The Ashes is one of the prestigious trophies in the cricketing history involving Australia and England. The mettle of the players of both the teams are infact decided by the way they perform in the Ashes. It is the intense battle between bat and ball that makes the Ashes more interesting every time it takes place.
Today we will be discussing about the bowlers who have taken the maximum number of wickets in an Ashes Series.
Historically, the bowler with the maximum number of wickets in a single edition of the Ashes is England's Jim Laker. The English off spinner took 46 wickets in a 5 match series way back in 1956 when Australia toured England. Laker ended up scalping four 5 wicket hauls and two 10 wicket hauls in that series.
Jim Laker has the recorded the best bowling figures in Test match history with figures of 19/90. That included a 10 wicket haul in the First Innings followed by 9 wickets in the Second. Coincidentally, Laker's best performance came in the 1956 Ashes.
Laker is followed by Australian pacer Terry Alderman who took 42 wickets in the Ashes in 1981. He also recorded the fourth highest wickets in a single Ashes series 8 years later.
Shane Warne the legendary Australian leg spinner is 5th in the list. Warne took 40 wickets in the famous 2005 Ashes Series that Australia ended up losing. Warne took three 5 wicket hauls and two 10 wicket hauls with best figures of 6 for 46 in that series.
Shane Warne however, tops the list when it comes to picking up the highest number of wickets in Ashes History. Warne took 195 wickets in 36 matches he has played in his Ashes career. Warne has recorded the magical figures with a healthy average of 23.25.
Fellow countryman Glenn Mcgrath is second in the list with 157 wickets in 30 matches in the Ashes.
Sir Ian Botham holds the record of the highest number of wickets by an English bowler in the Ashes. Botham took 128 wickets in 32 Ashes Matches.
James Anderson is currently the active bowler who has 111 wickets* in his name but chances of him breaking Warne's record is highly unlikely.
Nathan Lyon is Australia's highest wicket taker among the active players with 97 wickets*.
*Updated till 2nd Matches of Ashes 2021.
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