ESPNcricinfo Awards 2024 Men's Test bowling nominees: Sevens fight eight and five
Big hauls (and one medium-sized one) rule the roost on our shortlist
Yash Jha
23-Jan-2025
Never mind the squashed toe: Shamar seals the Brisbane win for West Indies • Getty Images
Shamar Joseph
7 for 68 vs Australia
second Test, Brisbane
Joseph caught the eye with a five-for on Test debut in Adelaide, but it was in Brisbane that he took the world by storm. Australia had cruised to 113 for 2 chasing 216 to win when Joseph - nursing a badly injured toe from the previous evening - blew the contest open with the wickets of Cameron Green, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh and Alex Carey, three of whom saw their stumps clattered, all in the space of 16 balls. Steven Smith resisted and Mitchell Starc countered but Joseph bowled unchanged for 12 overs either side of the dinner break and added three more strikes to deliver West Indies their first Test win in Australia in nearly 27 years.
second Test, Brisbane
Joseph caught the eye with a five-for on Test debut in Adelaide, but it was in Brisbane that he took the world by storm. Australia had cruised to 113 for 2 chasing 216 to win when Joseph - nursing a badly injured toe from the previous evening - blew the contest open with the wickets of Cameron Green, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh and Alex Carey, three of whom saw their stumps clattered, all in the space of 16 balls. Steven Smith resisted and Mitchell Starc countered but Joseph bowled unchanged for 12 overs either side of the dinner break and added three more strikes to deliver West Indies their first Test win in Australia in nearly 27 years.
Noman Ali
8 for 46 vs England
second Test, Multan
Hammered by an innings after conceding 823 in the first Test, and hounded by a run of 11 Tests without a win at home, Pakistan changed the template to bring their spinners back into business - and boy did it deliver. Sajid Khan's seven-for - with Noman picking up the remaining wickets - gave the hosts a handy 75-run first-innings lead, before England's spinners ensured their batters had under 300 to chase. It wasn't going to be easy, but Noman didn't let them come within a whiff: he bowled unchanged alongside Sajid and claimed the second-best innings figures in all Tests in Pakistan.
8 for 46 vs England
second Test, Multan
Hammered by an innings after conceding 823 in the first Test, and hounded by a run of 11 Tests without a win at home, Pakistan changed the template to bring their spinners back into business - and boy did it deliver. Sajid Khan's seven-for - with Noman picking up the remaining wickets - gave the hosts a handy 75-run first-innings lead, before England's spinners ensured their batters had under 300 to chase. It wasn't going to be easy, but Noman didn't let them come within a whiff: he bowled unchanged alongside Sajid and claimed the second-best innings figures in all Tests in Pakistan.
Mitchell Santner
7 for 53 vs India
second Test, Pune
Santner had never taken as many as four wickets in a Test innings, and never taken six in any first-class innings. He took 13 in the match in Pune to bowl New Zealand to a historic series victory in India. The "lesser" of the performances - a mere 6 for 104 - closed out the 113-run win, but it was the first-innings haul that shaped the contest. Santner ripped open the Indian line-up - Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Sarfaraz Khan and Ravindra Jadeja among his victims - to deliver a decisive 103-run lead for the visitors. It was as much a reward for attacking the stumps (six of his seven wickets were bowled or lbw) as it was for his cunning variations of pace (in one over he ranged between 75kph and 95kph).
7 for 53 vs India
second Test, Pune
Santner had never taken as many as four wickets in a Test innings, and never taken six in any first-class innings. He took 13 in the match in Pune to bowl New Zealand to a historic series victory in India. The "lesser" of the performances - a mere 6 for 104 - closed out the 113-run win, but it was the first-innings haul that shaped the contest. Santner ripped open the Indian line-up - Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Sarfaraz Khan and Ravindra Jadeja among his victims - to deliver a decisive 103-run lead for the visitors. It was as much a reward for attacking the stumps (six of his seven wickets were bowled or lbw) as it was for his cunning variations of pace (in one over he ranged between 75kph and 95kph).
Jasprit Bumrah
5 for 30 vs Australia
first Test, Perth
India arrived in Australia jilted by a first series defeat at home in 12 years, and without their captain for the first Test. Less than 50 overs in, they were bowled out for 150 and a long tour loomed. Enter Bumrah. The conditions were devious, with quick bowlers enjoying an average of 0.8 degrees of seam on day one in Perth, but India's stand-in captain was devilishly unplayable: he took four in nine overs to reduce Australia to 67 for 7 at stumps, and completed a five-for early on day two to give his side an unlikely 46-run lead. He would add three more in the second as India earned a 295-run win.
5 for 30 vs Australia
first Test, Perth
India arrived in Australia jilted by a first series defeat at home in 12 years, and without their captain for the first Test. Less than 50 overs in, they were bowled out for 150 and a long tour loomed. Enter Bumrah. The conditions were devious, with quick bowlers enjoying an average of 0.8 degrees of seam on day one in Perth, but India's stand-in captain was devilishly unplayable: he took four in nine overs to reduce Australia to 67 for 7 at stumps, and completed a five-for early on day two to give his side an unlikely 46-run lead. He would add three more in the second as India earned a 295-run win.
Marco Jansen
7 for 13 vs Sri Lanka
first Test, Durban
Sri Lanka might have felt satisfied after bowling South Africa out for 191, but that total was made to look much bigger when the hosts - Jansen, in particular - got the ball in hand. Making the most of the significant movement on offer at Kingsmead, Jansen razed the visitors to claim his entire haul in just 41 balls: the joint fewest bowled by any bowler for seven wickets in a men's Test innings. His incisive bowling, coupled with poor shot selection, meant Sri Lanka were out for 42 in 13.5 overs - the second-shortest all-out innings of all time by balls. Jansen finished with 11 in the game, and South Africa won by 233 runs.
7 for 13 vs Sri Lanka
first Test, Durban
Sri Lanka might have felt satisfied after bowling South Africa out for 191, but that total was made to look much bigger when the hosts - Jansen, in particular - got the ball in hand. Making the most of the significant movement on offer at Kingsmead, Jansen razed the visitors to claim his entire haul in just 41 balls: the joint fewest bowled by any bowler for seven wickets in a men's Test innings. His incisive bowling, coupled with poor shot selection, meant Sri Lanka were out for 42 in 13.5 overs - the second-shortest all-out innings of all time by balls. Jansen finished with 11 in the game, and South Africa won by 233 runs.
Yash Jha is a multi-platform content producer and presenter for ESPNcricinfo