Hat-tricks, much like buses, often seem to appear in clusters after a long wait. This perception is reinforced by witnessing three hat-tricks in the span of four days at the T20 World Cup. However, this is not an accurate representation of the overall trend. Chris Jordan's recent hat-trick against the USA was actually the 26th hat-trick in T20 cricket since January 2023, averaging about one and a half per month.
In contrast, during the same period, List A cricket has seen only five hat-tricks, and there has been just one in an ODI. The last ODI hat-trick between two Full Member nations occurred in December 2019, and the last Test hat-trick was three years ago in St Lucia. While there have been 46 hat-tricks in the entire history of Test cricket, there have been 47 in T20s since April 2022 alone.
The Nature of T20 Hat-Tricks
The argument can be made that hat-tricks are less significant in T20 cricket due to the nature of the format, where wickets tend to fall more easily. Additionally, the sheer volume of T20 matches, including many classified as internationals, contributes to the higher frequency of hat-tricks. For instance, 18 of the 26 T20 hat-tricks since January 2023 occurred in international matches, including two by Mark Pavlovic for Serbia in consecutive days last year. These hat-tricks often feel less impactful and more like minor events within the game, similar to Steven Finn's hat-trick in the 2015 World Cup, which came from three slogs in the final balls of an innings and only marginally reduced the defeat margin.
This stands in stark contrast to Glenn McGrath's hat-trick on the first morning at the WACA, witnessed by a full house, with Brian Lara as one of the victims, marking McGrath's 300th Test wicket. Or Harbhajan Singh's dramatic hat-trick against the dominant Australians in Kolkata, which was among the many highlights of that epic Test. Similarly, Wasim Akram's two hat-tricks in successive Tests within ten days showcased his magical ability, and Stuart Broad's hometown hat-trick against India remains memorable, partly due to the controversy over Harbhajan Singh's dismissal during a time when DRS was not allowed in India series.
Memorable Moments Beyond Test Cricket
It's not merely a matter of red-ball cricket snobbery. Lasith Malinga's four wickets in four balls against South Africa in the 2007 World Cup was a memorable feat. Even an otherwise forgettable bilateral T20I in 2019 was illuminated by Malinga repeating this remarkable achievement. Akram's two ODI hat-tricks, witnessed by packed Sharjah stadiums within six months, and the latter in the Austral-Asia Cup final, are etched in cricket history. On the other hand, some T20 hat-tricks appear trivial, as seen in Pat Cummins' successive hat-tricks, where batters fell to mistimed shots and scoops, making the achievements feel ordinary despite Cummins' skillful use of cutters. It wasn't surprising that Cummins didn't immediately realise his first hat-trick against Bangladesh, as it felt like just another wicket in the rapid flow of T20 dismissals.
These observations are made with the understanding that "watched" can be loosely interpreted due to the varied time zones of the World Cup, and "four days" is similarly flexible given the global span of fans.