The feat of capturing a wicket in the first over on Test debut is not as rare as it seems. It has taken place on as many as 67 occasions, twenty-five for England, eleven for Australia, nine for New Zealand, six each for West Indies and India, three each for South Africa and Sri Lanka and two each for Pakistan and Zimbabwe.
The prime feat is, of course, to capture a wicket with the first delivery of the first over bowled by a Test debutant. There are twelve who have done it and the last time any bowler performed the feat of a first ball dismissal was in 1991 when England's left arm spin bowler Richard Illingworth bowled West Indian opener Philip Simmons at Trent Bridge, Nottingham.
The others to do so are five Englishmen - Bill Bradley at Manchester 1899, Ted Arnold at Sydney 1903-04; George Macaulay at Cape Town 1922-23; Maurice Tate at Birmingham 1924 and Dick Howarth at The Oval in 1947. An Australian, Arthur Coningham at Melbourne 1894-95, two New Zealanders, Matthew Henderson in 1929-30 and Horace Dennis Smith in 1932-33 both at Christchurch, a Pakistani, Intikhab Alam at Karachi in 1959-60, and a West Indian, Tyrell Francis Johnson at The Oval in 1939. Those who have taken a wicket with the second ball of their first over on Test debut are two Englishmen; Wilf Barber at Leeds in 1935 and Bob Appleyard at Nottingham in 1954. Four Australians Colin McCool at Wellington in 1945-46, Frank Mission at Melbourne in 1960-61, Peter Philpott at Kingston in 1964-65 and Geoff Dymock at Adelaide in 1973-74, a South African George Alexander Rowe at Johannesburg in 1895-96, and a West Indian John Cameron at Lord's in 1939 and a New Zealander, Bruce Alexander Grenfell Murray at Wellington in 1967-68.
The bowlers who claimed a wicket with their third ball are three Englishmen, Rolly Jenkins at Durban in 1948-49, Mike Hendrick at Manchester in 1974 and Greame Hick at Lord's in 1991, two Australians, Ian Johnson at Sydney in 1946-47 and Erick Freeman at Brisbane in 1967-68. Two Sri Lankans, Kuruppuarachchi in 1985-86 and Duleep Liyanage in 1992-93, both at Colombo, two West Indians, Peter Lashley at Leeds in 1966 and Cletan Lambert at The Oval in 1991, two New Zealanders, Keith Thomson at Wellington in 1967-68 and Brendon Bracewell at The Oval in 1978, an Indian Manohar Hardikar at Bombay in 1958-59 and one Zimbabwean, Henry Olanga at Harare in 1994-95.
Those who took a wicket with their fourth ball are seven Englishmen, Nobby Calrke at The Oval in 1929, Dough Wright at Nottingham in 1938, Harold Rhodes at Leeds in 1959, David Steele at Lord's 1975, Jon Embury at the Lord's in 1978, Edward Ernest Hemmingsat Brimingham in 1982 and Chris Cowdrey at Bombay in 1984-85, two West Indians, David Holford at Manchester in 1966 and Jimmy Adams at Bridgetown 1991-92, an Australian, Fredrick William Freer at Sydney in 1946-47, an Indian, Woorkery Raman at Madras 1987-88, a New Zealander Gordon Lindsay at Wellington in 1929-30 and a Sri Lankan, Saluya Ahangama at Colombo in 1985-86 and a Zimbabwean Robert Peall.
Those who took a wicket with their fifth ball are six Englishmen, Geroge Simpson, Hayward at Johannesburg 1909-10, Len Coldwell at Lord's 1962, Robin Jackman at Bridgetown 1980-81, Darren Gough at Old Trafford in 1994 and Ronnie Irani at Edgbaston in 1996, an Australian, Ashley Mallet at The Oval in 1968, a South African, Graham Anton Chevalier at Cape Town in 1969-70, a Kiwi, Brain Yuile at Auckland in 1962-63, and two Indians, Montu Banerjee at Calcutta in 1948-49 and Chetan Sharma at Lahore in 1984-85.
Those who took a wicket with their sixth ball are two Englishmen, Mike Selvey at Manchester in 1976 and Derek Pringle at Lord's in 1982, and South African, Denys Paul Beck Morkel at Johannesburg in 1929-30 and an Indian, Vaman Kumar at Delhi in 1961-62.
Two Australian bowlers captured a wicket with the seventh delivery of their first-over (8 ball over). Ron Gaunt at Durban in 1957-58 and Tony Mann at Brisbane in 1977-78.