of his retirement in 1904. During a 14-year span, he played in 31 Tests against England for Australia. Trumble also conceded just 21.78 runs per wicket during his historic career at the turn of the 20th century. He had 448 maiden overs, while his best figures in an Ashes Test were 12-89.
Trumble remains one of only four bowlers to take a hat-trick in a Test match on more than one occasion, with Broad also in that exclusive club.
3. Stuart Broad | 153 Wickets
Stuart Broad is England's all-time leading Ashes wicket taker but only third overall. Although Broad broke multiple records during his playing days, he could not overhaul the current leaders of Ashes wicket taking. Instead, he retired after the 2023 series with the third highest tally of all-time.
Broad finished with 153 wickets in Ashes Tests, including 22 in his final series. He may have fallen just short of McGrath’s total, but Broad’s battles with Australian opener David Warner have become iconic. His economy rate (3.18) is the highest among this elite group.
2. Glenn McGrath | 157 Wickets
Following Warne is his fellow team-mate and the leading Australian pacer of his time, Glenn McGrath, with 157 wickets at an economy of 2.70, with best innings figures of 8-38. Like Warne, McGrath retired after the 2006-07 Ashes series. He stands sixth in the all-time list of Test wickets (563), with only two pace bowlers, Broad and James Anderson ahead of him.
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1. Shane Warne | 195 Wickets
Not surprisingly, Shane Warne, the second-highest wicket-taker in Test cricket of all time, leads the wicket-takers chart in the Ashes series. He has 195 English wickets to his name at an average of 23.25 in 36 Test matches that spanned over 14 years. His tally of 11 five-wicket hauls is also the most in Ashes history.
Warne’s best Ashes year came in 2005, when he took 40 wickets in England. Two years later, he retired in style after helping Australia whitewash England 5-0 in 2006-07.
