Mitchell Starc becomes 8th bowler to have 100 or more Test wickets caught by wicketkeeper

Jonhenry Wilson 11 Feb 2025

Mitchell Starc and Alex Carey celebrate combining for another Test wicket for Australia.

Mitchell Starc recently became the eighth bowler to have 100 or more Test wickets caught by the wicketkeeper.

Who else has achieved this feat?

Read on to find out more about this interesting cricket statistic.

8. Mitchell Starc

Starc reached 100 during the recent Test series between Australia and Sri Lanka in Galle and Colombo. The left-arm seamer has been relatively prolific for an extended period and is combining well with wicketkeeper Alex Carey nowadays. Starc’s 100 represents 26 percent of his Test wicket tally.

7. Allan Donald

For 10 years, from 1992 to 2002, Donald spearheaded South Africa’s Test bowling attack and combined 100 times with a wicketkeeper to dismiss a batter. What started with David Richardson and ended with Mark Boucher, Donald really enjoyed combining with sound glovemen behind the stumps. His 100 represents 30 percent of his Test wicket tally.

6. Dale Steyn

Steyn had Boucher behind the stumps and later AB de Villiers en route to 109 Test wickets caught behind by a wicketkeeper. That tally accounts for 25 percent of the wickets Steyn took during 93 Tests. The Proteas relished his services across a sparkling 15-year Test career. He has since effectively handed the baton to Kagiso Rabada.

5. Courtney Walsh

Walsh was one of the best swing and seam bowlers in the history of Test cricket for the West Indies. It’s little wonder he had 111 batters caught behind by the wicketkeeper for 21 percent of his Test wicket tally. You can bet on it that many more were taken in the slip cordon. Walsh was lethal in partnership with Curtly Ambrose.

Also read: Most balls bowled in a Test match

4. Tim Southee

Southee retired from Test cricket recently, but not before having 115 (29 percent) of his Test wickets caught by the wicketkeeper. His partner behind the stumps for a long time was BJ Watling. Southee didn’t have a lot of pace toward the end of his career, but nagging accuracy often got the better of even the most astute batters.

3. Stuart Broad

Broad is the fifth-highest wicket-taker in the history of Test cricket. He had 148 (25 percent) of his 604 victims caught by the wicketkeeper. Matt Prior gobbled up many of these. Broad was a fierce competitor and often saved his best for fabled Ashes contests for England from Nottingham to Sydney and back again.

2. Glenn McGrath

‘Pigeon’ was marvelous for Australia for a long time. He had Ian Healy behind the stumps for a large part of his career, which yielded 563 Test wickets in total – and 152 of those caught by a wicketkeeper. McGrath, too, didn’t have a lot of pace toward the closing seasons of his career, but pinpoint accuracy and a bit of movement off the seam often brought the edge.

1. James Anderson

As the most prolific seamer in the history of Test cricket with 704 wickets, Anderson had almost 200 – 199 – of these taken behind by the wicketkeeper. That’s a prolific tally and he, too, had Prior to thank for a lot of them. Time will tell whether anyone can match or better Anderson’s various Test bowling records.