Alzarri Joseph joins extremely rare list following 100th Test wicket

On the second day of the ongoing Test between England and West Indies at Edgbaston, Alzarri Joseph became the 24th West Indian bowler to pick 100 wickets in Test cricket.

Joseph entered the third Test with 98 scalps to his name, and got to 99 right before stumps on Day 1, getting Ben Duckett to chop one back onto his stumps.

The right-arm speedster from Antigua brought up his 100th Test scalp in the second session of Day 2 when Ben Stokes hammered a pull straight into the hands of Kraigg Brathwaite at square leg.

Getting to 100 Test wickets is a special but common feat. However, Joseph has got to the landmark in an extremely unique way. He is only the second bowler in Test history to not have multiple five-wicket hauls despite picking 100+ Test wickets.

That’s right. In Test history, there are 198 bowlers who have picked up 100+ wickets. Among them, Abdul Razzaq and Joseph are the only two to not have picked up multiple 5-wicket hauls.

Joseph’s solitary five-wicket haul in Tests came against South Africa in Centurion last year. The 27-year-old also interestingly has just one 4-wicket haul to his name. That came against Australia at the Gabba earlier this year.

Joseph made his Test debut against India at Gros Islet eight years ago, as a 20-year-old. It was Virat Kohli who proved to be Joseph’s first Test victim. Jonny Bairstow was Joseph’s 50th Test victim, back in 2022 in St George’s. 

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